The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1901-08-07
MONEY GNAWED By MICE.
IS Not So Difficult 10 Redeem as Money
Burned or Goat Eaten.

sent IN to the treasury department.
Washington for redemp tion, by Mrs.
Vim. Simmons Of this city. a ac-
countSof which was published in
The GAZETTE about a year ago, made
quite a puzzle for the experts Of that
department, and the solution Of the.
puzzle required infinite patience
and care. Each Of the pieces sent
! in, and the various bills amounted
to nearly $500. were laid out on a
hard fat, surface, and then with
the assistance of strong glasses were
magnided SO that they could be
| placed in a proper position IN reia=
ton to all Of the others. The ex-s
,perts have a copy Of every bill
which has ever been Autographed
Tor printed by the government, and
ItheY are used as models as soon as
Ienongh of the bills have been laid
out to establish its issue. In this
way, after a great deal Of work on
the part of Mrs Brown, who has
charge Of this department Of the
surface, were enough Of the various
niece hewed bills sent in by Mrs.
Simmons put together to warrant
1.-The department in reimbursing the.
woman for the full amount which
she claimed to have slowed away in
her trunk, and in which the mice
made their valuable nest.
The division recently received
the fragments Of six fve-dollar bills,
which had passed into the stomach
of a goat belonging to Charles =.
Allen, a farmer living at Ogden
| Iowa, offered tot for redemption,
I and the affidavit which accompanied
the mass Of pulp was decidedly in
teresting. It appears that Mr.. Al
lerabecame warm while doing some
manual labor and removed his coat
and vest and placed them on a fence.
The articles Of wearing apparel fell
from their resting place to the
ground and all inquisitive goat hap
spened along and nosed the six five
dollar bills out OF the pocket. No
one saw him eat the bills, but when.
Mr.. Allen replaced his coatand vest
| he found they had, disappeared. A
companion Wagered that the goat
had eaten the bills, and lit was agreed
tlat3if Mr. Allen did not find them
! in the goat IS stomach after it was
killed the price. Of; the goat would
5be Forthcoming The goat was
/ HI led and the bills were found in a
4 little lump in the stomach. When
#Ereceiyed at the treasury department
] a few days ago the mass had har-
.Isdened into a little dark brown lump
that resembled anything but money.
i The experts took the mass lin hand
and soaked the whole until the mi
mute particles separated. Then.
skillful fingers accustomed to the
work, separated each piece and in
two hours the entire six fve-dollar
] bills had been pieced together and
were sent upstairs to the United
States treasury for redemption.
a few weeks ago a case parallel
in nearly every particular with that
of the Iowa case was presented to
the department. A Michigan tax
4 collector, who had little faith in
banks, stored something like $500
in a tin can for safe keeping over
night and placed the can under his
4 house. It appears that the house
was elevated SO that the family goat
was able to walk under it. The
!. next morning just as the tax col
Hector started to crawl under the
house and bring out the money
lowed to the county, he saw the goat
emerging slowly from under it,
Il che wing on the remnant of a new
i twenty dollar bill. The excited
tax collector caught the goat and
forced portion Of the bill from it's
mouth. This was the largest piece
/ found. The collector was a poor
4 man, and was faced with the neces-
\ sity Of making good the amount Of
funds due his county He killed
4 the goat, secured the contents OF
4 the stomach, made the necessary
j affidavit as to the circumstances,
sent the matter on to Washington,
and IN ten days had bright, new,