Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-07-02
SHORT INTERVIEWS.

6oooooooooooooooooooooooo
State Senator j. b. Wright of Ne
braska was discussing the new w. j.
Bryan while in Omaha Thursday. He
distinguishes the Bryan of today from
the Bryan of yesterday and says the
latter is a sadder by wiser man than
the former. Senator Wright is presi
dent of the Columbia National bank in
Lincoln and lives next door to the free
silver champion.
THE Bryan Of yesterday" said the
senator, was a Presidential possibil-
ity with all it's attendant characters
tics. He was hail fellow well met
with everybody. Today it is another
story. He is becoming reserved and
, is assuming the general air of the
money maker. Years ago when | first
knew Bryan he was an obscure attor
ney in an obscure town, $1,000 was
wealth to him then. Today Bryan is
worth $150,000 and is rapidly adding
to the pile He made $4,000 last year
( featuring and with his pen which is In
+ itse44 White House salary. He is
having plans drawn for rather pre-
tentious mansion on his farm just out
/ of Lincoln.
Does he say he is out of politics."
yes. He acknowledged the other
day that his only future ambition po-
litically is to counsel the party irres-
pective of his ever becoming it's Presi-
Dental candidate again"
will he not enter the senatorial
race in Nebraska"
"No, he never will. He is afraid to
risk defeat in his own state especially
in such a contest"
Talking about counterfeiters puts
me in mind of one, notorious rascal,
who was caught not long ago in this
city while at his nefarious trade" said
an eX-treasury official recently. THE
paper money this man produced was
absolutely perfect in every detail but
one, and it seems strange that man
of his knowledge and experience of
the art of counterfeting should have
overlooked it, Here the speaker
took 81 note from his pocket. 1t
, was new and crisp, and he pointed
out diminutive letter &c" on the
right under the bills number and an
other down in the other corner.
Now" the ex-official continued, 81
, don't suppose there are ninety-nine
, men out of hundred, outside the trea-
, sury department. who know what these
seemingly unnecessary letters are on
the United States bills. And even if
they had noticed them am willing to
, bet that not one of them could tell
, what they signify"
The ex-treasury man handed the re-
; porter a United States note and re-
quested that the reporter read to him
the last four figures of it's number
which were 1921. Then the ex-official
: said, almost instantly: "The letter on
that bill is B." When the bill was ex-
amined the diminutive was found on
it in two places. Half dozen other
bills were produced, and when the
: treasury man was told the last four
figures of their numbers he was able
to tell, with lightning rapidity, what
!. letter would be found on each bill In
t each case the letter was either A, B
1 G or D.
: .The explanation is simple" said
a the ex-official. eff you take the last
J, four figures of the number on any bill
( mo matter what it's denomination, anG
e divide them by four.you will of course
j. have either rem; 'nder of zero, l,
: or 8. If the remainder is zero, the
f letter on the bill will be A. If it is l
/ the letter will be B; if it is 2, the let
7 ter will be C, and if it is 8, the letter
f will be D.
t s'This is one of the many precau
S lions taken by the government agains
counterfeiters. You can tell Instant!
a whether a bill is bad or good by max
= ing that test l wouldn't give Seen
= piece for a $1,000 BILL no matter how
y perfect it seemed, If it's little letters
;, did not correspond with the remainde
:. obtained by dividing the last four fig
. ures of it's number by four"