The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1901-11-19
REDEEMING MONEY.
UNCLE SAM GIVES GOOD CURRENCY
FOR BAD.
A Bill VIII Not be Redeemed II Less
than Three-Gfths of II Is Saved Work
of Experts is Required In Determining
Value of Bills.

The Bureau of Redemption at Wash
ington, which redeems mutilated cur
rency, performs some astonishing
work. The agencies by which money
Is destroyed are many, but usually the
commonest one is fire, for which of
course, the owner OF the money is not
always responsible, Often, however,
the owner is responsible The Mis-
souri, man who puts 81 700 in the stove
over night for safe keeping, and then
lighted the fire before he remembered
the trivial occurrence, certainly had
only himself to blame for his loss. He
raked up and carefully collected the
burned remnants OF the roll Of bills,
and sent the package on to Washing
ton with the required affidavit. One of
the most expert workers in the de-
partment was set to work on the task
and in ten days had restored four
fifths of the original amount This was
all that could be redeemed, but the
owner was so overjoyed at farfng so
we'll that he sent one of the crisp
800 bills back to the clerk who had
done so well for him.
The man who carried something
over $500 in his pocket when he went
out to feed the pigs was also from Mis-
souri,. The pigs could not masticate
the leather wallet, but they made
short shift of the bills, and paid for
the deed with their lives. The badly
mutilated bills which were recovered
after the slaughtering were sent to
But no one state can lay claim to
all the careless owners of money Iowa
has furnished her quota. and her IA
vorite agent of destruction seems at
present to be the goat. A man in
Ogden, Ia, hung his coat upon fence
while working out Of doors on a warm
day. AS there was no one about he
paid no further attention to it until
his work was finished, in spite of the
fact that in one of the pockets were six
IS bills. When he went back for the
coat he found it lying on the ground,
and sedate-looking billy goat was
grazing near by. The bills were gone
A neignbor who happened along at the
time wagered that the goat had eaten
them, and as there seemed no other
plausible explanation of their disap-
pearance the goat was killed. The
bills were found in the form of a lump
In the goats stomach. By the time
they reached the treasury department
the mass had hardened. and no one
would have mistrusted that the brown
lump was worth $50 of Uncle Sans
currency. But the experts placed it in
water, separated the particles, and
verified the value of the mutilated
remnants. Another inquisitiye goat
ate more expensive meal than this
He discovered the tin can hidden IN
der the house in which the tax col
lector placed the government which he
had gathered the previous day. 1t
amounted to $500. Fortunately in this
case the collector discovered the goat
as the last bill was disappearing This
goat also was killed and in similar
manner the badly disfgured money
was reclaimed. A pauper supposedly
died in a New York almshouse. He
was buried in in a paupers grave.
Later some relatives came from the
old country who were aware that he
had possessed some money. The grave
was opened, and in a secret pocket of
his undershirt was found more than
$4,000. This money was sent on for
redemption, and the task for the ex-
perts was one of the most disagreeable
that has ever been undertaken. Re
Gently the department received a pack
age which had been in defective safe.
In the package were both silver which
had suffered from the flames. and
charred bills. During the travels of
the box in which the money was sent
the silver had worked about and had
reduced the bills to fine ashes. No
one would suppose that these fine pa
per ashes could ever be identified, and
the task was an unusually difficult one,
but the head of the department with
two assistants had within an hour
identified two $50 bills. None of the
pieces of which these bills were made
UP were larger than a pin-head. The
work is done by means of powerful
magnifying glasses. When all the
pieces that are sent in have been
pasted in place. a bit of glass of the
same size is placed over the card.
This glass is marked of into 40
squares. II three-fifths OF the bill
have been rescued the amount is made
good by the government, but if less
than this is saved the bill cannot be
redeemed.-Utica Globe.