The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1901-09-13
STORIES OF BANK NOTES.
Queer RECORDS of Some OF Those Pre-
served In England.

a curious and interesting volume mich,
be written on the adventures OF soro
Bank of England notes from the dow
when they leave the printing press. clean
and crisp and beautiful, to the last l,v
of their Varied careers, when. shorn NJ
signature and with a hole punched
through che figures which have r9lo
them so attractive. they are bundled iDta
a close furnace and converted into ashes
Their leases of life vary as widely as
their adventures, for, while some return
to the fold with their work done within
a day or two, there may be seen +,
Thrcadncedle street a note which was
wandering for a century and a quarter
before it came again into the Ola
Lady's" keeping.
One of the most historically interes.in,
of bank notes was that for $1,000 with
which Admiral Cochrane paid the in
iquitous fine imposed on him in 1914, In
may be remembered that this most ca..
liant of sailors had been accused Of con-
spring to dcfraud the Stock Exchaura
by circulating a false report of the duat5
of Napoleon ana had been sentenced to p
fine Of $1,000, - months imprisonment
and an hour in the pillory.
a public subscription was raised amor-
his constituents for the payment 0r i.-
fine, ana the admiral thus Endorsed tn.
note which they presented him:
GRATED CHAMBER, KNd's Eeyeu prrss;.
July 9, ISIS.
Ny health having suffered ly long aad cl
confinement and my oppressors hein. resolved G..
GeWiye me- Of property or life. | sUhu
lery to protect myself from murder ai.
that $. half live a brur Tie Iafir...r.....
tice. t...as
Once and only once the bank -lel Iv
mistake note for q penny. which fa
some years was a source Of auag a...
and anxiety. Like a willful am -u.u.r
Sheep. it would not come back tlt.a
and it was only recovered when tuc Ja
in despair offered a reward of t. tuu..s
return.
In mood of rare eXtravaga0ce TIL
bank once printed four notes, paoa for
81,000,000, and promptly destroyed th
plate. Two of these notes came into Il.
very appropriate hands of LJ,.srhi.5,
and Coutts, where for time .Acy att
tracted many open mouthed spectators
The only notes approaching these in
value were two for 100000 each While.
were destined to a very ''short litc"
Bank of England notes have often, as
perhaps is not unnatural, been associated
with tragedies and crime. 1t is not MANY
years since young gentleman of the
name of Swami was found dead, shot by
his own hand, in a London attic lie hal
squandered a large fortune in every kind
of dissipation, and when he was reduced h
to his last IS note he decided that life had
nothing more to offer him.
On a table by the side of his revolver
was found a charred portion of a bauk
note, with which. in bravado, he had lit
his last cigar, and on it these words were
penciled, The last note Of a dying
Swami"
In the days when to steal or forge Al
bank note was a crime punishable bY
death the histories of many note, were
tragic in the extreme. The circumstances
of one memorable case are peculiarly a
a certain young man called Howlan
was accused by his uncle merchant id
the city, of stealing a $50 note from thd
writing table in his study. Although Il
was not proved that the note had evef.
! been in his possession or that it had heed
/ cashed, the circumstances Were consider
ed suspicious enough to justify eonviC
ton, and the young man, who waS pom
ular and of irreproachable character, wal
sentenced to death.
Some years after his execution the note
for which his life was sacrificed wa
found in a recess in the library chimneY
where it is supposed draft had carried
| it.-London Tit-Bits.