The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-01-06
UNCLAIMED FORTUNES.


Nearly all United States bonds nov.
adays are registered and track of their
ownership is kept in sucii way that
it is hardly possible for one Of them
to remain unpaid. OF the bonded
debt Of the nation at the present time
about 300, 900, 900 is held By private
individuals, and Of this sum some
thing like 800, ,OO0, 600 is owned by
1000 persons, approximately. If one
could obtain list of these fortunate
900 rich men it would be worth a
great deal OF money, but The treas
ury keeps their names most carefully
secret.
a ledger account is kept of all hold
ers Of registered bonds, and, as these
holders buy or sell, they are credited
or dcbtcd, as the case may be, just
as in the business Of a merchant who
keeps tab on his customers. 1t re-
quires scvcnty-cight large lcdgcrs,
each containing over 700 pages, TO
contain the accounts Of the owners Of
the ! per cent loan Of 1897 alone.
Yet so expert is the bookkeeping that
ali of these books are kept by one
clerk, who, in addition, prepares the
bonds for transfer and reckons up
the interest to be paid to each holder
each quarter. Inasmuch as the hold
ings are constantly changing the in
terest due frequently alters,in amount.
The mos luxurious Of all occupa-
tlons is supposed to be the clipping Of
coupons for government bonds-an
employment commonly attributed to
the envied multi millionaire. AS
matter Of fact, however, rich mon do
not bother with coupon bonds; they
prefer to have them registered, mas
much as they arc much safer and
equally negotiable. If you lose bond
anybody can convert it into cash as
easily as if it were treasury note.
A registered bond, on the other hand,
is non.Degotiable except by it's proper
owner, and if lost or stolen will be
promptly replaced by the treasury.
For generations past the Vanderbilts
have been large holders Of government
bonds. William H., ct the time of
his death, owned $48, ,050, 900 worth of
4 per cents. One Of his quarterly
interest checks, cancelled, for $780,.
50O, is exhibited to-day as q curiosity
at the treasury. He got one like it
every three months from Washington.
The interest on his personal loan to
Uncle Sam amounted to s5, 5,265.7
overy day. For every hour Of the
cay and night the treasury. paid him
92l9.40. He drew e3.65 for every
minute, or little more than six cents
second throughout the year. The
registered bonds held ten years ago
by Cornelius and w. X. Vanderbilt
ran up to thirty odd millions OF dol.
lars.
Quite large sum now due TO bond
holders is held by the treasury Of the
United States in the form Of checks.
Interest on registered bonds is paid
BY check in every case to the person
whose name appears on the face of the
security. But people are constantly
changing their addresses aud freque
ly fail to notify the treasury, so that
their checks fail to reach them and
are returned to Washington. They
are filed away and kept indefinitely,
being good forever, deliverable and
cashable' on demand. az moving that
they ares always good for the money
they represent, people often keep
these interest checks. putting them
away and boarding them, just a. if
they were 80 much cash. Every now
and then somebody dies aud his exccu-
tor fluids lot of old interest checks
in a:drawer or tin box and sends them
to the treasury for redemption.
Washington correspondence Chicago
Chronicle.