The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-05-23
\ HUGE
To Count All the Money i'm the United
States Treasury.

4 ~stupendous task viii begin on
June 20. when Elias H. Roberts. treas.
urer of the United states. resires from
Iofhce. and thus makes necessary the
l~recounting of the money in The treas
lu;y, d formalitv gone through every
time there is a charge of
Every piece of money. from the in
Significant copper to the $4,000 notes
land the $4,000 bonds will have to
he accounted for before Mr.. Roberts
lis released from his bond and a re-
Iceipt given him for the amount. which
viii he considerably over a billion dol
liars.
Nj. Roberts has been treasurer
ieight years. having been appointed by
president Mckinley. In speaking of
the count of the money liz she vaults.
Mr.. Roberts said:
"Iu July. 1897. when | came into
loffce. the work was begun and com
p'eted by a CORPS OF fifty clerks. select
ieG from various parts Of the trcasur-
ierS office whore counting is carried
ION There was nearly $500, coo. 900 in
dc treasury at hat time. and the
work was not finished unit! Febru-
larry
- tx al@~ tdAAi1 w ldtIu
and the gold. silver ana other coins
la"o weighed. The gold is put into
leiSht-cunce duck bags. each holding
$4,000 and the silver into sImiitr bags.
with $1,000 to the bag. The method
lis to j out the respective .
tof gold n silver for one bag of each
kind. and use these bags as the stand
ard OF weight h a is. weighing the
other BAGS against them. Should the
slightest deficiency be found in any
lcag The coin is turned out and count
led. piece by piece. Where the bags
have been used any considerable tim
land are found to be worn 10" bags
are substituted. and then ass. The
Ic"ntAntS are counted separatelv.'
How EaSt can an expert count
biu?"
"Well. 5000 bills is considered Z
igOOd DAVIS work in the office The
number counted depends OH the con-
ditiOn CT the bills when we receive
them. Sometimes hey are torn and
ragged. and then they have t. he
patched. This takes much time. Of
icourSe."
Are men o. women more proficien;
liza the work."
That cannot be accurately answer
led. because there are expert counters
Icf both sexes The employees of the
~Icashroom proper where most of the
fcounIliig Is uOnC In inc tldllV routine
iof business. however. are all men,"
"Will the task of counting take so
long as seven or eight months. as il
Ibid before. Mr.. Roberts"
INC. I do not think So. Tt all de-
lDends Dc how much money has to be
lc0untcd by hand. In 1897 there were
found evidences of lead in some bags.
land this necessitated the counting by
tlanI Of most of the silver none
Lid the count and the amount
lshOWn by the ook corresponds"
no. there was a deficit of $500. An
act was passed by Congress relieving
my PREDECESSOR OF the amount"
1t has been found that when coin
is bagged several years. and it has
t!ecn necessary to remove the contents
Frequently. it has lost very considera-
bly, LN abrasion even being light below
the limit af tolerance. Bags are often
Ifnund light from this cause when the
general oun is going on. and the
cc:n deficient. either gold or silver has
10 .a recoincd 1T the c of the
government. The duck bags in these
instances are burned and the residue.
whether i be gold or silver. ave and
t''Se1 again by the mint Washington
lDor+