Evening star., 1905-10-23
SIZE HAD A PULL.
Battle Of Wits Between the Bank Tel
ler and the Maiden.

From the Chicago Inter Ocean.
From the very first it was a duel of wits
and endurance between the two He was re-
ceiving teller in bank. she was clerk in
the employ of wabbling concern and acted
as bookkeeper. cashier and financial agent.
OF all the receiving tellers in town he was
the smartest and among all the women
clerks in town she was well able to hold
her own. The teller's speciality was the de-
lection of lame ducks. as firms that are
in shaky financial condition are termed. He
knew that the young woman at the behest
of her employers. was kiting checks. He
had no positive proof of her duplicity, but
with his wonderful prescience he knew
that some day she would come in with a
big check. deposit it. and that after the
firm had drawn against this deposit up to
the hilt' the bank would discover that the
check was IN. g." 1t was an old game and
he watched every maneuver of the girl and
every juggle with the lean account
The young woman felt that, In spite Of
her efforts at impassvity the story of the
concerns financial stress was mirrored in
her face. Almost daily she sinned against
the banking laws Of the United States. and
her religious training told her that she
could not hope perpetually to conceal her
guilt. The concern for which she worked
apparently was on its last legs. For sew
eral weeks it had been kept afioat by the
skillful use of question: BILE paper.
One day the teller told the young woman
that the cashier wanted to see the head of
the concern. This was when she had de-
posted check bearing the signature of
man known to be fully as hard pressed as
her employers She delivered the message
to her employer but he preferred anything
to a seance with the cashier, SO he did not
go to the bank. The girl hated to be the
cat's-paw and vowed she never would go to
that bank again.
But she did. She went in triumph. too.
She went with full realization of the fact
that the teller's brown eyes would search
her soul. She knew that those eyes usually
made her tremble and sent her away from
the window stepped in humilia tion
Providence has ordained that there shall
be turning point In the affairs of even
bankrupt concerns, and a turn in the tide
came when disaster seemed inevitable.
man to whom the head of the concern ap-
pealed in desperation came to the rescue.
He was persuaded to put up suf1cient
money to wipe out old debts and put the
concern a working basis. The amount
contributed was 10000. He did not want
to be known in the transaction, so he went
to a friend and got his check. Then he
turned the check over to the bankrupts.
Immediately upon it's receipt the young
woman rushed to deposit it. The teller saw
her coming. Suddenly every fiber Of his
moral being stiffened for the fray. He felt
that the end was near. When he saw the
size Of the check he was certain. AS In a
vision he beheld the bundle of checks that
would be drawn against this worthless slip
of paper. Righteous Indignation fired the
tellers eye and put an edge to his high
pitched voice.
Madam he said you Will have to get
this check certified
"Oh, very we'll" she said. but before 1
do perhaps you had better look at the sig
nature
The teller frowned, but he looked. Then
he gasped.
The check was signed by the president of
the bank.