Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-27
A MYSTERY SOLVED.
Names of Business Firms Written on
Big Bills in Detroit

Secret service detectives have Just cleared
up money mystery that has been worry
ing the ,subtreasury officials at Chicago and
the authorities OF the department at Wash
ington for several weeks. Some time ago
the subtreasurer at Chicago discovered
that all the bills of large denomination COM
Ing from the collector of customs at Detroit
bore the names of business firms in ink.
Whether 1t was some new advertising
scheme or the deliberate work of some per-
son with all Interior object In view could
not be ascertained The statutes distinctly
prohibit the printing, writing impressing
of any characters upon Uncle Sam money
and as the incoming of the marked bills
continued the Secretary of the Treasury
handed the case oyer to Chief Wilkie of the
secret service to run down. Agents of Mr..
Wilkes bureau visited Detroit, where the
bills came from, but for some time clue
could be obtained that indicated either the
bills of less than $50 were marked with the
names of the business firms. and all the
concerns mentioned" on the faces of the
DanknoteS were engaged In the foreign
trade. Names of houses transactipg a local
business exclusively and having dealings
with the collector of customs never APP
peared on the greenbacks. 1t was observed
also, that the names were all written in the
same hand. When the secret service men
interviewed the managers OF the firms
whose names were found on the money ell
of them protested absolute ignorance OF the
proceeding. Most of them were conyersant
with the law forbddfng such treatment of
good money, they said, and the most search
Ing investigation made In the counting
rooms of these concerns resulted In no light.
The collector OF customs at Detroit said
that ne knew nothing Of the strange hand
writing: all he could youch for was the
fact that when the money was received
from the business houses 1t bore their
names. At last. however. the mystery was
cleared away. The clerk of one of the i'm
porting concerns happened to remember
that when he made a payment at the col
lectoTs Office using a hundred dollar bill.
the cashier who received the money wrote
something on the corner of the note. The
secret service men at once interviewed the
cashier at the collectors office and he Shout
dered all the blame He was new in the
Job, he said, and was not very familiar
with big bills. Therefore. In order to pro-
tect himself IL any OF them should prove to
be counterfeit. he made II rule to mark
every bill of 50 or over with the name or
the man from whom 1t was received. The
collector Of customs and the secret service
men had q short heart-to-heart talk with
better way to Identify a bill was to take
down it's check number on a separate slip
of paper. The name of the last holder of
the bill could very easily be placed opposite
the Identification number. they told him,
and, In the event of trouble. he would be
just as well protected as though he had
written the name of the concern all over
the faces and backs of the bills The
cashier promised to follow these instruc-
lions to the letter and the mysterious mark
ing OF large bills has ceased.