Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-23
ROBB|kC UNCLE SAM
Treasury and Subtreasury
Thefts of the Past.
LEAD DISKS FOR DOLLARS
Substitution Made While Silver Was
Being Counted.
ONE CLERK P0CKETED $47,5O0
Woman Turns Thief After Twenty
Five Years of Honesty-How Ma
tons Money is Guarded.

Apropos of the recent theft Of $4,000
from the asserting teller's cage of the Chi
cago subtreasury, 1 had a chat the other
day with Charles H. Treat, treasurer of the
United States. He is the official keeper of
the nations strong box and is under per-
petual bond of $4,000. When he came
into Office a year ago last July all Of the
paper and metal money in the treasury
vaults was counted and Mr.. Treat gave
his predecessor a receipt for S1,259, $685.
27S.5S %. In making this careful count
force of eighty men were kept busy for
two and half months.
Mr.. Treat said that the men and women
who have daily handled the nations mil
lions since the treasury was established
have, upon the whole, made a remarkable
record for honesty, in spite of their ire
mendous temptations and meager salaries.
He told me that between five and six
thousand millions of dollars is now pass
ing through the treasury in one year and
that in the past twelve months S622 600 600
not including bank notes-passed through
the hands of one trusted man. Mr.. A. R.
Quaiffe the vault clerk of the treasury.
Regardless of this stupendous flow of
money there has not been any theft in the
treasury proper since ten years ago, when
5000 was taken by an employee assisting in
the count EldQe WHEN Ellis n. ftODeTlS De-
came treasurer Of the United States.
Substituted Lead for Silver.
This man gained access to money bag
in the silver vault while the committee in
charge Of the count were not looking and
he extracted six hundred silver dollars for
which he deftly substituted six hundred
disks of lead, having the weight Of dollars
When this was discovered the counters had
to begin anew and the entire count of that
year occupied five months. The man was
sent to the penitentiary, but Mr.. Morgan,
his bond. to make good the loss. The as
sistant United States treasurers also are
under bond and are held responsible for
money stolen from their subtreasuries.
There was a subtreasury defalcation at
St. Louis, only last year, when SCI, 500
taken. The suspected teller was indicted
but not convicted. But by far the greatest
defalcation ever perpetrated at the expense
of the treasury and its branches was that
of Whitaker and May, at New Orleans, in
the sixties. Whitaker was assistant treas
urer in charge of the subtreasury there
and May was president of a national bank
in the same city. Through collision they
robbed the government of several millions.
a large amount of which was recovered by
seizure Of the real estate Of the culprits.
Two Cash Room Thefts.
The temptation to steal has been too
great for several trusted employees of the
treasury proper at Washington. In the
early seventies the interest teller of the
cash room took to himself something like
100000 He had been implicitly trusted
and had never been called upon to show
balance until after the theft was sus-
pected. He took little at time during
long interval. After serving a short time
in prison he pardoned out on some
pretense. His crime wrought reform in
the system of keeping check on the treas
ury employees and today they never Know
when they will be called upon to show a
balance.
In 1875 another employee of the cash
room stole $47, 500. mostly in old treasury
notes. He deliberately took the small
package containing them out of the vault,
slipped the notes hastily into his pocket,
went out to luncheon and gave them to
confederate who kept restaurant. Sus-
the fact that an innocent employee had Sc
lected the same day of the theft to visit
Baltimore The real thief was finally de-
tected. He turned states evidence and tes-
titled against his accomplces-the restaura-
teur and another man-but the government
never recovered a cent. Had this thief
stolen new notes 1t would have been an
easy matter to identify Them inasmuch as
those inclosed in the same package bear
consecutive numbers.
Woman Turned Thief After IS Years.
Some attempts to steal from the treasury
bureau, whose function it is to exchange
brand-new money for that which is old,
worn and torn. A corps of women count
ers with deft fingers and another corps of
women inspectors with eagle eyes scrupu-
lousy examine each old coin or note before
certifying how much new money shall be
given for it in exchange. They are trained
to throw out a counterfeit on sight If
they pass one or make mistake in enum-
Grafton they are held responsible for the
loss entailed by the treasury. After the
counting occurs each pile of old paper
money is sent to little guillotine which
cuts 1t in two lengthwise. One stack of
halves Is then sent to one division of the
treasury to be counted; the other to an
other division for the same treatment.
Worn coin exchanged for new is sent to
the melting pot. All of this counting is. OF
course, done to insure against the theft of
even WORKOUT money.
Thousands of dollars are believed to have
been stolen some years ago by one of these
women counters who had worked for Uncle
Sam for quarter of century. She would
take ten worn paper notes home with her,
and there cut and tear nine of them into
pieces, which. when pasted together, would
make ten ragged or understood notes. sum-
GENTLY complete to pass muster. The latter
she would return to the treasury, keeping
the note which she had left untouched 1t
was detected that within three days she
stole 500 in this manner.
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