The Democratic advocate., 1909-05-28

Cheeks Against Thefts Of Currency
Whle In Process Of Printing.


The paper money Of the Government
IL brought In ironbound chests. locked
and sealed, from the Bureau Of En-
craving and Printing 10 the cash room
OF the Treasury and there delivered
upon receipt TO James A Sample.
chief Of the division Of issue. In
sheets OF four bills each. They are
complete with signature and numbers,
except for tho seal. which Is printed
upon them with power presses In a
small department under the cash
room.
These presses are worked by two
people. usually q man pressmaIi and
woman feeder or assistant When
the seal has been imprinted upon the
bills they are counted automatically
bound In packages OF equal numbers
by bands Of paper. NAKED. signed BY
the persons who have handled them,
and passed into the adjoining room,
where the sheets are cut, the bills
are recouated and inspected, 80 that
the imperfect ones may be thrown
out. They are then bound Into paek-
ages OF equal amounts and taken 70
the drying vault. where they lie upon
the shelves for several weeks. until
the ink has become perfectly dry.
Every safeguard that ingenuity can
contriys Ii placed around these trans
actions, and the chief Of division can
tell which OF hia hundred or more sub
ordinates have touched the different
bills In the vaults He knows who
received them. who printed the seal,
who wrapped and cut them, for every
package is numbered and It's history
IL recorded In an enormous book.
The combination Of checks IL 10
complete that Mr. Sample would
know within twenty minutes II 8
single bin were missing. but be has
never had occasion TO test this knowl-
edge except twice within fifteen years
Only two attempts have ever been
made 10 steal the money OF the gov.
ernment while Il IL In this atagc ol
1 Its history.
on one occasion many years ago .
pressman passing a pile Of notes up.
on the table OF his neighbor Slipped
the top sheet under his blouse With
out being observed and carried II will
him 70 the layatory. where he wai
successful in coneealing IL The
theft was discovered within Ave
minutes and Il was clearly apparent
7 that he alone could be guilty. al
+ though the evidence was purely cir
cumstHntial No one saw him take th'
money Therefore he was not arrest
ed and was never publicly charged
with the crime But he was dismiss
ed from the service and he knew tbs
reason why. The bills we're nevei
4 recovered. lie probably destroyed
them. as they did not appear IN cir
I culation.
On another occasion eight or tei
years ago a coiored messenger Whose
business was to haul the money abou
on cart slipped a loose sheet int
/ his pocket unobserved while passinI
between the printing and counting
rooms, The theft wax also unseen
but the responsibility was fastened
upon him. The pile Of notes was com
1 plete when II left the printer, for
was counted and registered automatl
cally in the press. When Il rcachel
the counting room one sheet waa miss
ing and the package had not been Oh
u the possession Of the cnlOrcd mes
sanger In the meantime. Thetcf0r
ne alone was responsible. and as b.
could not oifer any satisfactory ex
planation he too was dismissed fron
the service, but was not Drosecnte
because there was no direct proof o
his guilt.