Evening journal., 1910-10-08
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
A Banking Experience Of
Pioneer Days
BY "HOllsnd."

The man who was confronted with
and successfully solved the serious
problem of paying off the Union
troops az the close Of the Civil War
was Hugh Mccullough. of Indiana,
then Secretary OF the Treasury. q
post which he held until 1869 and
again resumed IN 1884 for a few
months He, also, was our first
comptroller of the currency, taking
that position IN 1853: and altogether
his record as a fnancier in the gov
eminent service ranks exceedingly
high. Yet his education I'm financial
matters was gained In the backwoods.
It was not until 1S49 that the first
survey was made for railroad west
of Pittsburg. Sixteen years previous
~ Hugh Mccullough moved TO the
little town of Fort Wayne, Ind, from
down East and began the practice OF
law. Four years before the first rail-
road surveyors started out from Pitts
burg westward he became manager of
branch of the State Bank OF Indiana.
and from then on until he was made
comptroller of the currency at the
height of the Civil War he gained
greatly in financial authority In his
state, until the year before he entered
president OF the newly organized
Bank Of the State OF Indiana.
"As manager Of the Fort Wayne
branch of the old state bank back in
the forties ! had many interesting ex-
periences," Mr.. Mccullough said, sew
eral years before his deah in 1895,
but, as / look back on that period OF
my career. the experiences that inter-
est me most are those which UNDER
went when / carried large amounts Of
the branch's money about with me, 10
my official capacity. in my saddlebags.
zone Of my duties as manager OF
the branch was 10 visit indianapolis
~ regular stated intervals In order
TO make reports 70 the parent bank,
turn in the bank notes OF other
branches which I had received, and
receive a fresh supply Of my own
bank notes and, usually. some specie.
Then. having got this money I would
put Il in my saddlebags, mount my
old nag and set out on a half weeks
! journey through the woods to Fort
| Wayne-for in those days there We're
no railroads IN Indiana. or elsewhere
In the middle west.
For miles 1 Would travel without
meeting human beings-the only liv-
ing creature ] would see would he
! wild feasts Sometimes, ] would meet
or overtake a settler and his family,
or a small group of hardy pioneers
! looking about for a likely spot to
settle on. AT night usually managed
to make a pioneer's cabin-the coun-
| try was thickly enough settled for
that I would take off the saddlebags
and put them by the cabin door. Then
/ would 60 inside for the night and
when I was ready to continue my trip
| in the morning, there would be those
money stuffed bags just where ] had
put them hours before.
Not once. during all the time that
1 carried bank money between In
dianapolis and Fort Wayne I'm this
manner. was I in the slightest danger
( Of being robbed. I never thought OF
the possibility of robbery. The
pioneers came TO know who 7 was
and what | carried in my saddlebags,
but they never made inquiries about
the contents and no suspicious move
towards It. Everywhere I was treat
ed with the utmost courtesy of the
rough and ready sort trusted the
settlers, they showed themselves
worthy Of the trust in every respect
and ] want TO say that the only mis-
adventures that befell me on my lone
ly trips through those primeval
stretches with my banks money were
due to my being overtaken by occa-
sional storms. The wild beasts ever
left me alone, but had any attacked
me would have had only my two
arms for weapons OF defense never
carried a pistol or other firea-m. AND
whenever ! hear these days of trair
robbery in the west. or OF a stag
hold-up, there comes wildly 20 m,
mind recollections of the era when i
was absolutely safe for q man wh'
was known to be in possession Of
large sum of money 10 travel alone
and unarmed through a wild and lone
/ ~ section for half week az
stretch"
Copyright. 1910, by p ]. Edwards
All rights reserved.)