The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1911-10-10
! MORE Than 'sI,OOO,OOO
!, IN SAVINGS BANKS
dormant" Accounts Whose
Owners Have Not Been
Heard From For Years.
y II ORE than $1,O0O.OOO is lying
Il" in the savings banks of New
York city In what banking

| II" in the savings banks of New
| York city In what banking
people call dormant ac-
counts"-that Is, accounts to which
nothing has been added and from
which nothing has been withdrawn for
many years. But the depositor In each
case is liable to appear any day and
demand 1t.
| Some Of these dormant accounts are
more than seventy years old, none Is
less than twenty-five, and what to do
with such deposits has been a puzzle
ever since savings banks were first es-
tablished in this city more than eighty
three years ago.
| Money at per cent interest per an
mum doubles itself in about eighteen
years, and as per cent Is the average
rate paid by the savings banks In New
York it will be seen that the ''unclaim-
ed" money or dormant accounts, unless
checked, would pile up enormously In
| the course of time and become such
q burden that the banks might col
lapse under it. Accordingly the legis-
lature limited the period during which
interest must be paid on dormant ac-
counts At first the limit was fixed at
twenty years, but later was extended
to twenty-five years.
What They Represent.
Most of these sleeping accounts were
originally sums Of only S. or $40, flag
|
tive. The owners perhaps had left
these small balances simply to keep
their accounts open and finally perhaps
forgot all about them.
But many Of the accounts represent
money deposited by some emigrant
who later probably went to some other
section Of the country and, unable to
write, had never again got in commu-
nication with the bank.
Several of the deposits were made by
men for the benefit Of some child or
other person, while a number Of others
represent the savings Of seafaring men
who had sailed away and for some
reason never returned.
Year after year efforts have been
made to cause the passage Of some
measure providing that after a certain
lapse Of time the funds should revert
to the state. The prompters of such
legislation, the bankers assert, want to
see the money so disposed that they
could trump up claims to it.
Under the law the savings banks are
required to report to the state bank
ing department every dormant account
because If it were INSCRIPTIONS law
yers might overwhelm the banks with
fictitious claims to the larger amounts
Hunt For Owners or Heirs.
Banks do not want dormant &C
counts. Most Of them employ clerks
or agents to hunt up the owners OF
heirs. Often when the owner has been
found the searcher has been CURLY told
by him that he knew all about the &C
count and he didn't thank the bank fol
troubling about 1t.
"We usually" said one of these
searchers, "look up the depositor IL
the old directories and go to the house
where he resided at that time. If be
Is dead we inquire as to his relatives
If be has moved out Of town we To-
cate, as nearly as possible, the section
into which he moved, and then we ad
yertise for him or his heirs. Sooner
or later we find some one who has g
claim to the money.
Zone day woman walked in and
presented an old bank book, saying
that her husband had died In Panama
leaving her without means beyond his
deposit of $1,000 The total, with
interest, was $4,000. She got the
money.
1.-THE other day bank book came t.
us from Scotland with a dormant &C
count Of about forty years standing
We had worked on that case for sew
eral years before we found our de
positor. He was a wealthy man II
Scotland. We find them in Scotland
England. Ireland, Germany. Franc,
and Italy"
Some Unclaimed Moneys.
Among some Of the moneys unclaim
ed is $4,000 belonging to the heirs Of
Stefano Belmonte and his wife, Lydia
1t is known that Stefano Belmonte
was married In Maine prior to 1885,
and that daughter, Marie, was born
there Aug. Is, 1887. A record ha.
been found of this daughters, baptism
In the Catholic church In 1855, a,
which time her parents. 1t Is believed
were dead The money has been un
claimed for about twenty years. Some
of the heirs. 1t is thought, are Twins
R~~~~~~
Chinese Library Commission.
Three prominent Cinnamon are in
speeding American public buildings IL
an effort to arrive at a conclusion re
garding the erection Of q new hbrar,
/ a.