Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1912-12-19
UNCLE SANS
BILLION COUNT

ed by the fact that ii will employ
about twenty husky laborers. beside.
a committee of treasury officers. for
probably more than two months.
This count is made necessary OH
cially by the change Of United States
Treasurer Lee McClung being succeed
ed by Carmi Thompson Of Ohio. When
the formal transfer is made the new
treasurer will give receipt TO the
outgoing treasurer for more than ST.
000,0O0000 in gold and silver coin and
paper money
All OF the paper money is counted
piece by piece. Much of the gold is
counted Ia that way. but practically
all the silver and some Of the gold are
counted by weighing the sealed BAGS
containing them on scales that are deii-
cately poised SO that the slightest yu
ration from the ascertained weight @.
bag of coin would be accurately re.
corded. The silver and gold coin is
kept in sealed bags.
Tossing Around Money.
1t requires some physical effort e.
count these. They are heavy, and each
one must be handled separately. Taken
from the pile in which it is stacked by
laborer, bag is tossed to anotHe
laborer, who passes it before the con-
mittee OF inspection. The committee
after weighing the bag passes it on e..
other laborers, who put it back in tho
symmetrical pile until the next couu
is ordered
Men have been permanently iniUrca
by accidents in handling these bags o.
coin. There are Il number Of men nos
being carried on the rolls Of the trea
ury who have suffered sprains or bit
ken limbs or been injured internalt
through being hit with money bags i
the course OF the Official count
The committee which superviseS tns
count is usually composed of three PEI
sons. all officers of the treasury
These counts, often as a change il
the treasurer's office has required them
have almost invariably shown ~.
stock of Uncle Sans money i'm TIN
treasury to be intact. but once There
was IA shortage. 1t was in 1885, wher
the Democratic party succeeded t.
power in the government after years
spent in the political wilderness.
There was also a frequent demand
from campaign orators that the books
of the treasury be opened and the cash
counted. SO the country was no
wholly unprepared to hear that the 9th
cial count Of the billion or so in the
treasurer's Office had disclosed a short
age.
Shortage Caused Surprise.
There was really some surprise.
though. at the size of the deficit. II
was only cents.
Republicans throughout the country
rallied heroically to the relief of their
party. A perfect shower of two cent
stamps fell upon the United States
treasurer, coming through the mails
from all sections of the country. but il
was not necessary to turn to private
subscriptions to make up the deficit
Two days after the official count ended
the missing cents were found rs the
result of moving desk.
So far as the memory Of the present
officers of the treasurer's staff goes
this is the only shortage that has ever
been disclosed by any count of treas
ury cash, although it is possible that
there may have been some others
There have been losses and thefts from
time to time
One United States treasurer in re-
cent years made the discovered thai
a thousand dollars was missing. The
sum was represented by single bill
He made good the loss, and congress
later reimbursed him.
Several years ago negro labOrpr
managed to make away with several
hundred dollars while engaged in the
work of handling bags Of silver He
was detected and punished
He invented a novel method of Sc
curing morey and concealing the act
He provided himself with slugs of lead
each of which weighed exactly the
same as the weight Of a silver dollar
Not infrequently in the progress of
count these bags of silver coin fall
open or are found TO be united. II is
an easy matter for skillful man To
tear them open by quickly removing
the string
This laborer from time TO time while
working ut the top Of a huge heap of
sacks Of coin would report to the com
mittee below that sacks were open. and
he would then be directed to tie the
sacks Probably he was personally re
sponsible for the sacks being open hui
he seized this opportunity to extract
one or more silver dollars from the
bag and supplied lead slugs of equa
weight TO take their place.
When the bags were weighed later
they were found to be of proper weight
and for long time suspicion wa
averted from the offender. He had
been a trusted employee, which aided
his plan. but finally he was detected
and arrested