Evening journal., 1913-09-11
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
An 0Id-Time Bank Check
Which Is Unique
By Holland.

Il often wonder whether a check
for FIVE thousand dollars. which was
signed by Paul Tulane. is still kept
at Princeton as q curiosity" said the
late Frederick d. Tappen to me a year
before his death, in 1902. Mr.. Tap
pens vocation was that OF banker
and he became &: his ssff..y years ser
vice in that capacity Of wide recogni-
ton as one who stood among the
fret twelve leading American bank
ers of the time.
He had an avocation which he
cultivated whenever opportunity Of
fered. and that was the collection Of
old prints, woodcut engravings. queer
and ancient compositions, which as
a whole pictured forth what was the
old city of New York, even as far back
as the time Manhattan Island was
under the control OF the Dutch. As a
banker he had opportunity occasional
~ to see queer checks or checks
peculiarly drawn, especially Of the
days when only a very small number
OF American citizens we're able T..
draw checks. He told me once that
he saw one of the first checks which
passed through the Bank OF North
America, at Philadelphia. which was
the first institution chartered as
bank. He once spoke Of a check for
Sl,500000, which was drawn by J.
Gould In favor of Commodore Garri-
son, and which Mr. Gould scribbied
upon piece of common note paper.
and he said that II ought to be pre-
served by the Gould family and franz
ed as a curiosity.
told Mr.. Tappen that the check Cor
s6,OoO,0OO, approximately. which was
drawn by William r. Vanderbilt in
1884, with which to pay for the purchase
Of the West Shore Railroad. had been
framed and was preserved among the
traditional archives which illustrate the
early days of the Vanderbilt manage.
ment of the New York Central Rail-
road
These are very interesting as curiosi-
tics, Mr.. Iappan said. but ! think the
check drawn by Paul Tulane is in its
phraseology and in the circumstances
which led to Mr. 1ulane's drawing Il
unique in the history of American bank
checks.
Il was told that Mr. Tulane, who.
think. was a native of Princeton, accu-
mulated a very large fortune as a mer-
chant in New Orleans. Out of that for
tune he contributed something like two
million dollars for the founding of what
has become as important and influential
a college as any in the South, the Tu.
lane University Of Louisiana.
"For some reason, perhaps, homesick-
ness, Mr.. Tulane. after he had accumu-
lated his fortune and founded. in 1852,
the Tulane University. decided TO return
TO his boyhood home at Princeton As
he was known TO be a man Of generosity
he was appealed to TO subscribe to
fund designed, ! think, for the payment
of the cost of a new religious building
which was TO be constructed somewhere
near Princeton. He responded cheerfully
and gave $1,000
"'rhose who we're soliciting sub
scriptions had bad luck and after
some months they ventured to return
TO Mr.. Tulane and to say to him
that they were still Eve thousand dol
lars shy Of the amount needed and
that thoy hoped he would help them
10 make this amount good. He did
not hesitate. lie turned 70 his desk
and wrote a check for five thousand
dollars When bis solicitors received
that check and read IL they found that
II was made out in this way, as nearly
As 7 can recollect:
Pay FIVE thousand dollars 10 the
order Of those who are shy that
amount for their confounded old
church building
The check was perfectly good. The
religious minded persons who solicit
cd it did not hesitate to accept Il and
draw the money, but it was such a
curiosity that Il was framed. and for
quite while exposed in the Office
OF the bank upon which the draft
WAS drawn. II may be there now for
all | know"
Copyright. 1913. by r. j. Edwards
All rights reservedl,
Tomorrow Mr. Edwards will tell
why John Swintons Salary Was
Ton ThOusaud nollare