The Washington herald., 1914-07-07
HISTORY BUILDERS
A Curious Banking Mystery,
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At the time Of the war In South Africa,
England bought vast amount Of sup
plies In the United states, and one Of
the largest items Of her purchases was
hay. II was shipped in enormous amounts
TO South Africa. and the commission
merchant. theodore HUFFMAN, by whom
most OF these purchases were handled
and exported. became conspicuous IN
business circles because Of the skill and
faithfulness with which he carried on the
contracts with Great Britain.
I ~as chatting recently with Mr., Hun
man and speaking OF the enormous
amounts Of hay and other products which
he exported for the British government
IN South Africa at the time Of the Boer
war.
"oh. that. is a matter Of ancient his
tory" he said. Every detail OF II
worked out satisfactorily and the incl
dent was closed soon after the termina-
ton Of the war. But there was another
Transaction which occurred at that time
which occasioned q mystery which have
never been able to solve. nor has any one
who was connected with me.
VI had been accustomed for years to
buy or to handle on commission large
amounts OF hay and oats which were
grown In the upper valley Of the Harlem
and there purcha sed by a middlenan with
whom had direct dealings. Our custom
was to pay certain amounts upon account
and then 10 make yearly settlements on
the first Of April
In April OF the year OF the war be-
tween Great Britain and the Beers
made a settlement with this man. The
sum amounted to several thousand dol
Ia nd 4 f1r h.
amount. Two months later I had my
bank botk balanced and my cancesed
checks returned. was astonished to find
that had q larger balance by some q, 900
than / supposed I had. looked through
my Cancelled checks and made comparison
with the stubs In my check book, and
then discovered that the check which I
had given to this mIddleman had never
been presented at my bank for collection.
"A few days later. I met him and told
him that II was not good business policy
for him to carry around a check for two
or three months. He asked me what I
meant, and then said TO him that he
should have deposited my check immedi-
ately.
ITO my intense astonIshment he told me
that he had deposited IL in his own bank,
and that he had received credit for II.
then made inquiries in my bank and was
told that the check had never been pre-
sented for collection.
But the curious feature of the entire
transaction was that my customer. upon
inquiry at his own bank, found that the
books showed that the check had been
made good.
Somewhere between that bank and my
bank that check disappeared. nor was IL
ever discovered. nor did the most careful
investigation furnish any clew to H. Fur
thermore. the books OF my friends bank
balanced perfectly.
Now where did that check go? My
friend was paid. and yet was 1900 to
the good. His bank had been paid and
yet the check had never been presented
at my bank have talked to bankers
about this and they have told me that IL
was the most curious Transaction Of the
kind Of which they had knowledge"
Copyright. 1914. b. l. J. Edwards All nights re-
ssUedl
Tomorrow DR.. Edwards will tell Of "A
Speech that Charmed Clay and Webster"