Year: 1865




wealth far outshines the widest fable


of Oriental story, bags of gold lie aroun


10 every corner You kick one as yo


enter. Others rest on trucks waiting sc


pulture in closets. They are so plentiful


and so seemingly despised by the official


who handle then, that insensibly tn


spectator loses his respect for them, am
forgets that the possession of few sucI


bags would realize his lifelong dream O


material prosperity.


These bags are the product of custom
duties. Every day between three anc
four o'clock, little hand cart, ark shap
ped, painted red, covered over and lock
edmay be seen travelling up Wall street
propelled by two stout men, and vending
its way from the Custom House to the
Sub-Treasury. There are but two men
ostensibly engaged in pushing the little
red cart, but careful observer may dis
cover two other men, likewise stout and
watchful. who lounge up the sidewalk on
PARALLEL line. They look as if they
carried revoivers. 10 these days, when
the custom duties are heavy, the little
red ark sometimes contains seven hunI-
red and fifty thousand dollars prize
worth the attention Of robbers. But it
is never attacked When it reaches the
ubTreasury it is unlocked, and the bags
handed in. Each bag is then counted
by the Sub Treasurer's clerks. They
count with both hands. and with a ra
pidity and accuracy truly wonderful
They seem to possess a sort Of instinct
the product Of long experience. which
enables them to discover false coin at
glance. Pieces which have been split
open, the inside fled out, the cavity filed
with iridium, the two halves soldered
together, and remi!ed on the edges, are
SO like genuine coins that the best jud
ges are often deceived by them They
weigh precisely the same as genuine
coins. They are precisely the right size.
They have the ring of pure gold. The
external surface throughout is gold
Yet these couuterleits are detected at
glance by the experienced clerks of the
Treasury. It used to be said of Mr.. T..
I'll. Brdsall, the present cashier, that
when he was clerk he could, in empty
ing five thousand dollar dag, at the first
dip Of his hands into the glittering mass,
pick out all the spurious coins.


There is quantity of silver in the
Sub Treasury, in bags and kegs, but af
ter one has been handling millions of
gold, 1t seems poor sort Of metal A
silver closet holds $4,000; there are
few dozen Of them full to repletion.-
Within short time considerable amounts
Of silver have arrived here from New
Orleans-the product Of duties or of the
Confscation Act. Many of the coins are
rusted and dingy, and it is shrewdly sus-
pected that during the dark days of Rebel
supremacy, these pieces slept the sleep of
the just in damp underground holes. One
of the New Orleans banks is known to
have buried its coin when Confederate
made their appearance, and
the plan was doubtless adopted by many
private iDdiv iduals.


OF paper money the Sub Treasury in
New York holds some forty millions Of
this over eighteen millions are in fiyes.
tens and twenties, and are piled on
shelf in the vault. As nearly as we
could calculate by the eye, there is about
a cord and half of this money 1t might
ell a two horse hay cart. When pay
master calls with a draft, the clerks give
him a trunk ful or busheI basket. The
notes are legal tenders and national bank
notes mixed indiscriminately ly-some old
aud worn, showing evidence of long SER
vice, others new and crisp.


The larger notes, one hundreds, five
and one thousands, have the
honor of closet room There is closet
there which contains half dozen mil
lions.


But, if you are going to steal, gentle
reader, let Us recommend coupons as the
most convenient article to convey
Seven Thirty coupons are so small that
you can easily put fifty thousand dollars
worth in your waiscoat pocket, and as to
Ten Forty coupons, a pinch of them be-
tw cen finger and thumb, is small for
tune. These little bits of paper, no big
ger than an apothecary's label, or half
the size of five cents in fractional cur
rency. represent SUMS varying from TWEEN
ty five dollars in gold to three hundred
and sixty five in currency. As interest
day comes round they pour in from all
fhG far West and the la
tely rebeliious South from Germany and
from industrious washerwomen
in this country. TO examine and sort
these little bits of paper is no slight task.
One of the richest men in New York is said
to keep his daughters, married and sin
gle. busy cutting of coupons for whole
afternoon and evening before Interest
day whes the cutting is done the oldest
daughter herself sweeps out the room to
waits and estrays.


The vaults of the Sub Treasury may
really be said to defy burglars in the
first place they are built on thirty five
feet of solid masonry, SO that digging uu
der them aud working by tunnel to the
floor would be impracticable. Then they
staud in the main hall Of the Treasury