of count is of vital
importance, but also that the knowledge and skill necessary to detect
irredeemable notes are indispensable. A counter, when she puts her
initials upon a package of notes, assumes the responsibility for the
correctness of the amount as shown upon the strap; and any differences,
if against her, will be made good at the end of the month out of her
salary. The degree of accuracy reached by the present force is
surprising considering the bulk of money handled daily. Counterfeits
which, like the fives on the Traders' National Bank of Chicago, the
Hampden of Westfield, Massachusetts, and the Merchants' of New Bedford,
Massachusetts, have passed current all over the country, and become so
worn that some unsuspecting village banker thinks proper to have them
redeemed, are laid aside without a second glance. All the tricks
practised by operators in "queer" are discovered instantly.

Among the means known to these gentry for expanding illegally the value
of genuine currency, that most frequently resorted to is known as
"splitting." Nine notes, for example, of a single denomination, are
taken, and of the first one-tenth is cut off from the upper portion with
a sharp knife by a line parallel to the margin. From the second
two-tenths are cut, and so on, the divisions being made successively
lower by tenths of the width, until from the last note the lower tenth
is cut. The upper portion of the first note is then joined, by pasting,
to the lower portion of the second, the upper portion of the second to
the lower portion of the third, and this plan being carried out with all
the others, the result is the production of ten notes, each of which
lacks one-tenth of its face, but which will pass with little question,
among the inexperienced, at full value. The original notes being,
however, very likely of different banks in several States, one effect of
this operation, in the cases where the lines of division pass through
the titles, is the creation of banks not found on the lists of the
Treasury. When a note of this composition is presented for redemption
the joined portions are separated, and being genuine are treated as
parts of notes, and redeemed accordingly. The rules of the department
applying to national bank currency are that notes lacking less than
two-fifths are redeemed at their face. When more than two-fifths are
missing the amount allowed for is proportionally reduced. The only
exception to this rule is in