examination of the development of the
directors, casts of the heads of the most
noted villains will be placed in juxta-
position with them, for the sake of con-
trast or comparison. The criminal
heads will include those of bankers
most recently convicted and therefore
most familiar to the public, and, if pro-
curable, those also of directors who
have eluded justice.

The casts of the heads of the direc-
tors of this new bank are to be dupli-
cated, and kept on sale at all the prin-
cipal image shops, and at the bank it-
self. It is submitted that this pro-
vision for the publicity of the constitu-
tion of the establishment will be far
more satisfactory than an ordinary ad-



COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.



vertisement of the heads of a banking
association.

It cannot have escaped the notice of
many persons, that bankers are very apt
to be bald. This fact looks almost like
a provision of nature for assisting ob-
servation so extremely important as
that of the moral organization of a
banker ; and it is not unworthy of re-
mark, that " conscientiousness," and all
the other organs of the virtues, are seat-
ed at the crown of the head.

Pecuniary particulars are to be an-
nounced when a certain number of sub-
scribers shall have come forward; all
that is precisely stated at present con-
cerning the resources of the company
being, that it is composed of capitalists
with capital heads, and that the ser-
vices of Mr. Bumpass have been secur-
ed as provisional manager.

Novel Securities for Loans.

THE great banking house of Strahan,
Paul & Bates, of London, came to a
sudden and ignominious end, some
years ago, on its becoming known that
they had been guilty of disposing of
securities intrusted to them as bankers,
by their customers, for safe keeping, and
for their use, but which they had ap-
propriated to their own, one of the
highest criminal offences in England,
and which was formerly punishable
with death. The name of this firm was
originally Snow & Walton. It was one
of the oldest, wealthiest, and most hon-
ored banking houses in London, second
only to Child & Co., who date from
1640. At the period of the Common-
wealth, Snow & Co. earned on the busi-
ness of pawnbrokers, under the sign of
the " Golden Anchor." The firm, about
the year 1679, suspended its payments,
in common with most of the London
bankers, owing to the circumstance of
the seizure of their money by that
most profligate and unprincipled ruler,
Charles the Second. On an examina-
tion of the books of Strahan & Co., ren-



dered necessary by their failure, one
was discovered of the date of 1672,
which clearly shows that the mode of
keeping accounts in those days was in
decimals. It is also stated as a curious
fact, in respect to the nature and quali-
ty of the articles pledged by the elite
at the loan houses of that period (com-
prising some of a domestic as well as
rather comical character), that one of
the entries in the books in question
runs thus: "March 10, 1672. To

fifteen pounds lent to Lady , on the

deposit of a golden pot de chambre."
The blank, it is said, might be filled up
with an existing Scotch title.

Pawning- Money in Ireland.

THE fund of Irish anecdotes will
probably never be so much drawn upon,
but that there will be one left. Among
a portion of the people of Galway, so
little is the commercial value of money
known, that they are constantly in the
habit of pawning it. A traveller visit-
ing that place, having been informed
of the fact, was so incredulous as to its
truth, that he went to a pawnbroker's
shop to satisfy himself in regard to it.
On asking the question, the shopman
said it was quite a common thing to
have money pawned, and he produced
a drawer containing a 10 Bank of Ire-
land note, pawned six months ago, for
ten shillings ; . a thirty shilling note of
the National Bank, pawned for ten shil-
lings ; a thirty shilling Bank of Ireland
note, pawned for one shilling ; a 1
Provincial Bank note, pawned for six
shillings ; and a guinea, in gold, of the
reign of George the Third, pawned for
fifteen shillings, two months ago. Any-
thing more blindly ignorant and ab-
surd than this, it is scarcely possible to
conceive. The 10 bank note would
produce six shillings and sixpence in-
terest in the year, if put into the sav-
ings bank, while the owner, who pledg-
ed it for ten shillings, will have to pay
two shillings and sixpence a year for



BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS.



the ten shillings, and lose the interest
on his 10 ; in other words, he will pay
ninety per cent, through ignorance, for
the use of ten shillings, which he might
have for nothing, and realize besides,
some five or six shillings for the use of
his nine pounds ten shillings. The
keeper of the establishment also stated
that in many cases money was sold as
a forfeited pledge ; that a man would
pawn a guinea or fifteen shillings, keep
it in pawn till the interest amounted to
three or four shillings, and then abso-
lutely and doggedly refuse to redeem, it.

Business Aspect and Conduct of the
Kichest Banker in the World.

AT all times in the haunts of busi-
ness, and especially on 'change, Nathan
Rothschild was a marked object. There
he stood, day after day, leaning against
his pillar on the right hand, entering
from Cornhill. He was a monarch on
'change ; and the pillar in question may
be said to have been his throne but in
his case a solid one of granite. No
consideration would induce him to do
business anywhere else, so devotedly
attached was he to that particular spot.
There, with his back resting against
the pillar, and with note book in hand,
he was always to be seen, during the
usual hour of business, entering into
transactions of great extent with the
merchants and capitalists of all coun-
tries.

Little would a stranger, who chanced
to see the money potentate of the world
standing on the spot in question, have
fancied from his personal appearance,
what an important influence he exerted
on the destinies of Europe. No one
could be more unprepossessing than he,
just such a man as the boys in the
street would have thought a fine sub-
ject for a " lark," unless, indeed, they
had been deterred by the lowering ex-
pression or sullen aspect of his counte-
nance. He. always looked sulky, never
indulged in a smile, nor even relaxed
the rigidity of his muscles. In private,



his intimate friends mention that he
occasionally made an effort to smile,
but never with any marked success, his
smiles at best being hardly more than
a species of spoiled grin.

His countenance wore a thoughtful
aspect, but his whole appearance was
that rather of a stupid, clownish-like
farmer of the humbler class. His fea-
tures were massy. He had a flat face,
its conformation being peculiarly char-
acteristic of the faces of the Jewish race
of people. His features seemed to be
huddled together, without anything
like regularity in them. His nose had
a good deal of the cock-up form. His
mouth was rather large, and his lips
thick and prominent. His forehead
was of more than an average height,
considering the altitude of his face.
His hair had something like a darkish
hue, and was generally short. His
complexion was pale, except where it
was slightly tinged with color by the
weather. He was short and thick;
though being considerably under the
general height, it is possible his pot-
belly and corpulent aspect generally,
may have made him appear shorter
than he really was. He usually was to
be seen in a great coat of a dark brown
color ; and as he paid but little attention
to his personal habiliments, his tailor
had no difficult customer to please-
that is, in respect to taste and style,
though not on the question of price.

It was one feature in Nathan's con-
duct when on 'change, that he never,
except when engaged in business, en-
tered into any conversation whatsoever
with any of the multitude surrounding
him. There he stood, apparently as
deeply lost in thought, and with as
melancholy a countenance, as if he had
been alone in the " vast wilderness " of
shade referred to by Cowper, or been
the "Last Man," described by Camp-
bell. Whether his reserve was consti-
tutional, or whether it arose from the
pride of purse, or whether from the
magnitude of the matters which must



COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.



have been ever occupying his mind
or from the conjoint operation of these
three, can only be surmised.

Another Bank Project.

IT has long been a reproach to
roguery that it never permanently pros-
pers ; a fact which is owing to the im-
providence which generally accompanies
want of " principle."

Numerous examples however, in the
commercial world, as well as elsewhere,
prove that it is possible for a rogue,
provided he be prudent, to get on as
well as anybody else. And, as organi-
zation is as necessary as honor among
thieves, an eminent pickpocket has sug-
gested the propriety of establishing a
STEALINGS BANK to be conducted on
the principle of a Savings Bank, for the
accumulation of the earnings of dishon-
est industry, as a provision for the de-
predator's declining years.

The direction of the Stealings Bank
is, according to the plan announced, to
be vested in a chairman, whose name,
for obvious reasons, has not been made
public, he being the greatest character
in the fraternity concerned. This " gen-
tleman "is to be assisted by an unlim-
ited number of Vices of the lowest
grade. The smallest deposits will be
admissible, and plunder in kind will
be regarded as an investment, and re-
ceive a fair moneyed equivalent where-
by, it is hoped, an end will be put to
the extortions of less reputable estab-
lishments now so numerous. The bank
will be open to yards of ribbon and
bits of tape, and even to rags and
bones. To sharp shop-boys, also, hav-
ing access to tills, no less than the foot-
pad and highwayman, this institution
will be available, and will receive any
amount of booty from the smallest
theft to the highest burglary, swin-
dling, or forgery transaction.

No distinction is contemplated be-
tween common thieves, sharpers, Funks
and pickpockets, and those engaged in



mercantile and financial pursuits, or
speculators in Government and other
official situations ; and thus, to all dis-
honestly-disposed persons holding pub-
lic or private berths of trust, the Steal-
ings Bank holds out peculiar tempta-
tions and facilities. Magistrates' clerks
likewise, and officers of certain law
courts, whose fees come decidedly un-
der the head of impositions, will find
an appropriate receptacle for their gains
in the proposed Stealings Bank.

Yankee Hoarding- Specie.

Now and then some very remarkable
cases of specie hoarding come to light.
A Boston broker some time ago pur-
chased a quantity of coin, of which the
history was as follows : The coin was
purchased of the heirs of an old man
who died in Barnstable county, Mass.
He was an old resident of that county,
and lived to be ninety-four years old.
He was the ow r ner of the house and
land which he occupied; but it was
not supposed that he had much prop-
erty beyond his real estate, although it
was known that he was very close and
miserly in his habits. After his death,
his premises were searched, and specie
of various kinds found to the amount
of fifty thousand dollars. Many of the
Spanish dollars were of ancient date ;
but they showed by their color and
perfect stamp that they had not cir-
culated much since the coinage. The
Spanish gold pieces were wrapped in
scraps of parchment, on which the value
of each was marked ; and the date in-
dicated that they had been thus hoard-
ed for a long period. In all probabili-
ty, a large part of this gold and silver
had been in his possession more than
half a century.

George Peabody's Colossal Fortune.

WHEN all American securities were
cast down in the London market, from
the unjust confusion of good with bad,



BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS.



arising from the repudiation of some of
the States, George Peabody made the
beginning of that colossal fortune,
which he has proved he knows so well
how to use. He made no secret, in-
deed, of the true state of affairs, and
publicly as well as privately exerted
himself for the maintenance of Ameri-
can credit. It was a sort of poetical
justice, that rendered the instruments
by which he proved to the world his
confidence in his assertions, the means
of his own exceeding great reward,
in a solid pecuniary return.

California Gold Seventy Years Ago.

IN the " Voyage Round the World,"
by Captain George Shelvocke, begun in
1790, he says of California: The soil
about Puerto Seguro, and very likely
in most of thfe valleys, is a rich black
mould, which, as you turn it fresh up
to the sun, appears as if intermingled
with gold dust, some of which we en-
deavored to purify and wash from the
dirt ; but though we were a little preju-
diced against the thoughts that it
would be possible that this metal
should be so promiscuously and uni-
versally mingled with the common
earth, yet we endeavored to cleanse
and wash the earth from some of it ;
and the more we did, the more it ap-
peared like gold. In order to be fur-
ther satisfied, I brought away some
of it, which we lost in our confusion in
China.

How remarkably a mere accident
thus prevented the available discovery,
nearly a century back, of the magnifi-
cent harvest of gold since gathered and
now gathering in California !

"Lives" of Bank Notes.

THE average period which each de-
nomination of London notes remains in
circulation has been calculated, and is
shown by the following authentic ac-
count of the number of days a bank



note issued in London remains in cir-
culation : 5 note, 72.7 days; 10,
77.0 ; 20, 57.4 ; 30, 18.9 ; 40, 13.7 ;
50, 38.8; 100, 28.4; 200, 12.7;
300, 10.6 ; 500, 11.8 ; 1,000, 11.1.
The exceptions to these averages are
few, and therefore remarkable. The
time during which some notes remain
unpresented is reckoned by the cen-
tury. On the 27th of September, 1846,
a 50 note was presented bearing date
20th January, 1743. Another, for 10,
issued on the 19th of November, 1762,
was not paid till the 20th of April,
1845.

There is a legend extant of the eccen-
tric possessor of a 1,000 note, who
kept it framed and glazed for a series
of years, preferring to feast his eyes
upon it, to putting the amount it repre-
sented out at interest. It was convert-
ed into gold however, without a day's
loss of time, by his heirs on his demise
a fact which can very easily be cred-
ited.

Stolen and lost notes are generally
long absentees. The former usually
make their appearance soon after a
great horse race, or other sporting event,
altered or disguised so as to deceive
bankers, to whom the bank furnishes a
list of the numbers and dates of all
stolen notes.

Bank notes have been known to light
pipes, to wrap up snuff, and to be used
as curl papers ; and British tars, mad
with rum and prize money, have not
unfrequently, in the time of war, made
sandwiches of them, and eat them be-
tween bread and butter. Carelessness
gives the bank enormous profits, against
which the loss of a mere 30,000 note
is but a trifle. In the forty years be-
tween 1792 and 1832, there were out-
standing notes of the Bank of England
presumed to have been lost or de-
stroyed amounting to 1,330,000 odd,
every shilling of which was clear profit
to the bank.



COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.



Bank Parlor in the Winter.

THE parlor of tlie Bank of England
has always been a place of considerable
"interest," and has been often de-
scribed by those so fortunate as to visit
it. But its aspect in winter has been
portrayed by only one hand, the spark-
ling qualities of whose pen are only
equalled by those of real "Punch."
Of course, in the cold weather, the fire-
place is the spot which first attracts
and holds the attention, and there the
observer perceives the conventional
mode of keeping the pot boiling by
means of money, most strikingly real-
ized. A bank coffer filled with real cofiee
rests on the bars, which of course are
made of real bullion, and the fire is kept
alight by the agency of little bags of a
material one hundred in a bag that
may be seen piled up in the neighboring
coal-scuttle, which is also of the same
shiny material. On the rug before the
fire-place is a little footstool with a de-
licious stuffing of bank notes an ar-
ticle known to be extremely useful in
keeping people on their legs and giving
them a firm footing. The seats serve
the purpose of chests as well as chairs,
and are filled with the national curren-
cy every seat in the bank parlor hav-
ing a good stock of the precious metals
for its foundation. The works of art
in the bank parlor are rare, and the
celebrated drawing of a bank note for
one million pounds, inclosed in a frame
of gold similar in style to the bars of
gold which form the window sashes
is the chief ornament to the walls of the
apartment.

Avoiding Specie Suspension.
WHEN the combined influence of the
non-intercourse act, the war, and the
dissolution of the old Bank of the
United States, caused the State banks
to resort to a suspension of specie pay-
ments, in order to avoid total ruin and
bankruptcy, Mr. Girard became greatly
embarrassed as to the course he should



pursue, to avoid the drain of his specie,
and yet preserve his character for strict
integrity of business dealing; but he
was soon relieved of his inquietude by
adopting, the suggestion of Mr. Simp-
son, a most competent and respected
adviser in such matters, viz., to pay out
the notes of the State banks instead of
his own, which he drew in, by paying
the specie for them ; so that, at no pe-
riod of the most disastrous financial cri-
sis, was a bank note of Stephen Girard's
ever suffered to become depreciated.
This husbanding of his resources subse-
quently enabled him, in 1817, to con-
tribute so materially to the restoration
of specie payments.

The fact just mentioned is interest-
ing, as showing that Girard was never
seduced into an imprudent measure, by
the prospect of immediate profit, but
was satisfied to do what appeared to pro-
cure permanent advantage, though, for
the time being, rather detrimental than
profitable. Most men would have at-
tempted to force their notes into circu-
lation, and redeem them when presented
for payment, with the common circula-
ting medium of the country. But, act-
ing according to the principle and
method which he did, Stephen Girard's
bank never refused to pay the specie for
a note of Stephen Girard ! It is also
stated, that only in one instance was
his name ever protested ; but even then,
it was not his name, but that of his
agent in Europe, on whom he had
drawn bills, that became dishonored
for, as soon as they were presented to
him, after their return, he immediately
paid them.

Curious Beasons for Borrowing
Money.

Mr. PETES, C. BROOKS'S maxim was,
that " the whole value of wealth con-
sists in the personal independence it
secures." An amusing and singular
illustration of that distinguished mer-
chant's maxim is thus given :

A merchant named Porter once had



BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS.



a clerical friend between whom and
himself there existed great intimacy.
Every Saturday night, as Porter was
sitting balancing his cash, a note would
come, requesting " the loan of a five
dollar bill." The money was always
restored punctually at eight o'clock on
the Monday morning following. But
what puzzled the lender was, the per-
son always returned the identical note
he borrowed. Since the discovery of
this fact, he had made private marks
on the note ; still the same was handed
back on Monday morning.

One Saturday evening, Porter sent a
five dollar gold piece, instead of a note,
and marked it. Still the very same
coin was returned on Monday. Porter
got nervous and bilious about it ; he
could hardly sleep at night for think-
ing about it ; he would wake his wife
in the middle of the night, and ask her
what she thought of such a strange oc-
currence. He was fast boiling over
with curiosity, when a note came from
the reverend borrower, one Christmas
eve, asking for the loan of ten dollars.
A brilliant thought now struck him. '
He put on his great coat, resolving to
call and demand an explanation of the
mystery. When he was shown into his
friend's study, he found him plunged
in the profoundest melancholy.

" Mr. B.," said the lender, " if you
will answer me one question, I will let
you have that ten dollars ! How does
it happen that you always pay me the
money you borrow on Saturday night
in the very same coin or note on Mon-
day ?"

The parson raised his head, and after
a violent internal struggle, as though
he were about to unveil the hoarded
mystery of his soul, said, in faltering
tones, " Porter, you are a gentleman, a
Christian, and a New Yorker I know
I can rely on your inviolable secrecy.
Listen to the secret of my eloquence.
You know that I am poor, and when,
on Saturday, I have bought my Sunday
dinner, I have seldom a red cent left



in my pocket. Now I maintain that
no man can preach the gospel and blow
up his congregation properly, without
he has something in his pocket to in-
spire him with confidence. I have
therefore borrowed five dollars of you
every Saturday, that I might feel it
occasionally, as I preached on Sunday.
You know how independently I do
preach how I make the rich shake
in their shoes. Well, it is all owing
to my knowing that I have a five dollar
bill in my pocket. Of course, never
having to use it for any other purpose,
it is not changed, but invariably re-
turned to you the next morning. But,
to-morrow, Mr. George Law is coming
to hear me preach, and I thought I
would try the effect of a ten dollar-bill
sermon on him ! "

Atchafalaya Currency by the Cord.

CAPT. SHALLCKOSS, of the Mississippi
steamer Peytona, is one of the crack
captains on the river. Everybody knows
him and he knows everybody there-
fore everybody will be pleased with a
little story about him. One day, the
Peytona was steaming down past the
cotton woods toward New Orleans,
when she was hailed by another boat
going up.

" Hallo ! Capt. Shall. ! "

" Hallo ! " was the answer.

" Got any Atchafalaya money ? "

" Yes, plenty."

" Well, pay it out ; the bank's busted,
or gwine to."

"Ay, ay," said Capt. Shallcross.
" Clerk, have you got much of that
money?" "About a thousand dol-
lars, I reckon, sir," said the clerk of
the Peytona. " Well, stop at the first
wood boat." And the Peytona puffed
on, until a wood boat was seen moored
to the shore, with piles of cord-wood
around, and a small man, with his
trousers rolled up, and his hands in
his pockets, shivering on the bank be-
side his boat, in the chill December
weather.



76



COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.



" Wood boat, ahoy ! " sang out Capt.
Shallcross.

" Hallo ! " sounded the small man in
the distance.

" Want to sell that wood ? "

Small man in the distance " Yas."

" Take Atchafalaya money 2 "

Small man in the distance " Yas."

"Round to, pilot," said Capt, Shall.

The boats bound down stream always
have to come around, with their bow
pointed up stream, to resist the current
of the Mississippi ; sometimes they en-
counter a big eddy, and have to take
a sweep of some miles before they reach
the landing place. So it was in this
instance.

" So you will take Atchafalaya money
for wood, will you ? " said the captain,
as the boat approached the shore.

" Yas," said the small man.

" How will you take it ? " asked
Capt, Shall. meaning at what rate.

" Take it even," quoth the small man.

" What do you mean by even ? "

" Cord for cord, Captain."

"Put her round again, pilot," said
Capt. Shall.," " and wood up at the next
wharf-boat ; I reckon that some gabbler
has posted this fellow on Atchafalaya."

Burning- a Banker's Notes.

DURING one of the rebellions in Ire-
land, the rebels, who had conceived a
high degree of indignation against a
certain great banker, passed a resolu-
tion that they would at once burn his
notes which they held; this they ac-
cordingly did forgetting that, in burn-
ing his notes, they were destroying his
debts, and that for every note which
went into the flames, a corresponding
value went into the banker's pocket
and out of their own. This is what
may be termed a genuine financial Hi-
bernianism !

Money Changers in China.