SAVINGS-BANK CURIOSITIES.
With persons who deposit their hard-earned savings in the Post-office
Savings Bank, there is sometimes observed a disposition, not to be
wondered at in their case, to use more than ordinary care in keeping
their savings secret,--which care, however, does not always secure the
aim which they have in view, but results in quite a different fashion.
A domestic servant who had invested in a Trustee Savings Bank about
L100, entered the holy bonds of matrimony in 1826, when it might have
been expected she would be ready to admit the man of her choice to a
knowledge of her monetary worth; but instead of doing so, she concealed
this matter from him, and he remained ignorant of it throughout the
remainder of his life. The sum at her credit in the Trustee Savings Bank
was afterwards transferred to the Post-office Savings Bank, and by dint
of saving she added to that amount nearly L50 more. At length, in 1862,
after thirty-six years of married life, she died, leaving her husband
with three children, but without revealing what she had so jealously
guarded, in the interest, no doubt, of her children. Not many months
thereafter the man married again. The second wife seems by some means to
have come to a knowledge of her predecessor's savings, and in order to
pave the way to future possession, prevailed upon the old man to make a
will in her favour, which he consented to do, not knowing that he was
worth anything, and thus gratified a whim, as he might suppose, at small
cost. The effect of this was, that, when the old man died, the second
wife obtained the whole amount of the account, while the poor children,
whose mother had kept her secret so many years in their interest,
derived no benefit whatever from the savings which she had hoped to
leave them.
An Irishman who had managed to get some savings together in the savings
bank was exercised as to the safe-keeping of his deposit-book, and he
adopted the following plan to give himself peace of mind on this
score:--First of all, he placed his book inside a box, which he then
locked. This box he placed inside a second box, which he locked
likewise. Continuing the series of operations, he locked the second box
inside a third box; and then, to crown the business, hung up all the
keys in a place where they were accessible to many persons. In a short
time the book disappeared, and by forging the signature of the rightful
owner, the thief succeeded in obtaining payment of the poor Irishman's
deposits to the amount of about L100. This unfortunate depositor is a
type of a considerable class of persons, who show themselves capable of
carrying out plans to a certain stage, but fail in some one particular
to give them the completeness necessary to success.
Another individual who had some misgivings as to the safety of his
deposit-book, suggested a plan for his identification, furnishing the
necessary data, which were his age, and a statement that he had a scar
under his left arm, known to himself alone. He desired that no one
should be allowed to withdraw money from his account unless upon
satisfactory information being given on these points.
In another instance a depositor proposed to send his likeness, with a
view to his identification, lest some other person might get possession
of his book, and so withdraw his savings. He then proceeded in his
letter to touch upon another matter as follows:--"There are some little
articles I would like to get from London, and one of them is some
natural leaf-tobacco, which I would be glad if you sent me an ounce of,
and charge me for it--it is only to be bought in the largest
tobacco-stores." Not receiving the tobacco, he expressed surprise in a
subsequent letter that his request had not been complied with,
observing, by way of reproach perhaps, that "the commonest person in
America (my country) can speak to General Grant, and there is nothing
said wrong about it."
A good deal of trouble has to be taken in sifting claims for moneys in
the Post-office Savings Bank--especially in cases where the persons
concerned are of a poor and illiterate class. The following may be taken
as a case in point:--
"An account had been opened in a manufacturing town in Yorkshire in 1868
by a girl who was described as a minor over seven years of age. Only one
deposit was made; and nothing further was heard of the account until
1872, when a labourer wrote from Northumberland claiming the money as
having been deposited by his wife, who had recently died. On a marriage
certificate being forwarded, it was found that the marriage took place
in 1851, and that the wife was thirty-five years of age at that time.
The applicant also stated that he could swear to his wife's handwriting,
whereas the depositor could not write. He was informed of these
discrepancies, but still insisted that the money was deposited by his
wife, and employed a lawyer to urge his claim."
Sometimes depositors mislay their deposit-books, or lose them
altogether, and in course of time forget that they have anything lying
at their credit. This is an instance of such a case:--A depositor, upon
being reminded that he had not sent up his book for a periodical
examination--the time for which was already past--replied that his book
was lost, but that if there was any balance due to him, he would be glad
to have the particulars. The amount due to him was upwards of L10; but
as, when a depositor has lost his book, it is usual to test his
knowledge of the account, this course was followed, when, from the
answers received, it was made clear that he was entirely ignorant of the
sum standing to his credit--and, indeed, that he believed his account to
be closed. But for the notice sent to him in regard to his deposit-book,
he would never have made any claim.
As might readily be supposed, strange communications are often received
on savings-bank business--some quaint and curious, though written quite
seriously, while others are evidently written with the intention of
making fun; yet another class deriving their peculiarities from a too
common cause--want of education. A few of such specimens are given as
follows:--
A depositor being asked to furnish particulars of his account, the reply
received from some one who had opened the letter on his behalf was to
this effect:--"He is a tall man, deeply marked with smallpox, has one
eye, wears a billycock, and keeps a pea-booth at Lincoln Fair,"--a
description ample enough, and one that would rejoice the heart of a
detective.
The envelopes supplied to depositors, in which they send their books to
headquarters, have within the flap a space provided to receive the
depositor's address, and the request is printed underneath--"State here
whether the above address is permanent." This request has called forth
such rejoinders as these--"Here we have no continuing city," "This is
not our rest," "Heaven is our home," "Yes, _D. V._" In one case the
reply was "No, _D. V._, for the place is beastly damp and unhealthy;"
while another depositor, being floored by the wording of the inquiry,
wrote--"Doant know what permanent is"!
When deposit-books are lost or destroyed, some explanation is usually
forthcoming as to how the circumstance occurred, and some of these
statements are of a very curious kind. Thus a person employed in a
travelling circus accounted for the loss of his book in these terms:
"Last night, when I was sleeping in the tent, one of our elephants broke
loose and tore up my coat, in the pocket of which was my bank-book, and
eat part of it. I enclose the fragments." In another case the statement
furnished was: "I think the children has taken it out of doors and lost
it, as they are in the habbit of playing shutal cock with the backs of
books." Another depositor said that his book was "supposed to have been
taken from the house by our tame monkey." While in a further case the
explanation vouchsafed was as follows: "I was in a yard feeding my pigs.
I took off my coat and left it down on a barrell; while engaged doing
so, a goat in the yard pulled it down. The book falling out, the goat
was chewing it when I caught her." A sergeant in the army lost his book
"whilst in the act of measuring a recruit for the army,"--a circumstance
which is, perhaps, not creditable to the recruit. A needy depositor
pledged his coat, forgetting, however, to withdraw his deposit-book,
which was in one of the pockets. On applying to redeem his property, he
found that the coat had been mislaid by the pawnbroker, and that his
book was thus lost. In a somewhat similar way another depositor
accounted for his loss "through putting the book in an old coat-pocket,
and selling the coat without taking out the book again." It was
suggested that he should apply to the person who purchased the coat,
when he replied that he had been "to the rag merchant," but could find
no trace of his book. On another occasion a depositor explained that his
book had been mutilated by a cat. Another book, which was kept in a
strong box in a pigsty, had been destroyed by the tenant--a pig. While
in yet another case the depositor explained that "his little puppy of a
dog got hold of it and tore it all to pieces--not leaving so much as the
number." A coast-guardsman employed on the Sussex coast, writing shortly
after the occurrence of some severe storms, explained that his book had
been washed away with the whole of his household effects. In a case of
mutilation of a book, the following account of the circumstance was
given by the owner: "In the early part of last year I was taken
seriously ill away from home; and having my bank-book with me, I wrote
in the margin in red ink what was to be done with the balance in case of
a fatal result, and as a precaution against its being wrongfully claimed
on my recovery, I cut this out."
These are some of the more curious instances of the loss of books--the
loss being ordinarily ascribed either to change of residence, to the
book being dropped in the street, or to its being burnt with
waste-paper.