Cheraw chronicle. (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, March 26, 1908, Image 8
THE CLEARING HOUSE
/ I
Methods of the Big Bank Exchange
In New York City.
MARCH OF THE MESSENGERS.
Ths Way Millions on Millions of Dollars
In Chocks Changs Holders In a
Few Minutes In the Daily Balancing
of Accounts Between Banks.
"Clearing!" That word Is the order
for the shuffling of many feet and the
pattering of thick envelopes upon hard
wood. Men with leather bags hung
against < their chests like bass drums
pass up and down rows of desks at
which other men sit and as they go by
deftly hand out brown paper packages
containing the equivalent of millions in
gold. Thus do the banks of New York
transfer money each business day.
As vast as the figures Involved In the
operation are. they do not make an
impress upon the mind. One is more
apt to wonder whether the gray haired
messenger In the blue serge suit would
succeed in disorganizing the line if he
gave the wrong envelope to bank No.
49 and, if so, whether he wouia De condemned
forever by his associates. But
no one seems to make a mistake, and
the visitor has no reason to worry
about the possibility of misplacing $2S,000,000
even for half a second. The
machinery of the clearing house is almost
too perfect to slip a cog.
The clearing house begins to show
signs of activity as early as 9:30 o'clock,
when the vanguard of bank runners
makes its appearance. They travel in
pairs and are mostly young men, although
the veterans have not all retired.
Their badge of office is a bag,
any sort of bag, suit case, telescope,
kit bag. canvas bag. Sometimes it has
the name of the bank it came from
printed across the end. More often it
bears no distinguishing mark.
Further, its identity is frequently
hidden behind an exceedingly shabby
exterior. That is perhaps a virtue. At
all events, it is not considered good
form in banking circles to be ostenta
tious. A strong bag even though it be
old and chafed is just as good a vehicle
for a fortune as a new one and is less
likely to produce burnings in the heart
of a thug. So this is the reason why
the young men who sweep up the marble
stairs look as if they were carrying
bags filled with their own clothing instead
of other persons' checks. Self
conscious they are not despite the loads
they carry, and one might well imagine
they were going upstairs to change
their garments for gymnasium suits.
But when the visitor reaches the floor
above and climbs to the little gallery
at one end he realizes that not basket
ball, but another game, la to be played.
Already the players are preparing to
take their positions. At the side walls
are benches on which delivery clerks
are sitting, their bags at their sides,
and opposite is a solid counter divided
into about seventeen compartments, to
the front of which are affixed, If occupied,
the name plates of different
banks. Beyond the first is a second
counter and between the two a rack for
hats and overcoats. A broad aisle with
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the two rows of counters from duplicates
on the opposite side of the room.
Settling clerks, who take their places
on high stools behind the outer rows
of counters, face the walls. Those at
the Inner counters face the center aisle.
At the elbows of the settling clerks
stand their assistants, who are required
to sign the exchange slips presented
with each package of checks.
As the clock ucars 10 one glances
from the high dome, with its row of
electric lights, to the scene below. The
clerks at the compartments have made
themselves comfortable. The messengers
standing at case before them
have slung their bags and are ready.
A minute passes. A man appears at
the rostrum in the gallery and rings a
iromr twice. Eves below are uplifted
as he makes an announcement about
out of town banks that will hereafter
clear through different correspondents.
That is not of particular Interest, but
he pauses briefly and then utters the
magic word, "Clearing!"
The messenger for bank No. 1 crosses
the room at one end of the counters
and takes the place of No. 97, who has
moved down a pace. Simultaneously
fifty other men have taken a step for,ward,
and the tramping and scraping
of feet come regularly. No. 1 has
slapped an envelope down before the
clerk at No. 97's compartment, dropped
a ticket into a slot, offered an exchange
slip for signing and passed on to No.
96 without uttering a word. Each of
No. l's fifty associates has duplicated
his performance in every detail, and
go the exchanges, as they are called,
have been fairly started.
In the meantime the settling clerks
are doing their share of the work.
Long sheets of paper in front of them
are being filled out with the total
amounts of the checks presented by
the men who are circling about the
counters, making monotonous but not
unpleasant sounds with their feet
Suddenly, when you are Just beginning
to understand what it Is all about, a
halt Is called. No one says anything,
but every one stops. You ask why,
and some one says the exchanges have
been completed. You ask how $300,000,000
can change hands Jn exactly
fifteen minutes by the clock, and the
same person looks at you with a pitying
smile and remarks, "Why, you've
just seen it done."
There Is marked silence for a moment
after the feet have stopped moving.
The crowd In the room begins to
thin out. for the delivery clerks are
going, taking with them the packages
of checks which have been deposited
with the settling clerks. The latter
Still have work to do. Their assistants
rescue the little tickets from the compartments
into which they were dropped,
and the settling clerks scan the
amount of them to see If they agree
with the totals on the exchange slips.
When first he entered the room the
settling clerk gave the proof clerk In
the' manager's gallery the amount of
the checks he brought with him. Now
he ascertains the total of the amount
deposited with him. Soon he Is able
to tell whether his bank has a debt or
credit balance, and this information he
communicates to the proof clerk. Then
the clearing bouse knows exactly how
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bank to bank in adjusting balances.
Forty-five minutes is limit allowed
for making the exchanges and proving
the balances, and fines may be imposed
If the allotted time Is exceeded.
But It is rarely necessary to Impose
fines, so rapid is the work of the messengers
and so simple the system of
exchange. Most of the work is done
before the messengers get to the clearing
house. The checks for exchange
with other banks are inclosed in separate
envelopes, and these envelopes
are arranged in consecutive order in
the delivery clerk's bag, so all needless
delay in depositing them Is eliminated.
To make the clearing finally complete
It Is of course necessary to exchange
the cash. "Accordingly," says James
G. Cannon In his book on "Clearing
Houses," "before half past 1 o'clock
each debtor bank, in compliance with
the requirements of the constitution,
pays into the clearing house the amount
of Its debit balance and obtains a receipt
for the same signed by the assistant
manager. After half past 1
o'clock the creditor banks receive at
the clearing house their respective balances
and give their receipts for the
same In a book provided for that purpose.
but in no case cap a creditor
bank receive its balance until all the
debtor banks have paid In."?New York
Post.
A MARKFT IN MOROCCO. "
The Best Place to Study the Ways of
the Wily Natives.
The place of all places to see the
Moorish people Is at their markets, for
every class and kind of them Is there,
and when you have seen one market
you have seen them all, for there Is a
racial similarity in the Moors the world
over.
The first thing about a Moorish market
that attracts the attention of a
traveler is the farreaching odor or.
rather, the multiplicity of odors, for
there is a composite character about
the smell of a Moorish market that cannot
lie equaled anywhere outside of
China. Before you can even hear the
continual wrangle and Jangle of the
market place you can smell it
Once there the interminable jumble
of things and folks is disconcerting,
and the evidence of dirt everywhere
takes from an American all desire to
deal in eatables, for the Moors seem to
be wholly insensible to dirt of any
kind and every kind and have no objection
to fruit and berries that have come
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sandy roads.
These people are natural traders, second
to none In their ability to obtain
the highest possible price or equally
ready willingness to let the article go
for a mere pittance rather than miss
making a sale.
They will begin the price of n lamp
at .1 shillings and after a little haggling
will come down to 1 shilling, but if you
move on they will thrust the lamp into
your hand and ask you to give them
anything for it that you will, and it is
a sale, no difference how small may he
your offer.
In nearly all countries the everywhere
present and always the same
donkey is an inevitable adjunct of a
Moorish market. The whole animal
kingdom would he senrched through in
vain to find any creature more wholly
devoid of Impulse and sentiment than
this imposed upon little beast.
ljike a rniausi. pmiusupuer, ub is
wholly resigned to the order of things,
and nothing can cause hlin to stir from
the even tenor of his ways. Caressing
and even food do not seem to add any
to his satisfaction, and beating and
abuse do not detract from his tranquillity.
His features are perfectly Immobile.
As he stands in the market place one
may pet him and give him bits of grass
or fruit and he will not raise his head
or even open his eyes. lie Is the supreme,
Ineffable resignation in flesh
and blood. And no Moorish market is
complete without him by the score.?
World's Events Magazine.
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