nd of
"odds," and delivers his cash with the book to the first assortment
teller. That clerk makes an inventory of the money by straps, and
finding it to agree with the book, tears off the duplicate entry to
guide him in his own accounts, and puts his initials to the original as
a receipt to the assorter. When all the money put in the hands of the
assorters has been returned in this manner, the total cash is balanced
and locked up until next day. The "odds" arising from the day's work are
kept separate for redistribution among the assorters on the following
morning.

An expert will handle ten thousand notes between the hours of nine and
three, in the manner here described--no light task, for besides the
labor of assorting, every note must be counted twice. Persons of both
sexes are employed at this work, but the physical endurance required
makes it too heavy for women of weak frame.

It will be understood that after passing through the first assorters'
hands the notes are in two lots of "fit" and "unfit," each lot being in
bundles of one thousand notes of one denomination, and each bundle
composed of packages of notes of single groups. The next operation is to
mass all the packages of all denominations composing the day's
assortment by groups. This is done by the first assortment teller, who
distributes the packages on a low table, according to the marks of the
assorters, and straps the packages of each group into a bundle on which
he marks the number of the group and the amount. The distinctions of
"fit" and "unfit" are still maintained. There are then forty-four
bundles of "fit" notes and a like number of "unfit," each bundle
containing all denominations of notes of the banks composing a single
group. In this shape the money is on the day following put in the vault
of the agency. This receptacle is a room whose massive iron walls would
not be likely to tempt burglars even in the most inviting surroundings.
It is situated in the basement of the north wing of the Treasury. The
ponderous double doors are secured by two combination locks of the most
approved construction, one of which is set and can be opened only by the
superintendent and the chief bookkeeper, and the other only by the
assorting teller and his assistant. There is, besides, on the outer door
a chronometer lock which would defy the efforts of all those officials
together, and of all other persons whatsoever until the appointed hour
when the vault is to b