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must stand the loss. So skilfully are some of the forgeries executed that the very man whose name is forged has been known to acknowledge it as his own signature. So that the bank is forced, in self defence, to compel a rigid adherence to a set signature on the part of its customers, and to reject all checks which vary too much from the original on the signature card.

Having written his signature on the signature card, the new customer of the bank is provided with a pass-book and a check-book, and is then conducted to the receiving teller's window, where he is introduced to the teller and makes his

first deposit. His first deposit-slip is made out for him by the cashier or by some clerk whom the cashier designates. The deposit-slip is a little ticket on which is written the name of the depositor, the date, and the amount deposited. Generally, the deposit-ticket is ruled off into columns; one column for checks on local banks, another for out-of-town banks, another for currency, gold, silver, and bank-notes. The total of the currency is carried forward to the righthand column. Under that total is put the total of the checks on local banks; and under that total, again, is carried the total of checks on outside banks. These totals are then added up, and the sum total of the deposit is written at the bottom of the right-hand column. Different banks have different forms of deposit-tickets, but the idea is pretty much the same. Where there is a large number of checks drawn on an outside town, say on New York or Boston, it is customary to list them by themselves, heading the column "New York" or "Boston," and carrying the total forward, pinning the bundle of checks together and writing the amount on the back of the bundle.

To convey the title of all checks from the depositor to the bank, it is necessary that the depositor endorse all the checks

which he deposits. To endorse means to write the name on the back of the check. But simply writing the name of the depositor on the back, or endorsing in blank, as it is called, is not the best way to endorse a check. It is not a safe way, inasmuch as a check endorsed in blank is always payable to bearer, and it may happen that a depositor may lose his pass-book and checks between his place of business and the bank. So, any one finding these might, if dishonestly inclined, negotiate them to innocent third parties, and thereby defraud the real owner. The best way to endorse checks is by stamping across the back, "Pay to the order of the -Bank, Richard Roe." Some banks are not satisfied with a rubber stamp endorsement of their depositors, and in that case the depositor may, in addition to the stamped signature, sign his name in ink. But it is advisable at all times to make the checks payable to the bank in which the deposit it made. Aside from the danger of losing the checks, there is sometimes the danger that the messenger whom the depositor sends to the bank to deposit for him may not be honest. Many cases might be cited of clerks abstracting checks which should have been deposited and cashing them, converting the funds to their own use. When the checks have been endorsed to the bank no teller would dare to cash them, or if he did so, he or the bank in which he was employed would be held liable to the owner for the amount of the loss. If there be much currency deposited, the universal method is to enclose it in a paper strap on which is written the amount, the name of the depositor, and the date of the deposit. Ordinarily, the currency, if it exceed two or three hundred dollars, is divided into one or more bundles. One and two dollar bills are generally placed in packages of fifty or one hundred dollars. Fives, tens, and twenties are, as a rule, made into bundles of one hundred dollars, or

multiples of one hundred. The term "currency," as used in banks, means paper money. Gold and silver coin are, technically speaking, currency, but the term "currency" is generally applied to paper money only. Gold and silver are deposited in bags. On each bag is placed a tag on which is written the amount of the coin enclosed, the name of the depositor, and the date of the deposit. The object of strapping, marking, and dating the currency, and tagging the bags of coin, is to save the time not only of the teller, but also of the depositors. The teller checks off the amount of currency on the ticket from the total on the bundle, and throws it aside, to be proved up later either by one of his assistants or by himself, at his leisure. He does the same with the bags of coin. If the amount in the package does not correspond with the amount written on the strap, the teller immediately notifies the depositor of the variance, either by telephone or post-card, and the package is preserved in its original form for the depositor's inspection. If, instead of strapping the currency and enclosing the coin in bags, the currency and gold were pushed into the receiving teller's window in heaps, it would be necessary for the teller to count all the currency and to prove up the gold and silver before he could credit the amount of the deposit in the pass-book, which would entail a great loss of time. The teller could then receive very few deposits in the course of a day, and depositors would be compelled to pass many weary minutes waiting in line. In addition to receiving deposits, the receiving teller has many other duties to perform. He must scrutinize the checks to see that they are properly endorsed, or, at least, that they bear the endorsement of the depositor; he must pick out the out-of-town items on which it is necessary to charge exchange; he must keep a vigilant eye on the deposits, to prevent "kiting" of checks, and he

must be on the alert to detect any attempt on the part of a slippery customer to smuggle into the deposit, checks which are not good. It frequently happens that a depositor who is a little "short" in cash will get some friend to draw a draft on some remote part of the country for a considerable amount, and then deposit it with the rest of his deposit. If the receiving teller does not detect it, the depositor may then go to the paying teller and draw out all of his balance, including the amount just deposited. In a few days the fraudulent check comes back protested for nonpayment, and the bank is the loser. Checks on far-away points are sometimes smuggled into the middle of a package of Clearing House checks, to evade the payment of exchange. Occasionally the teller detects an attempt on the part of a customer to deposit to his own individual credit, checks which belong to an estate, firm, or corporation. These attempts are not always made with fraudulent intent, but innocently in most cases. Still, it is the duty of the teller to require the depositor to furnish proofs of ownership, or to submit the matter to the bank officials for their sanction. It must always be borne in mind that the endorsement by the bank of all checks, drafts, and bills of exchange, guarantees all the previous endorsements, so that it is vitally essential that the bank should know that the checks deposited by its customers are their individual property. A little incident will illustrate the point. A few years ago a young man employed by a large corporation was elected secretary of a building and loan association. The laws of the state provided that no money could be drawn against the building and loan association's account unless the draft, or check, were signed by the president, the secretary, and the treasurer. The secretary of whom we speak was living beyond his income. He frequently

received checks from members of the building and loan association, in payment of monthly dues and interest. He cashed these checks at a bank where he was acquainted, and continued the practice until his defalcations were discovered. The bank that cashed the checks was compelled to make restitution for all these checks. The bank officials should have known that the secretary of a building and loan association was not authorized to endorse the name of the association for the purpose of receiving

cash. The signatures of three officials, the president, the secretary, and the treasurer were necessary.

After the customer has made his deposit, he should invariably examine the pass-book, and satisfy himself that he has been correctly credited with the amount of his deposit. If this has not been done, he should immediately call the teller's attention to the error and have it corrected at once. The depositor himself should never alter the figures in the pass-book.

The Larks of Glendalough
By Thomas Walsh

All night the gentle saint had prayed,
And, heedless of the thrush and dove,
His radiant spirit still delayed

To hear the seraph choirs above.

So still he knelt-his arms outspread,

His head thrown backward from his breast

A lark across the casement sped,

And in his fingers built its nest.

The angel music from his soul
Receded with the flood of day;
Through Glendalough the sunlight stole.
And brushed the mists and dews away.

"Twas then the saint beheld the bird
Serenely nesting in his hand,

And murmured, "Ah, if thou hadst heard
The matins in that seraph land!"

Then, soft again he turned to pray;
Nor moved his arm at even close

Or matin call from day to day

Until their nestling voices rose.

And when his loving task was done,
Above his cell he heard them cry:-
"O Kevin, Kevin! Gentle one!

We bear to heaven thy soul's reply!"

By CHARLES J. O'MALLEY

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San Francisco has her Catholic literary group in the Far West and so has New Orleans in the Far South. Wherever the Church establishes schools, academies and colleges, straightway a literary dawn begins to rise.

Accepting this as true, it is safe to predict that in the years to come the great Catholic literary center of the United States will be Chicago. Take up the Catholic directory and note the immense number of parochial schools, highschools, academies and colleges that exist in that rapidly growing second-largest city in the country. It has no university, nevertheless the great institution of Notre Dame is in easy reach. Fifty years hence it may be classed a suburb. The excellence of Chicago Catholic schools is well known. Time and again have parochial schools here, in fair competition, proved themselves superior to the public schools. Here it is proper to say that in every Catholic highschool, academy, and college in that city, English literature is carefully studied and the art of English composition well taught. Add to this outline of educational activity the fact that Chicago contains more than one million Catholics

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REV. J. E. COPUS, S. J.

He would be a hardy critic, however, who would venture to assert that a Catholic literary center exists anywhere. The Catholic mind is doing splendid work in Boston. Instance the productions of Miss Louise Imogen Guiney, James Jeffrey Roche, Miss Katherine E. Conway, Denis A. McCarthy and a dozen more. It is doing splendid work in New York. Look at the activity of Father John Talbot Smith, Thomas Walsh, Charles Hanson Towne, Conde B. Pallen, Marion Ames Taggart and a score of others. In Philadelphia Miss Eleanor C. Donnelly, Mrs. Isabel Nixon Whiteley, Mrs. Honor Walsh, Miss Margaret M. Halvey, John J. O'Shea and a number more are making a morning pleasant to see.

Kelts, Teutons, Italians, Poles, Bohemians, French, Syrians, Greeks, Spaniards-the genius-producing races, in a

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