Table Of Content

THE CHECK COLLECTOR Number 61 THE CHECK COLLECTOR January-March 2002 Editor: Robert D. Hohertz Box 190332 Contents St. Louis, MO 63119-6332 (314)961-4399 4 Horse Railways -Leifer 9 Brief History -Burdick Advertising Manager Melanie C. Hohertz 10 Revenue Stamped paper Exhibit -Lesher 3837 36thAve., South 14 Membership Directory Minneapolis, MN 55406 23 Celebrity Check - Raffle 24 Announcements 24 Member Exchange The Check Collector (ISSN 1066-3061) is published 25 Secretary's Report quarterly by the American Society of Check Collectors, 10201 GrosvenorPl., Apt. 902, Rockville, MD 20852. Subscription only by membership, dues $10 per year in the US ($14 per year in Canada and Mexico, $20 elsewhere). Periodicals postage paid at Rockville, MD 20852 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to:The Check Collector, PO Box 577, Garrett Park, MD 20896. All rights reserved. To our members: Write something for The Check Collector! We need articles about checks, check-related subjects, and fiscal documents. See the list of 32 areas of collecting interests on the inside back of the mailing cover for ideas. We retype all material. Illustrations require an original or a good, clear, black and white copy, preferably as large as can be obtained. Original checks sent in are copied and returned carefully. Any questions, ask the Editor! To our advertisers: Deadline for advertising copy to run in the April-June issue of The Check Collector is May 15. The checks on the cover were selected to complement this issues's lead article on Horse Railways. The vignettes, similar The Check Collector is an effective means of reaching the but not identical, focus our attention on the horses and their check collecting hobby, and our membership of collectors knowing looks, rather than relegating them to the role of and dealers of checks and related financial documents. It design elements or figures in a landscape. contains feature articles about checks and check collecting and news about the hobby. The Oneida check at the top of the cover was printed by John Gibson, 82 Beckman St., N.Y., and the Springfield check was Advertising orders must be paid in advance and shall be printed by J.C. Lutz & Co. Lith., Springfield, Mass. restricted to checks and related fiscal documents, publica¬ tions, accessories, and supplies. The ASCC accepts adver¬ The vignette above appears on several checks of the period tising in good faith, reserving the right to edit copy. Copy for around the end of the Nineteenth Century. This example ads must be camera-ready or the Editor will set it as best he came from a 1900 check of the Shenandoah Valley National can. Bank of Winchester, Virginia, printed by Wm Mann Co. of Philadelphia. ASCC assumes no financial responsibility for typographical errors in advertising. However, it will reprint that portion of an advertisement in which a typographical error appeared upon prompt notification of such error. Advertising rates are as follows: One quarter page $25.00/issue Business card size $15.00/issue All advertisements and payments should be submitted to the $10 discount for four issues paid at once. Advertising Manager at the address shown above. THE CHECK COLLECTOR is a quarterly publication of the ASCC. 2 Number 61 THE CHECK COLLECTOR January-March 2002 THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CHECK COLLECTORS, INC. A non-profit organization organized under Section 501-(c)-(3) President: Robert D. Hohertz Security Printers: AR, MO, IA PO Box 190332 William G Kanowsky Hermann Ivester Saint Louis, MO 63119-6332 1533 Savannah Dr. 5 Leslie Circle [email protected] Evansville, IN 47714 Little Rock, AR 72205-2529 Vice-President: Slide Program: MS, LA Michael S. Turrini Larry Adams Dale Flesher POBox4104 812 1/2 Story St. 130 Lakeway Dr. Vallejo, CA 94590 Boone, IA 50036 Oxford, MS 38655-9666 NC, SC, GA, AL Secretary: Coleman Leifer Regional Contacts: Judith Murphy Box 24056 PO Box 577 Garrett Park, MD 20896 New England, upstate NY Winston-Salem, NC 27114 [email protected] Robert Bird 8 Bartlett Drive TX, OK, NM Treasurer: Georgetown, MA 01833 Raymond Whybom Dick Naven 411 W. Reiman 6802 S.W. 33rd PI. IL, IN, OH Seymour, TX 76380-2439 Portland, OR 97219 Lyman Hensley 473 East Elm Northern CA Directors: Sycamore, IL 60178-1934 Michael Turrini Robert D. Hohertz (2002) PO Box 4104 Hermann Ivester (2002) NJ, DE, MD Vallejo, CA 94590 M. S. Kazanjian (2002) David Brase Coleman Leifer (2001) 5523 Halpine Place #202 OR, WA, ID Dick Naven (2001) Rockville, MD 20851 Dick Naven Lee E. Poleske (2002) 6802 S.W. 33rd PI. Robert A. Spence (2001) VA, WV, PA Portland, OR 97219 Michael S. Turrini (2001) Phillip G Ryman 859 Park Circle Canada Departments: Harrisonburg, VA 22802 Kevin Thorburn 413 Cow Bay Road Editor, The Check Collector. TN,KY Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia B3G 1J5 Robert D. Hohertz - see above Joel Rind Canada 14 W. 8th St. Check Pool: Chattanooga, TN 37402 Phillip G Ryman 859 Park Circle ND, SD, WI, MN Harrisonburg, VA 22802 Russ Hombacher ryman859pa@aol. com Box 188 Fessenden, ND 58438 Librarian: Charles V. Kemp KS, CO, NE PO Box 71892 Todd Schaefer Madison Hts, MI 48071 1020 NW 39th St. VISIT OUR WEB PAGE Topeka, KS 66618-1118 at Membership Directory: http://members.aol.com/ Coleman A. Leifer - see above asccinfo THE CHECK COLLECTOR is a quarterly publication of the ASCC. 3 Number 61 THE CHECK COLLECTOR January-March 2002 Horse Railways by Coleman Leifer Horse railways were the principal means of urban transportation during the period between the early 1850’s and the late 1890’s. The first horse railway ran between Prince and Fourteenth Street in lower Manhattan starting in 1832 but the rails protruded six inches or more above street level and interfered with wagons and other traffic. In 1851, Alphonse Loubat devised a grooved rail that laid flush with the pavement and horse railways then expanded at a rapid pace, particularly in large cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore. The largest horse railway was the West End Railway in Boston which, at its peak, had almost 8000 horses. After the Civil War, horse railways began serving many small cities and towns and by 1890 there were about 1,000 of them. But in 1888 Frank Sprague, a Naval Academy graduate, after several years of experimenting, developed a practical electric motor that could function properly in spite of the rough environment of a street railway. In 1887 Sprague received a contract from the Richmond (VA) Union Passenger Railway to build an electrically operated railway line. The line was an immediate success and horse-operated railways were rapidly converted to electric power. By 1902 97 percent of street railway mileage was electrically operated. According to the railway, net Internet site, the last horse railway that operated in the United States was the Sarah Street line in Pittsburgh, which operated until 1924. Perhaps 80 to 100 stock certificates of horse railways are available to the collector of these interesting documents. Certificates from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are particularly common. Four of the more attractive certificates are illustrated. & me# cf7 \ _JffTffmftr mm® ^ Q&sxm. TE OF STOCK. c i t K a <i mi. , , entitled to , Shares of the Capital Stock of the tgktOM KSU QvtOX RAILWAY AND ^ARRriNG $0>t*ANY.£ fnc Hundred ItolUn < m earl, Share hM hem /add in cash. Said Stock is transferable on the hook* of the Company, at their Office in Alton, person¬ ally or hy attorney, on surrender of this Certificate, subject, however, to ull the conditions of the Charter and By-Law* of said Company. &pitut69 e&brreof. The / resident and Secretary of said Company have hereunto ajp.eeA their signatures, this f day of Cf Ctfo} ( </ dt yeff/ ^remduut, Alton & Upper Alton Horse Railway & Carrying Company; this Illinois line was 2.75 miles long with 20 horses and four cars (1890). THE CHECK COLLECTOR is a quarterly publication of the ASCC. 4 Number 61 THE CHECK COLLECTOR January-March 2002 £>h;trrs $llW rut h. Muirs, (fills is to (I'lTtifn, " ■ • / - / V; - u rt,/td(/Sr ' SJ’fs _ t> Mr mrfffaj-dfkai y' Ms U COMYIhhg *** tyl lll. fio.JD, ’ ■ „ ' > I s* , 1 Coalville Passenger Rail Road. This Pennsylvania coal mining community was served by a horse railway just 2.5 miles long with 10 horses and four cars. JWfcne»W*a* IMauttHM, i and iKJ.-is.c4k> S. t ' r.'V.V ,, ' v/ em, m ikt ^m <if s §sw f iwusaiul finite, lawful of fUr ftatrs of %mnu, it ■xk'.rk ssmiitts? srtmirs, -:rv if .JUt 'T'.i , V:/ ... . On July let, A. D. 1873,. i : matuytfy surrender of tkeatuavnd (\~t>vu3 as tin? slxtS imraS? >Vw>»$** a. «?«* kifer 4i' xsstfrjfid, at ax? tins ivjWt maturity <hrr/.', mrtv$ (j» v f.V V rrasttrrr is said < /••t' said tiiotti and;: ■.v.inr,,' :hsr<ls n-s , . Twenty Wmum ;'Oty- Itfcl Steele . Vl!./ |’||» ... , .1, ;,j; .’ . I* 'W<j.»»*sss »*.<<•« )V Corporal* tida! •’k hryn? ajfixad, and tin stmt, It, :■?!■? tin lytalxs-esr ikeie tr.d t - I ■ > . • ■ ' 'rmi This attractive document is a bond. The Erie City Passenger Railway was 2.64 miles and had 34 horses, and 10 cars (1880). It was one of the first electrified street railways, having been converted in 1889. THE CHECK COLLECTOR is a quarterly publication of the ASCC. 5 Number 61 THE CHECK COLLECTOR January-March 2002 Rochester City & Brighton Railroad. This New York state street railway was 41 miles long and had 816 horses and 176 cars. The number of horse railways whose checks have survived is much fewer than those whose stock certificates are available. Here are four examples: VHy JJ °f Atlantic »ia*o Bunk, I Yauj# tkf tfrdrr trl ^ /iv/< < r /I *of : K-- |0| .■■■• - ••• Brooklyn City Railroad, one of the largest horse railway systems, had, in 1890,90 miles of track, 4783 horses and 1300 cars. fl" ' % ruplrr. IJinttlt*;. A. Green & Coates Street Philadelphia Passenger Railway; 7.25 miles, 237 horses and 37 cars. THE CHECK COLLECTOR is a quarterly publication of the ASCC. Number 61 THE CHECK COLLECTOR January-March 2002 ■ 1 *'? Son t’rmu'iwo,. / S " ■ is!nil; 'ilracU and srtU.oswn it. |t. Co. gjpgti Wjji pnv j«v i.lj*‘ n;-<l.,-r • -f il..- Sc»cri.'tai\r r.f tin.' r-ai-.l Company, tin’ **»'••• <»*' " ,V~ iXjlJatx ot Sto ■ t *i»mc /ffll, S7tr$ - - ' /!’{•* *;v«!«iror North Beach & Mission Railroad (San Francisco); 16 miles, 420 horses, 64 cars. San Antonio Street Railway. This was really a mule railway; it had 200 of them together with 40 cars for its 18 miles of track. Bibliography: Poors Manual of the Railroads of the United States', Poor’s Railroad Manual Co., New York, 1903 The Electric Interurban Railways in America; George W. Hilton and John F. Due; Stanford Univesity Press, Stanford, California, 1960. web sites: http://www.railroad.net http://www.myhistory.org/historytopics/articles/public_tran_horsecar.html THE CHECK COLLECTOR is a quarterly publication of the ASCC. 7 Number 61 THE CHECK COLLECTOR January-March 2002 A Brief History by Dr. Donald Burdick Some time ago I purchased this draft from the Bullion and Exchange Bank of Carson City, Nevada, directing the Hanover National Bank of New York to pay $20 to Clara Woodbury in January of 1898. I would not have thought much more about the transaction it represented until I noticed that Ms Woodbury had endorsed it over to the order of Wellesley College. This interested me, so I wrote to the Registrar of Wellesley asking if they had any information concerning Ms Woodbury. I received a prompt reply, enclosing some excerpts of class histories and other documents that gave life to what was only a name on a check. “My family is far scattered throughout the West, from Texas to California. There are two nephews, each of whom has children, and two nieces, both unmarried, still in their early twenties. My great nieces and nephews, numbering two each, vary from 5 Vi years to 6 months of age, and, of course, are most wonderful to me, taking the place of grandchildren. “1 am now completing my thirteenth year as a special agent of the New York Life Insurance Company, and hope to remain active for at least seven years more. Fortunately I am in a business where maturity is an asset, not a liability. My travels in the last two years have taken me from the southern boundary of California to Skagway, Alaska. “My activities outside the business have been mainly for social and civic betterment, my memberships being in clubs for that purpose. It has left little time for personal social activities, except along musical lines. Each year I have made it possible to take some cultural lecture course in the University of California Extension, this year’s course being on the Art and Culture of China. I have served two years as a member of the Mayor’s Citizens’ Committee... I am ashamed to say that I have attended only one of the Wellesley Club’s meetings during 1935, not because I would not, but because I could not, as all have been held in Oakland or Berkeley, and meant the giving up of an entire afternoon on a weekday.” WOODBBURY, CLARA FRANCES 1 Montgomery St., San Francisco, Cal. For seventeen and a half years Clara worked as a special agent with the New York Life Ins. Co. in San Francisco where she made her home, part of the time with a friend, part of the time alone. She had hoped to round out twenty years of service with them, but a year and a half ago, because of nervous exhaustion, she had to take an enforced vacation. Since June of 1941 she has been keeping house with a niece in Beverly Hills. Two nephews are in business - one in California, the other in Iowa, both above the age limit for the Army. Clara is still hoping to go back to her work to finish out her service with the company, but is not sure when she will be able to do it. DEATH Maiden Name: Clara F. Woodbury Class: '99 Married Name: Date of Death: January 10, 1964 Information from Miss Ann Ellison of the same address. Date 2/27/64 THE CHECK COLLECTOR is a quarterly publication of the ASCC. Number 61_ THE CHECK COLLECTOR_January-March 2002 The Two Cent Revenue Stamped Paper of the United States, 1865-1883 by Ronald Lesher (Part 5) C. AMERICAN PHOTOTYPE COMPANY Bank checks and drafts payable at sight were taxed two cents. However, when an instrument was payable at a later date, as in the above examples, the inland exchange rate of 50 per $ 100 (or fraction thereof) was applicable. The 150 adhesive on the top example pays the correct tax for a time draft of $248.75; on the second example the 250 adhesive pays the correct tax for a time draft of $497.27. Each user has ignored the 20 stamp imprinted on the instruments, thus overpaying the tax. In 1868 instructive clauses were added to many imprints to remind the user what tax the imprinted stamp paid. The clauses were no doubt more concerned with eliminating underpayment, rather than correcting overpayments. THE CHECK COLLECTOR is a quarterly publication of the ASCC. 9 Number 61 THE CHECK COLLECTOR January-March 2002 C. AMERICAN PHOTOTYPE COMPANY TYPE B - INSTRUCTIVE CLAUSE FOR CHECKS AND SIGHT DRAFTS "Good Only For Checks and Drafts Payable at Sight" In Octagonal Tablet This instructive clause was required because these instruments were judged to be easily converted to time drafts, which would be liable to inland exhange tax of 5^ per $ 100. This clause is most frequently encountered in an octagonal tablet at the base of the imprinted stamps. [The bottom check is printed in green. The catalog number for the imprints is RN B-l 7.] THE CHECK COLLECTOR is a quarterly publication of the ASCC. 10