3. Arrangement Of Money

To facilitate the payment of notes the money drawer is divided into sections which contain notes of different denominations. A package of fives contains $250; a package of tens, $500; a package of twenties, $1,000. There are other packages of varying amounts. A package when paid out is not recounted. For intermediate payments the packages must be opened.

4. Why There Should Be But One Paying Teller

In most banks there is only one paying teller. It is desirable to have only one, if possible, to concentrate more perfectly the responsibility for the cash; but some banks transact such a large business that two or more paying tellers are indispensable.

As all payments are made by the teller, exchanges or checks sent to the clearing house must appear in his accounts. These will be fully explained in another chapter on that subject.

At the appointed hour the teller is at his place, having taken out of the safe a good supply of the different kinds of money and locked it up, and is ready for customers. His chief business is in paying checks that are drawn on his bank.

5. Forms Of Checks

Concerning the form of checks a word may be said. Human ingenuity has been taxed to the utmost to add to the variety. Of all the varying sizes, 8 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches is the most convenient. The check should be large enough to contain room for all that ought to be written and no more. Much has been written on the subject of color of ink, ornamenting, etc. It may be said that the proper color for every business paper is a plain white with black ink, or a safety paper may be used to advantage. Many banks have their checks and drafts made on colored safety paper and printed in black ink. It is asserted that the safety paper possessing a white body and a colored wave surface has never been successfully altered. In regard to ornamenting checks the following remarks taken from Practical Banking may be added: "It is in ornamenting that imagination runs riot. A very, very little is in good taste; the rest is quite out of place. Some insist on making their check an advertising medium, while that of others looks like a page taken from an illustrated weekly. On some checks words are actually printed over each other so that the deciphering is like solving a rebus. On some we are favored with fancy vignettes of the human face divine; on others real vignettes of human faces which are quite the reverse. Plainness and simplicity, freedom from ornamentation, and as little wording as possible are essential elements of business paper."

6. How A Check Should Be Filled Out

In preparing a check the maker should exercise care in filling the blanks. The general rule of law is, a bank must pay checks as they are originally drawn, in other words, a bank is responsible it it pays on a wrong signature, or a raised amount. But there is a limitation to this rule. A depositor must be careful in filling Up his check so that it shall not be easy to make alterations; if he neglects this reasonable rule, he can not hold the bank liable for his negligence. II, for example, he should write in the amount in such a way that more could be added, and worse still, if he should forget to add the figures at the bottom, SO that any one else could supply them, he could hardly hold his bank for paying a larger amount on such a check than he contemplated.