Dripread - Book

the
amount as near as possible to the extreme left of the check. Those who
forget this are often reminded of it in a costly way. Some one "raises"
their checks by writing another figure in front of the proper amount.
"Five hundred" might be "raised" to "twenty-five hundred" in this way,
even by an unskilled forger.

The highest court has recently decided that a bank cannot be held
responsible, when it pays a "raised" check, if the maker of the check
failed in the first place to write it out correctly. The treasurer of
the Bath Electric Company, of Bath, Maine, had written a check for one
hundred dollars, which was raised to eighty-one hundred dollars and
cashed. The court held that the company, and not the bank, should lose
the eight thousand dollars, because of the "gross carelessness" in
drawing up the check. Facsimiles showing the check as originally written
and as it looked when paid are here reproduced.

Altered Words and Figures.

The altered check is the bane of the paying teller's profession, and it
is the general practice in conservative banks to accept no checks or
other paper which shows signs of erasure or alteration in either words
or figures.

THE NAMES OF THE STATES.

Alabama--Indian; meaning "Here we rest."

Arkansas"--Kansas," the Indian name for "smoky water," with the French
prefix "arc," bow or bend in the principal river.

California--Caliente Fornala, Spanish for "hot furnace," in allusion to
the climate.

Colorado--Spanish; meaning "colored," from the red color of the Colorado
river.

Connecticut--Indian; meaning "long river."

Delaware--Named in honor of Lord De La Ware.

Florida--Named by Ponce de Leon, who discovered it in 1512, on Easter
Day, the Spanish Pascua de Flores, or "Feast of Flowers."

Georgia--In honor of George II. of England.

Illinois--From the Indian "illini," men, and the French suffix "ois,"
together signifying "tribe of men."

Indiana--Indian land. Iowa--Indian; meaning "beautiful land.'"

Kansas--Indian; meaning "smoky water."

Kentucky--Indian for "at the head of the river," or "the dark and bloody
ground."

Louisiana--In honor of Louis XIV. of France.

Maine--From the province of Maine, in France.

Maryland--In honor of Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I. of England.

Massachusetts--The place of the great hills (the blue hills southwest of
Boston).

Michigan--The Indian name for a fish weir. The lake was so called from
the fancied resemblance of the lake to a fish trap.

Minnesota--Indian; meaning "sky-tinted water."

Mississippi--Indian; meaning "great father of waters." Missouri--Indian;
meaning "muddy."

Nebraska--Indian; meaning "water valley."

Nevada--Spanish; meaning "snow-covered," alluding to the mountains.

New Hampshire--From Hampshire county, England.

New Jersey--In honor of Sir George Carteret, one of the original
grantees, who had previously been governor of Jersey Island.

New York--In honor of the Duke of York.

North and South Carolina--Originally called Carolina, in honor of
Charles IX. of France.

Ohio--Indian; meaning "beautiful river."

Oregon--From the Spanish "oregano," wild marjoram, which grows
abundantly on the coast.

Pennsylvania--Latin; meaning Penn's woody land.

Rhode Island--From a fancied resemblance to the island of Rhodes in the
Mediterranean.

Tennessee--Indian; meaning "river with the great bend."

Texas--Origin of this name is unknown.

Vermont--French; meaning "green mountain."

Virginia--In honor of Elizabeth, the "Virgin Queen."

Wisconsin--Indian; meaning "gathering of the waters," or "wild rushing
channel."

MOTTOES OF THE STATES.

Arkansas--Regnant populi: The peoples rule.

California--Eureka: I have found it. Colorado--Nil sine numine: Nothing
without the Divinity.

Connecticut--Qui transtulit sustinet: He who has transferred, sustains.

Delaware--Liberty and Independence.

Florida--In God is Our trust.

Georgia--Wisdom, Justice, Moderation.

Illinois--State Sovereignty and National Union.

Iowa--Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain.

Kansas--Ad astra per aspera: to the stars through rugged ways.

Kentucky--United we stand, divided we fall.

Louisiana--Union and Confidence.

Maine--Dirigo: I direct.

Maryland--Crescite et multiplicamini:

The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing / A Manual of Ready Reference