"UNDER A $1400 PILE OF BANK NOTES & LIBERTY BONDS"

'REFINED' WOMAN FOUND LYING IN FIELD COVERED WITH A BLANKET OF MONEY

New York City (JFK+50) On November 30, 1924, the Associated Press reports a woman described as "middle aged of apparent refinement" is being held in a Brooklyn hospital "after being found...lying face upward in a field."

It was not just that which caught the eye of a police officer who saw that she was covered under a $700 pile of one dollar and five dollar bank notes along with $700 worth of Liberty Bonds*.

This lady also possessed a bank book "showing deposits of $1200."

She gave the officer her name, verified by the bank book, as Minnie Griffin.

AP says that Miss Minnie gave no explanation for the "blanket of money."

*Liberty Bonds, issued 1917-1918, helped finance U.S. participation in the world war.  $17 billion dollars was raised through the program covering more than half of the $30 billion cost of the war.

SOURCE

"Woman Arrested using Bonds and Bills as Blankets," The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., November 30, 1924, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

 

 

Blanket of Money

www.walmart.com/

"THE CENTER OF A SENSATION NOT SEEN IN MANY YEARS"

SINCLAIR MADE $25,000 LIBERTY BOND LOAN TO FALL

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 25, 1924, the personal attorney of Harry Sinclair* of Sinclair Oil Corporation informed the Teapot Dome committee** that his client loaned $25,000 in Liberty Bonds to former Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall in June 1923, just three months before the latter's resignation.

The Evening Star described Mr. Fall  as "the center of a sensation whose counterpart the National Capital has not seen in many years."

JFK+50 NOTE

$25,000 (1923) would be equivalent to more than $453,000 today (1924)

*Harry Ford Sinclair (1876-1956) was born in Benwood, West Virginia & founded Sinclair Oil Corporation.  HFS was convicted of contempt of court in the Teapot Dome Scandal, fined & sentenced to 6.5 months in a D.C. jail.

**Officially known as the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys. 

SOURCE

"Sinclair Made Fall $25,000 Loan, Probe Reveals," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., January 25, 1924, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

 

 

Harry Sinclair & Attorneys

Washington, D.C.

March 22 1924

National Photo Company

Library of Congress

"CASHIER RECOVERING FROM ATTEMPTED SUICIDE"

$600,000 SHORTAGE IN LIBERTY BOND ACCOUNTS DISCOVERED AT SPRINGFIELD NATIONAL BANK

Springfield, Ohio (JFK+50) On the evening of March 6, 1923, the Springfield National Bank closed its doors "following discovery of an apparent shortage of $600,000* in liberty bond** accounts."  

The Evening Star reports that the bank's cashier in charge of these accounts is recovering from an attempted suicide and the bank "is now in the hands of the controller of the Treasury."

JFK+50 NOTE

If you have a $50 Liberty Loan certificate purchased in 1918, its value today, adjusted for inflation, would be $990.63.

*$600,000, adjusted for inflation, in 2023 is equal to $10,537,171.

**Liberty bonds, a.k.a. Liberty loans, were a debt obligation issued by the Dept of Treasury to finance U.S. participation in WWI. 

They came in the form of 4 installments 1917-1918.  By war's end, 20 million people had bought LBs & $17 billion plus $8.8 billion in taxes had been generated.

SOURCES

"Bank Shy $600,000, U.S. Checking Up," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., March 7, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

"Inflation Calculator for $600,000 Since 1923," www.saving.org/

"$50 in 1918-2023 Inflation Calculator," www.in2013dollars.com/

1918 $50 1st Liberty Loan Converted

Image by JHerbstman (2016)

THE GREAT LOAN OF WORLD WAR ONE

JFK+50:  Volume 7, No. 2272

U.S. TO PROVIDE "GREAT LOAN" TO THE ALLIES

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) One hundred years ago, April 7, 1917, the decision was made for the United States to make a loan of $2,000,000,000 to the Allied nations fighting against the Central Powers in the world war.

The decision, made by Secretary of Treasury William G. McAdoo* and ranking members of the Congress of the United States, came just one day after the United States declared war on Germany.

The "great loan," offered interest free, was expected be financed by a $5 billion bond issue which would include $3 billion for use in America.  The necessary legislation providing for the loan was predicted to be approved in 30 days and the bond issue ASAP.

According to the Chicago Daily Tribune, Treasury Department officials said that American investors could "absorb without difficulty" the total amount of the loan.

 *William Gibbs McAdoo (1863-1941) was born in Marietta, Georgia & moved to Knoxville, Tennessee when his father became a professor at the University of Tennessee.  WGM graduated from UT & became a Deputy Clerk of the US District Court for Eastern TN.  He was admitted to the bar in 1885.

WGM was a leader of the Progressive movement & was Woodrow Wilson's campaign manager in 1912.  He served as Secretary of Treasury 1913-1918, & Senator (D) California 1933-1938.  WGM died in Washington, D.C. & is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

SOURCE

"U.S. Billions For Allies, Vast Loan For Victory," The Chicago Daily Tribune, April 8, 1917, www.archives.chicagotribune.com/

William Gibbs McAdoo

Secretary of Treasury (1914)

Harris & Ewing Photo