During the fiscal year last past, 722,321 international money-orders, amounting to $9,583,425.62, were certified to foreign countries, and 112,292 such orders were certified from foreign countries to the United States, the total amount of these being $1,802,902.66.
Occasionally in excess of 100,000 money-orders are paid in a single day, and it is the rule that this volume of business must be balanced to a cent daily.
Money order accounting machines in use at the
New York General Post Office.
The employees engaged in handling these millions of orders are held strictly accountable for the accuracy of their work, and if error occurs resulting in loss, it must be borne by the person at fault.
The most modern methods of accounting are in use, mechanical labor-aiding equipment being utilized wherever it is practicable. The method followed is to perforate a card by means of a small electric machine, so that the perforations show the various data upon the paid money-order that are required to record the payment, the amount, etc. These machines are operated by skilled women employees, trained in methods of accuracy and speed, and whose rating and advancement depend on their efficiency.
The cards are then fed into electrically-driven adding- and printing-machines, known as tabulators, which automatically print upon sheets, in columns, all the data shown by the perforations in the card. From this machine the cards are transferred to sorting machines, which operate at great speed and automatically set the cards up numerically according to the numbers of the offices which issued them. Thereupon other sheets are printed by the tabulators showing the orders in their new and correct numerical sequence, these sheets being used for searching purposes in the event of applications being made for duplicates, etc.
Various other mechanical devices are employed in other branches of the work, and the equipment is in all respects up to date, and minimizes clerical work to the greatest extent.
The Country's Foreign Exchange Clearing-House