St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 22, 1899.
Mr. Robert Elsmere,
Jefferson City, Mo.
My dear Sir:
Will you kindly pay to the messenger from the —— Bank who will call to-morrow the sum of three hundred and ninety-seven dollars and charge to my account?
Yours, very truly,
David Grieve.
Commercial usage, however, recognises a particular form in which this letter is to be written, and the address of the person for whom it is intended is usually written at the lower left-hand corner instead of on an envelope. Commercial drafts usually reach the persons upon whom they are drawn through the medium of the banks rather than directly by mail. Let us illustrate. Suppose that A of Chicago owes B of Buffalo $200, and B desires to collect the amount by means of a draft. He fills in a blank draft, signs it, and addresses it on the lower left-hand corner to A. Instead of sending it by mail he takes it to his bank—that is, deposits it for collection. It will reach a Chicago bank in about the same way that cheques for collection go from one place to another. A messenger from the Chicago bank will carry the draft to A's office and present it for payment or for acceptance. If it is a sight draft—that is, a draft payable when A sees it—he may give cash for it at once and take the draft as his receipt. If he has not the money convenient he may write across the face "Accepted, payable at (his) Bank," as in the illustration. It will then reach his bank and be paid as his personal cheque would be, and should be entered in his cheque-book. Banks usually give one day upon sight drafts. The draft will not be presented a second time, but will be held at the bank until the close of the banking hours the next day, where A can call to pay if he chooses. Leniency in the matter of time will depend largely upon B's instructions and the bank's attitude toward A. If the draft is a time draft—that is, if B gives A time, a certain number of days, in which to pay it—A, if he wishes to pay the draft, accepts it. He does this by writing the word accepted with the date and his signature across the face of the draft. He may make it payable at his bank as he would a note, if he so desires. He then returns the draft to the messenger, and if the time is long the draft is returned to B; if only a few days, the bank holds it for collection.
