Sometimes a "stale" check is presented bearing a date weeks or months past. If the drawer has funds in the bank it is a valid claim and must be paid. But since checks are usually presented promptly for payment the teller should satisfy himself as to the cause of the delay.

The paying teller must keep certain records or books. The amounts of all checks paid are entered on the check “scratcher.” All paid checks should be cancelled by being stamped or punched with the date of payment. Each day after banking hours the teller makes up the "teller's

proof" testing the correctness of his work. His records show the amount of cash with which he began in the morning. During the day he may have made payments upon cashier's orders or in cashing checks presented directly by other banks or in settlement of a “debit balance” due to the clearing house, in addition to cashing checks upon his own bank. On the other hand he may have received cash by transfers from the receiving teller or there may be a “credit balance" from the clearing house to be added to his cash. The balance of these receipts and payments must "prove," that is, correspond with his cash. Some banks keep a "Teller's Settlement Book" showing the cash balance at the beginning of the day, the various amounts received from different sources, the sums paid out on checks, etc., and the balance on hand. This cash balance is itemized to show the different kinds of money and the amount of each. If the teller's proof does not balance to the cent the difference is entered as "over" or "short." Finally the teller makes up a slip or schedule on which he enters all the cash of various kinds-gold coin, gold certificates, "legals," national bank notes; with the amounts of each and the total.

In smaller banks one teller may be able to perform the duties of both payer and receiver, but in some of the larger banks several paying tellers are required to handle the business, and the receiving tellers and other department clerks may need similar assistance.

93. Receiving teller and deposits. The receiving teller ranks next in importance after the paying teller; in reality he is the first assistant to the paying teller. In small banks where the business does not justify a separate note teller and collection clerk, the receiving teller takes in and accounts for all the funds which come into the bank; in the large city bank his main duty is to receive the deposits that come in directly over the counter. His position is one requiring care, accuracy and courtesy since customers are likely to judge the bank by his manner of treating them. Every deposit should be accompanied by a

deposit slip or ticket showing the amount of coin, notes, checks and other documents representing money. The receiving teller should verify each item and the total and make sure that all checks, drafts and other negotiable papers are properly dated and indorsed by the depositor before entering the amount of the deposit in the customer's pass book. In some banks the receiving teller writes his initial on both the deposit slip and the pass book for future identification. The receiving teller should be thoroughly familiar with all forms of money and always alert to detect counterfeits. Generally the money received is counted at once to make sure that it tallies with the deposit slip, before the entry is made in the pass book. In cases where the deposit includes a great many small bills, and the teller is pressed for time, he may pass a band about the bills, temporarily accepting the depositor's count as correct, and count them later when he has more time. This is open to the objection that if his later count does not agree with the amount stated on the deposit slip an unpleasant dispute may arise between the bank and the depositor.

The deposit tickets are filed on spindles and after the amounts are entered on the deposit scratcher they are sent to the bookkeeper's desk to be entered in the proper accounts. The receiving teller's "cage" should be supplied with convenient racks for stacking the bills and with trays for coins. At the close of the day the coins, after being counted, are put in bags or wrapped in paper rolls in convenient amounts, and the bills of like denominations are strapped in bundles. After proving his cash, the receiving teller turns it over with a statement to the paying teller, taking a receipt for it.

The checks received are assorted according as they are drawn on other banks in the same town, on the teller's own bank, or on out-of-town banks. After the proper records are made the checks are sent to the clearing house desk, to the individual bookkeeper's desk, or to the foreign or collection desk. In addition to the deposit book in

which is recorded each day's deposits, the receiving teller keeps a proof book. This book contains on one side the receipts from all sources-deposits, money received by express, or turned over by the first or third teller; on the other side are recorded the amount of clearing house ex

Of

changes, checks on his own bank, foreign items, city collections, charges to other tellers and cash in hand. course the two sides of the proof book must balance.

94. Note teller. The note teller, sometimes called the "third teller," has important relations with the receiving teller's department, with the department of collections, and with that of discounts and loans. He shares with the

receiving teller the duty of receiving and accounting for certain of the bank's funds. As we have already seen, some of the deposit items received by the second teller are turned over to the note teller for collection. Usually there are in the larger cities some banks or trust companies that are not members of the clearing house. Checks or sight drafts drawn upon these institutions must be collected by messengers of the bank receiving them. Usually payments may be made either in cash or in checks payable to the collecting bank drawn upon some bank that is a member of the clearing house. The proceeds of these city collections come into the hands of the note teller. He also receives through the correspondence department, money and checks from out-of-town collections, and, as his title implies, he receives all payments upon notes discounted or purchased by the bank or deposited by customers for collection.

The collection clerk has charge of such time items as notes and time drafts which are not yet due and which must be held for maturity. When the time comes for collection, however, he turns over to the note teller the items payable in the city, while out-of-town items are turned over to the corresponding clerk. The corresponding clerk sends these items by mail to their proper destination, and where there is no mail teller he receives the remittances which come in from these collections and turns them over to the note teller. Some banks have a mail teller who receives and accounts for these remittances. The larger city banks have a separate coupon clerk who attends to the collection of interest on bonds or of interest coupons. Some of them may be collected by the note teller's messengers and some through the corresponding department, but the receipts pass into the hands of the note teller.

At the close of each day's work the note teller makes up a record of his receipts and prepares a "proof." His cash is turned over to the paying teller, and his checks are sorted and listed on slips to be added to the receiving teller's clearing house "exchange." Many such checks