770,000 dimes, 308,000 quarters. and one penny (Excedrin headache No. 150,000 for manager of bank at Ovid) By LOWELL G. RINKER I never would have accepted it had I known what call that the money was in Ovid waiting to be un­ determination, It became the duty of the country comfortable in there for a while until the dust Editor it was all about. And I would not wish it on any­ loaded and stored. ToTabor'ssurprise,hefound treasurer in the county where the money was died down. We used a square quarter-inch body." a. heavy equipment truck parked at the side of stored to come in and make an inventory. screen to screen the dust out." OVID—One of the great fascinating untold The story he tells is fascinating, even if it the bank. On it was a single wooden box about "It was just like opening a lock box, actual­ A machine was used to count the coins, but stories of the year 1968 can now he told. It in­ Isn't complete. For understandable reasons, six by 10 feet in size, filled with bags of silver ly," Tabor pointed out. "She (Mrs Velma Beau- even then it took a long time. Three minutes volved more than a million dimes and quarters, Tabor is not disclosing the names of the people coins! fore, Clinton County treasurer) would make an were necessary to count $1,000 in quarters, and plus one penny and probably a hottle of Excedrin. involved nor even where they're from. A lot of inventory for the administrator or executor of *I was amazed," Tabor said, "I have gone it took about twice as long for dimes. There was For nearly two months the vault at the whys and wherefores of the vast collection of the estate. So the vault was one big lock box." about $77,000 in dimes and $77,000 in quarters, silver aren't known either, and perhaps they are and gotten for our own use $10-$1S,000 in silver, Central National Bank office in Ovid was agiant Because Tabor and his aides, as well as Tabor said. lock box for more than $130,000 in dimes and nobody's business. But the general facts can now but any more than that was kind of hard to be told—the money has been removed from the visualize. We never did know the amount that Mrs Beaufore, have other duties, it was decided The money when it came In was in bags, quarters stored there by private citizens from to make the count of the huge silver pile after another county. bank and Tabor is breathing normally again. was stored until we completed a count of it on and Tabor reported it was pretty accurately Monday, Nov. 18." normal working hours. They started counting counted. In some cases, dimes and quarters were The money had been hoarded for years, un­ It all started back about the middle of Nov. 4 and accumulated about 20 man hours on it doubtedly for speculative purposes. When the October. Tabor said ah Ovid businessman called The face value of the money came to several mixed In together, so these had to be separated that night, Nov. 14 and Nov. 18 before the job before they were counted. About one third of the speculator passed away, the man's survivors him up and wanted to know if the bank could thousand more than $150,000. There were was completed. gathered the silver coins together and searched store "some silver" In coin that had been ac­ roughly 1,078,000 coins, including about770,000 coins were put In $1,000 bags and the rest in for a place to store it. cumulated for speculative purposes. dimes and 308,000 quarters. There was also one The counting was done in a basement room, $500 bags. This is where Central National Bank came "We do have some extra storage space,* penny, one or two nickels and a few half dollars. small and with low ceilings. It was hot and The weight was tremendous. With a roll of in. Tabor said, "and it wasn't an unusual request. Normally the bank would not have made a stuffy—and dusty, because several of the bags quarters weighing about a half-pound, Tabor "This whole deal has been strictly a head­ We frequently have people who want to store count of the funds. But shortly after the silver had dirt mixed in. figures there was around 35 tons of silver coin ache since I first laid eyes on It," Willie Tabor, some money or valuables for a short period." had been stored at the bank, a legal determin­ "We don't know how the dirt got there," involved. That's why the heavy truck was nec­ assistant cashier and manager of the Ovid bank So Tabor agreed to store the silver. That ation was made that it was part of the estate of Tabor said. "Perhaps It was in a container and essary to bring it over; the truck normally was office, said in retrospect. "Itklnd of snowballed. was on Oct. 19. Several mornings later he got a the deceased man who had collected It. With this burled, although I don't know. It did make it un­ (Story continued on Page 17*A) Road pact nixed Prospects for an Immediate end to the worker's strike against the Clinton County Road ST, JOHNS, MICH,-Wednesday, January 15, 1969 Commission dimmed consider­ ably Monday night when 47 mem­ bers of the American Federa­ tion of State, County and Mu­ nicipal Employees union voted to reject the commission's most recent offer. According to local union Pres­ ident Dean Moon, a negative bal­ Spectacular fire ruins lot was cast by approximately 70 per cent of those voting. Following results of the vote, members of the commission agreed to withhold any further offers and to refrain from seek­ ing another meeting time unless such action is proposed by the union. Egan Ford building here According to spokesmen from both sides, all but one major issue have been given tentative A fast - spreading fire de-- approvals, with the last holdotit. stroyed a major portion of. the being that of wages and cost-of Egan Ford Sales, Inc. building living scale. The second major at 200 w. Higham Street Mon­ Item, vacations, has received day afternoon,' causing damage agreeable nods from both sides that may reach several hundred of the bargaining table, and while thousand dollars. President Moon indicated some Fire departments from St. minor union losses in this area, Willie Tabor, manager of the Ovid branch Johns, Ovid, Fowler, DeWittCity he stated they were minimal and and Lansing battled the fire, will be acceptable to the mem­ of the Central National Bank of St. Johns, which took about three hours to bership. and Clinton County Treasurer Velma Beaufore bring under control. A mechanic The highway commission's of­ in the Egan garage suffered burns relax as they recollect the hours spent in fer turned down in Monday night's on the hands when the fire vote was as follows: "Effective counting well over 1 million dimes and quar­ started, but he returned to the 2 January 1969 an across-the- ters stored temporarily at the Ovid bank in fire scene after treatment. board pay increase of 21 cents A fire wall between two sec­ November and December. per hour." tions of the Ford dealership This increase would be fol­ building saved the whole build­ lowed by additional raises of 16 ing from ruin. Only some smoke cents per hour effective Jan. 1, and water damage were suffered 1970, and another Increase of Food stamps plan there, and Egan's was open for 15 cents per hour Jan. 1, 1971. business in that section of the Part of the parcel was a cost-of- building Tuesday morning. living factor based on 1 cent per Larry Burns, a partner in the hour for each 0.5 change in the to replace surplus business, said Monday night he index payable semi-annually, had "no idea what the total damage might be." The entire "WE STAND APART by about second story of the building was food program here used for storage of tires and (Story continued on Page 17-A) automobile parts, and all of this Smoke billows or squirts from almost every window of Egan Ford Sales in St. Johns Monday The annual meeting of the was lost. Needy persons in Clinton vided their family income does afternoon as a raging fire destroyed the eastern portion of the 52-year-old building at 200 W. Hjgh- policyholders of the Farmers County will no longer be receiv­ not exceed specified amounts. Twenty-five new cars in the Mutual Fire Insurance Co. of ing surplus food commodities. In­ The amount of income permitted unburned part of the building am Street. A light bulb breaking in a puddle of gasoline touched off the fire in the garage portion Clinton County w,ill be held at the stead, they will be participating to such families is determined by were driven out safely, accord­ of the building about 3 p.m. home office building at 201 E. in the Federal Food Stamp Pro­ the Michigan Department of ing to Bruce Fowler, another State Street, City of St. Johns, gram. The program will start Social Services and the Consumer partner in the firm. Only one rolling southeast over the city. Mich., on Tuesday Jan. 21, 1969, here on Feb. 4.