Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1857-03-21
A Peep inro the Bank Of England.

! The Bank Of England must be seen on the in
side as well as out, and TO get into the interior Of
this remarkable building, to observe the operations
of an institution that exers more moral and polit
lcai power that any sovereign in Europe, you
must have an order from the Governor Of the
Bank. The building occupies an irregular area
Of eight acres Of ground-an edifce of no archi-
tectural beauty, with not one window toward the
street, being lighted altogether from the roof of
the enclosed areas.
was led, on presenting my card of admission,
into private room, where, after delay of few
through the mighty and mysterious building.
Down we went into room where the notes Of the
Bank received the day before were now examined,
compared with the entries in the books and stored
away. The Bank of England never issues the
same note a second time. 1t receives, in the or
binary course of business, about ESOOOOO or S4,-
900, daily in notes these are put up into
parcels according to their denomination, boxed up
with the date of their reception, and are kept ten
years; at the expiration of which period they are
taken out and ground up in the mill which saw
running, and made again into paper. II, in the
course of those ten years, any dispute IN business,
or law suit, should arise concerning the payment
of any note, the Bank can produce the identical
bill.
To meet the demand for notes constantly
used up, the Bank has its own papermakers, its
own printers, its own engravers, all at work under
the same root, and IT even makes the machinery
by which the most of its own work u done. Il
complicated but beautiful operation is register
extending from the printing Office to'the banking
Offices, which marks every sheet Of paper that is
struck off from the press that the printers
not manufacture single sheet Of bank notes that
is not recorded in the bank.
On the same principle Of exactness, shaft -
made to pass from one apartment to another, con-
Meeting a clock in sixteen business wings of the
establishment and regulating them with such pre-
cision that the whole Of them always pointing
to the same second Of time. In another room was
a machine, exceedingly simple, for detecting light
gold coins. row Of them dropped one by one
upon a spring scale. IF the piece Of gold was of
the standard weight, the scale rose to a certain
height, and the coin slid off upon the side Of the
box; if less than the standard, it rose a little
higher and the coin slid of upon the other side.
asked the weigher what was the average number
of light coins that came into his hands, and
strangely enough, he said it was a Question he was
not allowed to answer!
The next room entered was that in which the
notes are deposited which ready for issue.
"W We have thirty-two millions of pounds sterling
in this room," the officer remarked to me, "will
you take little Of it" told him II would be
vastly agreeable, and he handed me million ster-
ling five millions of dollars), which received
with many thanks for his lberaiity, but he insist
ed on my depositing it with him again. as IT would
be hardly safe to carry so much money into the
street. / very much fear that shall never see
that money again. In the vault beneath the door
was a director and the cashier counting the bags
of gold, which men were pitching down TO them,'
each bag containing thousand pounds sterling:
Just from the mint This world Of money seemed
to realise the fables Of Eastern wealth. and gave
me new and strong impressions Of the magnitude
of the business done here, and the extent OF the
relations of this one institution to the commerce.
of the world.