Houma Ceres. [volume] (Houma, Parish of Terrebonne, La.) 1855-18??, 1857-04-18
A Peep into the Bank Of England.

4 "A Pcep into the Bank OF EnQI0nd
The bank of England mus. be seen or
the inside as well as out, and to get into
the interior of this remarkable building
to observe the operations of an institution
that e1erts more moral and political pow.
er than any sovereign in Europe, you
must have an order from the Governor Of
the Bank. The building occupies an ir-
regular area Of eight acres Of ground
an edifce Of no architectural beauty, with
not one window toward the street, being
lighted altogether from the roof Of the en-.
closed areas.
was led on, presenting my card OF
admission, into private room, where,
after delay OF few moments, "a messen-
ger came and conducted me 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 en-
tries in the books, and stored away. The
Bank Of England never issues the same
note second time. 1t receives, in the
ordinary course of business, about fSOO,-
600, or $4,OOO,0OO daily in notes; these
are put into parcels according 10 their de.
nomination, 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 ofany more,
the Bank can produce the identical bill.
To meet the demand for notes so con.
stantly used up, the Bank has its own pa
permakers. its own printers, its own en-.
gravers. all at work under the same roof,
and it even makes the machinery by which
most Of its own work is done. A com.
plicated but beautiful operation is a regis.
ter, extending from the printing office to
the banking offices, which marks every
sheet Of paper that is struck off from the
press, so that the printers cannot manu-
facture single sheet Of bank notes that
is not recorded in the bank.
On the same principle Of exactness, a
shaft is made to pass from one apartment
to another, connecting clock in sixteen
business wings Of the establishment, and
regulating then with such precision that
the whole Of them are always pointing to
the same second Of time. In another
room was 4 machine, exceedingly simple,
for detecting igM gold coins. A row Of
them dropped one by one upon spring
scale. If the piece Of gold was Of the
standard weight, the scale rose to Ger.
tain height, and slid off upon the side Of
the box; if less than the standard, it rose
little higher and the coin slid off upon
the other side. Iasked the weigher what
was the average number of light coins
that came into his hands, and, strangely
enough, he said it was question he was
not allowed to answer! ......
The next room entered was that in
which the notes are deposited which are
ready for issue. We have thirty.two
millions of pounds sterling in this room,
the officer, remarked to me "will you
take little Of it p told him it would be
vastly agreeable, and he handed me
million sterling five millions of dollars
which received with many thanks for
his liberaIity, but he insisted on my de-
posting it with him again, as it would be
hardly safe to carry so much money into
the street. l very much fear that shall
never see that money again. In the vault
beneath the door was 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 realize the fables Of Eastern
wealth. and gave me new and strong i'm.
pressions Of the magnitude Of the business
done here, and the extent Of the relations
Of this one institution 10 the commerce Of
the world. aGa
New CAprIoNs.-An Irish paper, in
lieu of tho usual captions over births,
marriages, and deaths," has, for the first,
" Hatched," the second, "Matched," and
the third, Dispatched "a moro ex.
pressive trinity, i, will be generally con.
ceded, than the long-resorted to and often-
used ones. We have some doubts, how.
ever, Of their becoming fashionable in