Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-02-20
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4 Peep into the Bank Of England.

The Bank Of Englsnd must be seen on the
inside % we'll 40 out; and 70 60 into the inte'
rior Of this remarkable building, to observe the
operations OF an institution that exerts more
moral and political power than any sovereign
10 Europe, you must Fave an order from the
Governor of the Bank. The building ecu.
pies an irregular area of eight acres of ground
ian edihce Of no Architectural beauty, with not
one window toward the street, being lighted gl.
together from the roof OF the enclosed area.
was led on, presenting my card Of admis.
sion, intoa private room, where, after delay
Of few moments, messenger came, and con
Quoted me through the mighty and mysterious
building. Down we went into q room where
the notes Of the Bank, received the day before
werel now examined, compared with the en-
tries 10 the books, and slowed away. The Bank
Of England never issues the same note sec
ond time. It receives In the ordinary course Of
business, about Es60, 900, 81, ,0000 daily, In
notes; these are put up into parcels according
to their denominations, 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 run.
ming, and made again into paper. II In the
course Of the ten years, any dispute in business
or law suit should arise concerning the pigment
OF any note, the Bank can produce the iden-
tical bill. -t f"-
To meet the demand for notes constantly used
up, the Bank has Its own paper makers, its own
printers, its own eDgravers, all the work under
the same roof, and even makes the machinery
by which most of its own work is done. A com.
plicated but beautiful operation is o register
extending from the printing office to the bank
Ing Offices which makes every sheet Of paper
that is struck off from the press, 80 that the
printers cannot manufacture q single sheet Of
blank notes that is not recorded In the bank.
On the same principle Of neatness, shaft Is
made 10 pass from one apartment to another,
connecting clock in sixteen wings Of the estab-
lishment, and regulating them with such pre-
cision that the whole Of them are always pointing
TO the same second of time In another room
was machine exceedingly simple, for detecting
light gold coin. A row OF them Is dropped one
by one upon spring scale. II the piece'of gold
was OF the standard weight, the scale rose to q
certain height, and the coin slid off upon the side
of the box; II less than the standard, IL rose q
little higher, and the coin slid upon the Other
side. asked the weigher what was the av-
erage number of light coins that came into biz
hands, and strangely enough, he said Il was q
question he was not allowed to answer.
The next room entered was that in which
the notes are all deposited which are ready for
issue. -.''a" 3a
1--WE have thirty-two millions Of pounds
sterling in this ROOM" the officer remarked tc
me; "will you take little of it." / told him II
would be vastly agreeable, and he handed me Q
million sterling, ($5, 900 ,000) which received
with many thanks for his liberality, but he In
sisted upon my depositing IL with him again, as
IL would hardly be safe to carry so much money
into the street. very much fear that shall
never see that money again. In The vault be.
meath the door was director and cashier,
counting the bags of gold which men were
pitching down to them, each bag containing q
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 Impressions Of the magnitude Of the bus
iness done here, and Of the extent of the rela
tions Of this one institution to the commerce Of
the world. 10 '69 s..l u 3oiioi i.4 'ad ,ft
ri 7 as.. = il.1 10 % Il ft. -ffr-r .... .frl