East Saginaw courier., 1864-08-03
NUMBER 26l.


done in the1ollowing manner:
The engraving is done on plate
Of soft steel, just the size Of the bill or
bond, and the cuttings are .indenta-
tons. When finished, the plate is
hardened and taken to transfer
press" whero a roller of soft steel,
Just Of circumference TO take in the
size of the plate is rolled oyer il, under
heavy pressure, leaving the impression
on the roller in a raise form. This
roller is in tnrn hardened, and then
any number of fiat plates, similar 10
the original are prepared, and receive
IN like manner the impressions from
this roller, and become fac sin,slcs Of
the plates engraved; and we have re-
produced in u few minutes what it has
taken months with ohisel and eyo-
glass to make. 5tf.a raf
i''- ' THE PRINTING
is now done on the old fashioned en-
graver's press, being nothing more
than a simple iron roller, covered with
cloth and paper to press the printing
paper into the indentures, placed in g.
strong frame aud turned back and
forth by hand by spokes placed in tho
end of the roller. Two persons work
at each press, man and woman,
the former attending to the plate, the
latter the paper. The plate is kept
firm whilo working, by gas-hcater
The sheets when printed are each laid
between other sheets of thin brown
paper to keep, them from blurring,
and sent in hundreds to tho drying
room. The FIRST process Of bond print
ing is numbering the coupons and tho
denomination with yellow mordant,
and as they fly from the press arc
bronzed as they appear when issued
Yellow is used because it cannot 10
photographed without showing too
plainly to be mistaken, as was re-
marked about the fiber in the paper.
This discovery was made in the fol-,
lowing manner: When MIR Clark
was at the head of the Bureau Of Con-
struction, he had map made for mil
itary purposes which it was necessary
to repeat. 1t was photographed, and
an obscure road marked with faint
yellow line was discovered to be black
in the copies. He then photographed
a specimen sheet of inks or paints,
and Of all the colors except black yell
low was the only one which might
not have been altered with ease with
touch of the brush. 1t was black
as the black itself. Hence any attempt
to photograph this color will only lead
to the discovery, and as it is the
groundwork of bonds and other secu-
rites, and covered by the printing, it
seems another security against fraud.
THE SERIES NUMBERING
is the last process before trimming. -
Tho work is done by women, the ma
chino being worked with treadle,
something after the manner of the
Wheeler & Wilson sewing nachine.--
The disks are turned by ratchet, and
will number from one to 999,999.--s
for consecutive numbering, little
hook is attached to the rachel, and
the machine shifts itself. Otherwise
the disks are turned by number.
THE TRIMMING AND CUTTING
was formerly done by hand, and of
course was impelfectly and laborious-
ly. There were two things to over
come in cutting by machinery--ths
inequality of the registry and the
shrinkage. lt was. desirable that the
edges should be trimmed, SO they
would wear well. If cut with a
straight knife they would be beveled
one way. AS they are now cut they
have an edge beveled both ways
The sheets are registered'in tbs centre,
and the shrinlSagel divided between,
the two edges apo 90 !strs a.1
The greenbacks are printed four on
sheet. One machine trims tho mar
gins, and the other separates them,----
This latter is an ingenious oontrivance.
1t slits them very fast and lays them
with regularity in q box, each series
of numbers, separately. the notes are
lettered Alb, 9, and ID, and the num-
hers on each side are the same; there
fore it is, essential they should be kept
carefully apart. Each of the boxes
that receives them has u movable bot
tom. ,.,.,,.,., ,..s.t
When the cutting for the day first
commences this bottom is near the top
Of the box, but as the cutting pro-
crosses and the number OF bills in
creases, ratchet lets the bottom drop
the thickness of a bill, SO the box is
kept gust full all the time, to make
the bills slide IN without doubling,
1t is intended that the cutting should
be o criterion by which to judge of
the jenuineness of the bills, for every
ono must be the same width and
length. If the end Of a bill be placed
in The centre Of another, there will be
fonnd no difference in the width, an
exactness which cannot be given by
hand. r L.
The currency cutting machine is
more complicated, as it cuts both ways
and files them in bundles Of five dol,
lars each, and I am not sure but it
binds and seals them.
WET PRINTING ~
is the process now used in this estab-
lishment. The wetting is done by
cloths, instead Of dipping or sprink-
ling as in newspaper printing. a
room is prepared especially for this
with iron weights for pressing. Each
man has his particular place assigned
him, and all work in harmony, and
with precision and celerity. Ordinary
bills are wet three times during the
printing. But this process will soon
be done away with, for preparations
are being made to substitute
DRY PRINTING
in its stoad, in which thero will be at
loo ct frr,f o.t 10 r~o- c,.orI ,...1 H..