New-York tribune., 1867-09-04

rno anu When each Of the first six piles contains
900 the machine il set to tnat ngnc, iinio 'is'o
bell to call attention to the iact es "bt on sc
no. m m p'oo ~ mo and recording fresh sheets IL IS
wonder of wonders Fed by two girls u does tne me
work of 40 Ii separates, TRIMS anu puhChes I,NV
sLnnts nar bonr To the precision or machinery III
almost mites human intelligence III makes no ms
tics The packages of little notes Ilght from ~
,ch no other count are DadSG =, 600 @ fn O and spnf TO
hoard boxes containing Sl,VV W s''oVV' anu SohV W
the Treasurer ready for lseuc o ..o .,o..a .sr,.
counting by hand uncut sne' OF @ Wtb V1nqS anp o
n~actice they grow siDguarly expert. You see only
confused uttering of leaves while they count l,OOO
TTnon the separated notes they carry on swiftly
curious, double mental operation. Every sheet OF
sreenbacks originally contains four bills. After cut
ting apart, Clark's machine drops them into four
hoxea Being numbered consecutiyey, their order
in any one of these boxes will skip four" 1T the
top note is 1902 60 the second will be l2tA and 80
on to the end. The girl takes up handful OF these
notes By one process, she must count them on INTO
packages of 100 and also make sure that the Depart
ment numbers como in proper sequence. 10 repeat
at every note the long 1C2 $40, &c, would be end
less. So while running her fingers over each note
she gives, simultaneously with its count, only the
final figure of its Department number, thus: ~,
"a, as, AZ, So CO." on through the whole
hundred. Your eye can barely follow her lightning
speed checked here and there for a second, as she
whisks into its proper order note whose number
tells her it is in the wrong place. She grows so used
N
possible count single hundred rapidly, without car
ryng this attendant sequence along WIN IL Ill her
mind. ,x.h .h pon;s
ter National Bank notes to the ControlIeri green
backs and fractional currency to tho treasurer we
have in circulation $2S OOU OF 1ractional A. ctIIc1y
II yyears 80 rapidly that reissue $4OOOO weekly
to take the place of spoiled notes. called In anu ca
celed ,u
The Printing and Engraving Bureau handles daily
from a. OOOOO0 TO 100000 900 of our various ppDnc
securities Ii has manufactured III whole or III part
more than 5000. 100000! And yet the Government
has never lost one dollar of It, except single ueh-
cheney of 81 100 which occurred before the bureau
was fairly organized. 1t is an unexampled chapter
like that cylinder where old notes are thrown: to
be transformed into new paper the SAFE where % aea
and bed-peces are deposited, and the other sale
large parloT, which contains nhisheu noeco - 'r
bonds have each two or three locks. whose sevoiaI
keys are kept by separate custodans Inoy arc No
opened save in presence of two or more persons. NO
die or bed piece in a workmans hand ever gocs ou'
of sight of the officer responsible for IT. Otherwse
with dishonest artisan. II mignt grir%pb NC
whereby the cOunterfeters would TRIUMPH 49, L.,
The checks and balances. winch pro,ect tiIso IN
mense amounts passing through hundreds OF hanus
against carelessness and u.son1hs the smnle princi
and wonderful They rest on these slPig pi,noa pinoa
pies: l. Every package and sheet OF paper deslgneu
TO make money of is treated as money iIohi lo ,'o
ment il comes blank, into the bureau NO slleel nGi
single note defective or spoiled at any stage, Is
thrown away Each bit OF paper, once received is
duly delivered in some form to the hlgheT oGes "a
ha =.
ment 10 another or from one hand 10 another WIN
out a count and receipt, recorded lOr preSeIv
in well-bound book. The counter, too puts her
initials on the band q1 the Pack"gc I ha traced 70
the very hand which received II last Dnt lailed 10
deliver it, package Is counted MufgHree f'"es III
passing through the various operations. Not d9i-
lar wo1ld be delivered even to the Secretary OF the
Treasury without his written order ana receipt o.
ANY mistake discrepancy ls traced out ana fecu-
fed he instant il becomes known. The books are
balanced every night. No operative or superintend-
en is allowed To leave until ali the accounts arc nc
ported correct. ,, -,
without previous warning the Secretary ordered all
oneratioIs stopped To test the accuracy OF TINS sys-
tom The accounts were taken, just n they stood
and an inquest held on the bureau VI mat Gay IL
cnntnined over 800 100000 Not only was the aggre-
gate found right. but the amount IN each OF thc
three-score agreed with the boohS 10 lho las'
cent ..r . -
Cured from the beginning: -
In 1864 a scrubbing woman stole sheet OF sD
gTeenbacks from the platc-printlng room; Inc next
day offering one on Ponnsy lyanl-aye, she was ap-
pretended at once. But the unfinished notes were
not legally money, so no charge could be maintained
against her. except that of stealing the Trivial NaIue
OF the paper on which they were printed.
Once SO and afterward 800 OF fractional currency
were missed from The dryingrooms. Al thc occu-
pants were searched by committees OF theH own
humber but unsucces,iully. 10 the losses Were as
sessed upon them and two or three suspected peisons
discharged. .,r-. -
disappeared from the sealing division Dlllgcnt
search proving fruitess, the employees pald Tor H.
and concluded that IL had been caught IN the ma
chnery and cut to pieces But no other sheet of that
number has been issued. If there WAS theft II Will
one day appear. when the notes return.
Two hundred sheets of 2,-cent stamps amounting
10 Al 100 could not be found Through the negll-
genceof a su pc erntendent in not reporting the loss
promptly IL was impossible TO trace 1t: But few
weeks later it appeared that ono OF the girls was
spending money in sums suspclOusly large-not for
herself but woman-like for the comfort OF her father
paying his board at a costly hotel Charged WIN
the theft she at once confessed she had carried the
notes out under her skirts. Had the superintendent
done his duty and made the loss known at once, she
could not have got away with them The girls in the
division would have chosen q committee To search
rieidly tho clothing of all. This money never was
refunded. 1t is the solitary loss that has not been
made good
Last Nav the wet printing-room showed de-
felt Of ~ unfinished 1900 bonds. As soon IA the
superintendent was sure of this Gt is difficult Ia
keep minute account of the wet paper search was
instituted. They were traced INTO counting-Toom,
and there investigation was baiiicd. SIX weeks later
they turned up in one of the safes girl III giving
the last count to 900 sheets OF " beer stamps" had
laid them down upon pile OF bonds Tho stamp
sheets are tIihe the larger; and IN picking them
up she took also % sheets from the top OF the bonds
Pit IN the safe together they were not found until
the beer stamps were taken out Tor delivery to the
Commissioner of Internal Revenue.
few weeks ago girl IN the separating room stole
$50. Through the exactness OF the SYSTEM IT was
traced directly To her. out of all the twenty or thirty
employees in that branch, within two hours after the
search began.
The most considerable theft from the Treasury
thus far was of securities which the Bureau had de-
Iiyered up and obtained the Registers receipt for
clerk in the Loan Branch abstracted 100000 in o
per cent coupon bonds The loss was not discovered
for weeks. Meanw lille, reporting that his grand
father had died leaving him fortune, he resigned
removed to York, took brown-stone-front, and
lived luxurOusy.
He did not try to negotiate the bonds only pre-
sented the semi-annual coupons for interest," they
became due. But each coupon bears the number Of
u bond, and list of the missing NUM- bers had now
been sent ~ all Government agents. Therefore, with
a stamp and red ink he added one figure to tho mum
Der of each coupon changing 4G9lS 10 4G9 ol and so
on But suspicion fell upon him for fast liying the
fessed declared that he had burned the bonds, but
pointed out the coupons, hidden in his house; was
sent to the penitentiarv hardened ont and finally