New-York tribune., 1867-09-04

points than at others stamps IL WIN tn9 m',~;o ma
mark called because impressed whlle the pup
wei This one is "a L inclOSed IN little square anu
readily seen by holding the finished paper up 10 tl!o
light. The Bank of England relies soiey uLotn Lt;t 10
watcrmark for protection against counteric1S
That is impressed not with wires, but WIN lletdi
lie plate abOrlousy filed ont by hand-the WORK vi
wears grandfather father, and son, each bearing
the honofed name of John Smith. have done thls
filing for the old lady of IhreadneedleSt through
three generations. -,
The endless sheet of pulp on this endless serve
passes on and on. between heated rollers the water
squeezing out and evapOratlng, the mass growing
iTmor and tirmer until, at the 1urtneI emu OF th9
long room il comes out An endless roll OF finished
paper, six feet wide, which knives also running Dy
machinery clip into convenient wrapping sheets.
run only through the night. BY day, its clatter
would disturb the general dOwsness OF the uepAV
ment. ,.
like an inverted tin dish with sharp edges is placed
on pile of paper under press One turn al t1I tn9
lever, and it has cut out 800 envelopes Next % stl
open. they spread 100 upon board, each tapnn66
over the others that strip of oneeightn Oh hs 0
along its upper edge is left exposed, OvGi hih the
girl with brush, spreads the mucllage wnTn wh; iat
writer is to mOisen at last when ready 10 sea- R Iaced
fer Then the board with score of Others IS placeu
on frame exposed to the air. After tis gun t With
upper flaps grows dry the envelopes "%o nn MAGICAL
yoracions impatient little machine III selze%s % .nGi
with hungry teeth instantaneously brushes ih4c, l
age upon each end and the oweL LAP ones leaving
the other nnfastened for the reception OF the ieer
and there is your enveopel ms cunning, WonueI-
ful automaton larger than asewing-inachhe, Ihus
| folds seals and filings out 1000 per hour!
In the engraving ROOM we find ;I work
men, each with shade over MS eyes eny ~ pstannS
steel which shines like mirror with the DuTlh va
delicate pencil Of hardened steel polnt ne Is Slowly
blowing finest minutest burrows, which the naKed
eve can barely see. We lean over the shoulder OF
one, and find him copying on steel sketch from the
before HIM with a two & gro with Ga' onT
great reaping machine little thing that you eonld
| cover with two silver dollars yet he may spend
| year IN engraving IT. ..
He is to follow exactly the sketch given him, and yet
marvellous individuality -even IN these inintes
simal lines an expert will detect their author just as
| we recognize handwriting. In both steel and WOOD
engraving for books, foreign nations excel us Dut
on this work are far in advance OF them. Anetl
can bank notes show the finest steel engraving III
| the world The best wOrkmen III Government service
are paid about 5000 per year In private employ,
! they sometimes earn SlOOVV -, ps.
But portion of the engraving is mechanical fnty
| years ago Yankee named Asa Spencer, invented
! curious machine called the geometTlc lathe: Inc
apparatus Is intIcatehs PTnGIp1 nOn o,u he'd Then
| the burin grasped by strong muscles Oh Steel ls
moved over it by machinery, plowlng ITS little iurrow
wherever it goes This engraves any desired scron.
! net work or other regular and intricate devices
| with an exquisite fneneSs, mlnuteness, ana matne-
| matcal precision, of which the human hand Is IN
| capable The elaborate, involved ornamentaton
(6ac elaborate and involved only the mscroscope re-
yealsS upon the back and abOutth counters of our
fractional and greenback currencys engraved by tnls
process. Hand limitations of it are most tedious ana
clumsy geOmetric lathe costs from three to elght
thousand dollars-another difficulty for counter
copper plate will print eight ten thousand inn
pressions before wearing out steel plate about tI
thousand. Copper was formerly used oecaIso soi.ei
and cheaper to engrave. But mark the modern I'M
provement by which the number OF impressions we
can get from steel plate is absolutely hmtless
single 3 ae 50 GreenSacE IS used to
print from. 1t is called the 'bed-piece" Alter the
last touches of the burn it is kept In the Te Ve OF
six hours TO gain adamantlne hardness lHen ~ ~
| laid on the bed of press-another giant of IRON,
| and under heavy weight only 800 pounds, Ont an
converging on the point OF contact llte cylnHel @
of sOftened steel is rolled it backward and for
ward After the first faint impression the workman
takes out the cylinder to where harder or ghter
pressure is needed When he puts II PACK 70 o Ola tac
| would blur and ruin both die and plate But the
nicelyadjusted machinery under his & exact Sy9'
or "de" bears perfect impression, IN relief, OF tne
face of the s note, down to its finest line and most
Then the little original plate is locked up in the
safe, to repeat this process whenever wanted. Ihe
cylinder hardened in the fire becomes perfect DIE
Next large smooth plate of sofened steel IL placed
on the press; the die is rolled over ii again ana
again. till the plate bears four Impressions of the 3
note Then the die also is locked up ready for similar
use in future. The new plate is now ready to print
the Gives" four at time Plates for the smaller
fractional notes. coupons and beer stamps each bear
from dozen to forty impressions. This most
ingenious Transfer Process by which the original
steel plate is multiplied indefinitely was devised
early in this century by Jacob Perkins of
New burypOTt, Mass the inventor OF engraving
| itself.
Now, into one of the printing-rooms. AS we open
its door the cater OF a. noisy presses breaks upon
us. Each has three attendants--One man. who care
fully inks the large, shining plate, and, when It's
interstices filled, rubs the rest of Its surface lean
and dry; second who lays the plate upon the bed
and than returns the plate TO be mixed; and % girl
who lays on the blank sheets and removes them
between each two, to keep them from blotting Each
press throws Oft about $50 sheets per hour. but IN
| emergencies its product can be largely increased:
| From one flies National nag, In commemOraton OF
5000 impressions once obtained from II in ~ hours.
| The plates are artfcially heated: the pressman
handles them nimbly, and they would blister unac-
custOmed fingers. In these yernal days the great
! room is like oven. PersDiratlOn streams from
workmen and the girls keep their large palm fans in
motion. This labor is exceedingly hard and trying.
The old mode OF printing was upon wet sheets,
which came out like the damp morning newspaper.
Clark, against strong opposition has introduced dry
printing 10 promotes security; dry sheets are easily
| kept III the counted packages OF 1000 each. Wet in
large unequal masses must often be changed from
cheaper. and its labor is less severe than the old
mode, which often causes rupture i'll pressmen.
In printing from types stereotype S plates or wood
boldly fromhe general surface that but ght weight
is needed TO stamp their inky faces egiby upon the
plates then filled with ink, and immense pressure
is required to stretch and drive the paper down into
all these fine interstices Each press here monster
of muscle The hug of grizzly bear il not the touch
of 1y's foot in comparison. Put linked plate and
sheet its mouth, then little spring and the
steel jaw comes down with the weight of 800 tuns.
The power is pumped up from the Potomac. 1t is on
the simple principle that if you apply pressure of
one tun TO little column of water one inch square,
and then connect that column, by pipe. with the
ter of tank whose surface is 800 times large, you
impart the tun to each of the 800 square inches
and can then bring the whole amount to bear upon
one point no larger than the end of your finger.
Mighty is the giant Cold Water when clad in hydro
| static armOr. ..
| Into brOnzing-room We should have glanced
here earlier for here bonds and fractional notes
Grrt nfnd Iha hlar1l Ia naosal fhraunh