The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1868-10-23
now BANK-NOTE PAPER Is MADE.
One of a series of articles ON ACuri

] Philadelphia North american, is q de-
scriptiOn of the manufacture of bank
note paper. The writer says:
.'There are but three mills in Ameri.
ca making 'bank-note paper and but
one that invariably makes it of the high.
est standard of excellence. Time wa:
that rigid restrictions were thrown
around the production of this material
Mr.. J. NJ. Wilcox, at Glen Mills, some
distance from Philadelphia City, makes
most of the bank-note paper used in this
country, and great deal that is order.
ed from abroad. He inherits a business
/ that in the time of his grandfather was
conducted only under the eye of an
agent of the government. When an or
der came for supply an agent came
with it. OF the portion of the mill in
which the work was done he took pos
\ session. He supervised the entire pro
/ cess, from the masceration of the pulp
to the cutting of the sheets. Every
| spoiled sheet was accounted for, and the
scraps and cuttings were Invariably
| gathered up and carried away by him.
! When the amount required was finished
no more paper could be had except
! through the authorized source. This
caution is now done away with. ANY
man may take the best or poorest paper
that he can, and sell it to whom he pleas
| es. The counterfeiter has a vast deal of
| trouble with his plates, but with his pa
| per very little.
''The American National, the Cont
mental, and the British American engra-
wing companies buy the paper and print
the notes, charging the parties ordering
a fixed price per sheet. The usual size
for bank-note paper is l4x17 inches the
t sheet, each sheet making just eightnotes.
.sSn1
en-. 1t was once made of silk, not by
machinery as it now is. but by hand. 1t
was not an object to bleach it. This very
article is written upon venerable SAM
! pie of pinkish paper, in which may be
| seen threads of scarlet pulp in which the
dye has been purposely left undischarg-
ed Machinery now docs all this work.
! The material is linen, imported from
Ireland expressly for the purpose. and
! the paper is therefore as white as snow.
| The material was formerly made ex-
Dressly for bank-note paper, for the
Messrs. Wilcox, direct from the fax
but the linen factories-of course at a
high price-keep up the supply from
the cuttings of their products. Miscel-
laneous rags come from continental
countries-Italy, Spain, and the neigh
boring Kingdoms chiefly but these peo-
| pie do not wear linen, and consequently
do not have linen tatters to dispose of.
! "a disclosure of the minutia of max
| ing this precious paper would be a vio-
| iation Of confidence. The mills are sit
uated upon limpid creek in Swanbury
| township, Delaware county. They pro-
duce all kinds of fine and collar papers
but this especial manufacture come I'M
der the head of Curious and therefore
receives our attention. 1t is Interesting
all through for the linen taken into the
fourth story of the building by one I'M
1 interrupted process, all done by machin-
/ cry, is delivered in sheets from the cut
/ ting machine upon snoW-white table,
/ in front OF n girl dressed as carefully as
/ if at ladies' tca-party, who packs it
/ into wrappers for delivery. American
government and bank paper needs to be
good. 1t is longer in use than any 9TH
er paper money in the world. 1t could
not DE so if it were not the best. The
/ Bank of England does not a second time
issue the same note; ours go from hand
! to hand, sometimes until their indemnity
is almost obliterated. Neither English
nor French bank-notes are nearly so
well-looking as ours. Neither the pa
per nor the engraving apprOximates III
excellence to the work done for onr ow n
government. The paper from Glen
Mills is always the same, whether the
price of material and skilled labor de-
cline OF fall. The Eastern makers Col
whom there are tWo) differ from the
Philadelphia mill in furnishing the ar
| ticIe in proportion of excellence to the
! price they agree to take for it.
| '.Mr. Wilcox recently delivered a lot
/ of paper to the Office of the American
Bank Note Company in this city, order
ed for the printing of its paper money
| by the little kingdom of Greece. Every
sheet bears i'll inerasable and uncoun-
/ terfeitable letters specific mark, made
| in the pulp by the delicate wire seivin
on which it is dried. If this were in
| troduced by banks i'll general. counter
/ feiting would be virtually impossible.
The writer is told that the Treasury
| Department is reducing to pulp and
again working over its worn out and
cancelled paper. To make bank-note
paper three things, or rather four things,
are necessary: A considerable capital
absolutely pure water, that must be even
| then filtered to be fit for use; elaborate
and especial machinery; and last, but
not least, an intimate and perfect knowl-
| edge of the business. Hard water,
| though coming from crystal springs that
weep from rocky moss-clad walls, won't
do. These springs are glorious institu-
tions for picnic parties. make capital
| punch or lemonade, but they won't
make linen into pulp. In these mills
the soft pellucid water of the creek is
carried to the apex of the building,
where ten thousand gallon tank is new
er empty, and each drop undergoes fl
! tration that gives it all the softness and
all the purity of the distilled water OIL
the shelf of the apothecary.'