Owyhee semi-weekly tidal wave. [volume] (Silver City, Owyhee County, Idaho Territory) 1868-1869, 1869-05-07
Letter from Joe.
APRIL It'll 1869.


at Washington is located at g the
other end of the avenue" Just a
little east of the old stone Jug, or |
White House. The Treasury, or
Grand Harem, is of the usual COM
posite order of architecture-com-
menced with sandstone, continued
with granite and concluded with
marble; that is, the first building
was sandstone, then came an addi-
ton of granite, and the last building
of marble-but all sort of dovetailed
together to represent one building
after certain style, 1t certainly is
after a fashion. 1t covers several
acres of real estate and about three
hundred girls variously employed.
A large proportion of these young
women are quite good looking; and
on the whole, this is the largest
house of the kind | ever was in any
where. 1t is considered quite an
honor to be allowed to go through
the Grand Seraglio, but don't owe
it to my shape at all; so You needn't
feel jealous ON that account. The
fact is, | was on good terms with
Grand Turk from San Francisco,
who got me passed through. The
institution includes the printing
office, which of course ought to in
terest me somewhat. | saw the en-
tire process, machinery, etc, by
which bonds, greenbacks, &c. are
produced. It is too extensive for
detail, and would not interest your
readers to that extent. The paper
is printed by hydraulic pressure ma
chimes, and is not dampened. The
g form " or plate is taken out OF the
press, linked and otherwise prepared
for every impression, aud the process
is twice as slow as ordinary hand
press printing. But it is the finish
ing, cutting, counting, &c. that Is
the more interesting feature OF the
works. There is variety OF the
most delicate machinery used III
these several operations, including
all the pretty women referred TO
To see a big sheet of fractional cur
rency cut into teh-cent pieces and
counted oil into packages SO exactly
that an operative cannot steal q
single shin-plaster without being de-
tected before it gets out Of the Treas
urer's hands, and all this by ma
cbinerv.-is worth an hour or two {
tronble. The concern that numbers
the bonds is piece Of ingenuity on
a small scale that seems TO me aboH'
as near perfection as machinery can
be. This thing is not much la gel
than a veast-powder box, and con
tains lew type or figures that prln
from one up to a million, and regu
Iates itself as it goes along like
music-box. The employees or print
ers in the institution have little show
TO steal anything directly. The bosi
, PRINTER is handed so many sheets t.
d produce a certain kind of currency
!. and must return every one or b.
! compelled to pay for it out OF hl
) own pocket. The only show TO
stealing anything out of the Treas
d ury, is to get elected to the Senat
or Congress, or chief offs some ''ring.
The poor clerks and operatives tina
do the hard work around the Ma
: tional Capitol have hard life OF II
Congress raises its own salary bu
Z rejects the bill for the relief OF thos
who do the work. Old Spinner, tn
Treasurer, offered Wizards his sal
ary $50, 1000 for the board OF hin
sell and little family, but the hotf
couldn't see it. In some respects
this is a cheap Government of ours