The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-10-13
Where and How Bank Note Paper is
Made.

| a correspondent of the Bosto,
Transcript, who has visited the facto
ry, near Philadelphia, in which tn
Government bank note paperi is mad
describes the process as follows:
My first visit was tothe boiler room
where, in a large rctary boiler, tn
stock of which the new paper is mad
new linen) is boiled for hours witt
lime toeXtract the color glutin. From
the boiler room we proceeded to tn
engine room. Here the stock, afte
1t has been sufficiently boiled unde
steam pressure of sixty pounds, goe
into the washing engine. IL is theI
ground or beaten about twelve hour
| hours in the washing engine. A
first water Is let in at the bottom O
the engine, and is taken out at th,
top by cylinder covered with wir,
cloth, which process goes on till till
the dirt and color, as far as it can h,
done by lime and water, is removed,
Other chemicals are then added. and
the "half stuff," as the substance il
then called, is thrown into watts.
where it is allowed to drain and
bleach.
From the.se watts il goes into the
beating engine, where by long pro-
cess of grinding or beating is reduced
to fine pulp or ''stuff," as it is
technically termed. Great care is
taken, l am informed, that the fibre
of the linen is not cut short during
the process of grinding, the object
being to beat it into its finest parts
rather than to cut it short, as is done
with book and writing papers. 1t
is that which gives to bank note pa
per its peculiar strength and bladdery
appearance.
AT this stage of the process the
distribution fibre" is introduced.
Through the whole body of the paper.
a long and comparatively coarse fibre
may be discovered. 1t is substance
usually supposed to he silk-it is not
silk-what it is, l was not informed.
1t is cut into lengths of about an inch
and weighed into the heatingencines.
a short time before the beating is com
pleted. When the stuff is fine
it is let down by valve at
the bottom of the engine, to the stuff
chest in the machine rooms.
The localized fibren is prepared in
the same way, and is usu-
ally of a blue c0lOr-that is let down
TO a separate chest, on the machine.
The stuff, or pulp, containing the dis
fibre, passes on to the ma
chine in the usual way, while that
the localized fibre, by an
Ingenious contrivance, is made to
flow in continued parelled lines.
the whole length of the con-
tinuous sheet.
The fires are so contrivCd as to
bring the localized fibre into Il parti-
cu!ar part of the bond ornote, andthc
presence Of this fibre III the bond or
note Is EVIDENCE of its geuuinenes,,.
This paper, while on the machine,
passes under calender rolls, and over
steam rolls, till it is dry. 1t is then
slit up lCngthwise, and passes through
an animal size-after that it is cut up
by machinery into sheets, and goes
into the LAY boy" After the paper
has been sized, il will not do to dry il
by steam cylinders; it therefore goes
to a drying loft, where it is hung on
poles to dry. ....
From the drying loft, the paper
goes to the finishing room, where il
is calendered and counted by the
manufacturers, and thence it passes
to the upper loft of the mill, which is
really a branch of the Treasury De-
partment. Then the paper is trim
med, examined, counted, cased and
sealed.
Some twenty or more women are
i'll examining and count
ing; each package containg one thou
sand sheets, is first examined, and
all imferfect sheets are rejected; they
are then counted by one lady twice,
and her count is verified by another.