Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-11-17
MAKING HONEY.

side. i. A.. HERIWETHER.
MAKING MONEY.
san Francisco Chronicle.
One of the most interesting places il
the city is the Branch Mint, where the
wealth OfOur mines receives the stamI
Of Uncle Sam befoTeit goes abroad 10 in
fuse new vigor into the channels O
trade and commerce. Having passed
the ordeal of a sentinel seated at the en-
trance Of the building, a Chronicle re-
porter entered and proceeded to inspect
The various processes through which Jhe
precious metals pass before becoming
gold and silver coin OF the United States.
THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT.
Here deposits are received and ac-
counted for. There are two pOnderOus
pairs of scales, on which are weighed
heavy deposits, and on the other light
ones, although the richest of our readers
would not be disconnected on receiving
as a Gift all that the smaller scales can
weigh. The greatest capacity Of ihe
huge scales i five thousand ounces, and
that of the smaller is two thousand
ounces; eithe however, viii weigh 4
particle as small as the one-thousandth
part of an once.
The bullion having been weighed by
the clerk, and its weight being recorded,
is delivered over TO the treasurer, from
whose possessiOnit passes down stairs TO
the smelling room, where It is melted
and returned to the treasury depart
ment, Teweighed, and sent up stairs to
the assaying-rOOm. Its fneness being
-ascertained, il is again sent to the treat
sury department, its value calculated,
and the amount paid to the depOsitOr.
Deposits of any amount I'VE six ounces
are received. On the day of cur visit
there had been received eight bars, agra-
eating in value two hundred and sixty
thousand dollars.
THE MELTING ROOM,
hot enough to deserve its name, is a
small apartment, crowded with work
men, and containing various fierce fur
naces and utensils. The floor is covered
with a grating, which can be taken M.
This is TO allow the fine PARTICLES of gold
that may be separated during the process
ofmelting, etc, to collect on the floor
beneath, which is swept at stated times,
and the value of the gold thus saved is
said TO amount to a large sum annually.
The deposit furnaces are twelve feet
long, with four openings tended by two
meters. In each opening are placed
two cupels. The melting occupies nom
ten minutes to an hour, according TO the
quantity. The melted metal is then
poured into mOulds, and the bars are re-
turned to the treasury department,
weighed, assayed, sent 10 The refinery.
on Brannan street to be refined. and
thence returned to hemelting-room and
melted in the ingOt furnace for pur-
poses Of alloy. The alloy Of gold is made
up of two parts Of silver, eight parts Of
pure copper and ninety parts of gold.
The alloy for silver consists of one part
of copper and nine parts of silver. Hav-
ing the proper alloy, and being now
fitted TO be made. into coin, the metal
next undergoes the process of
ROLLING AND ANNEALING.
The rolling is done in an apartment in
the rear of the melting-rOOm. The visi-
tor is b%ewildered at first by a multitude.
of machines. The first two are called
the rolling mill, which are used to con-
vert into fiat pieces, like ribbons, Of the
thickness of the coin to bc made.
Annealing is done in an apartment in
the basement. The process is a very in
ltttoLAIB 0it. me -DtAtE IlDbNu1 OF
"planchets, y as they are called, are put
into the air furnaces till they become OF
a white heat, when they are taken out
and immersed in a bath.
After being rolled and aunealed, these
planchets are taken to the
CUTTING-ROo5I,
where they are prepared for milling and
coming. They are first weighed, then
run through a pointing machine, then
through q drawing bench. They are
then cut into the proper size and shape
by a die, which cuts one hundred and
fifty in a minute. They then go 20 the
CoINER's Room,
in the second story, and are subjected to
the process ofmilling, which is no other
than thickening the edges and giving
the unstamped coins the proper shape.
The machine will mill two hundred and
forty double-eagles q minute. Being
milled, each coin has TO be stamped with
the insignia of Uncle sam. The die has
a pressure Of d hundred and seventy
five tons on dOuble-eagles. The coin is
stamped on both sides at the same time.
In an adjoining room are twenty-five
females employees who are employed IN
testing the weight Of the newly-made
coins, their work being enlivened with
merry chat and musical laughter. If
the coins are found to be of the proper
weight, they are ready for the uses Of
commerce; otherwise they are sent back
20 be remelted.
DEPOSTUOBS
receive in coin the value ofthe bullion
they deposit, less the expenses of coinage.
It is popularity supposed to be the coin
made from the bars or dust they have
handed in, but this, of course, is q fic-
ton. Thus it is that there is always a
stream Of unrefined bullion passing into
the mint, and a stream of coin passing
out. Its Golfers are continually being
depleted and replenished.
Our branch mint furnishes the
COMMERCIAL LIFE-BLOOD
Of the coast, and, in a large degree, of
the nation. OF $500, $50, 500 Is in gold
coin issued from the minis of the United
States since 1898, the San Francisco
mint, from 1854 to 1872, issued S3ll 757,-
2lS %, or more than three-eighths Of the
total amOunt-a sum much more easy TO
name than to comprehend. During the
year 1871 our mint turned out SIS, $780,
24l 81, or more than tWO-thirds Of the
total coinage Of the United States. BY
far the greater proportion Of It was gold,
the silver coinage only amounting 70
s5lS, 35l IS. The number Of double
coined was $50, coo, worth Sl7,-
$50, 600.
The mint was first opened in 1851, and
since then the total amount of gold and
coinage has been 1921 ga, lS5 As.
Last year was the most active Of all,
1856. The first silver coinage was
done ia 1856. The greatest amount Of
silver coin was issued in 1853. The total
number of coins issued to the end Of 1871
1897, $40, including@l2 601 $50 half
dollars and IA, 283, Isl dOuble-eagles. The
Total coinage Of the mint from its inau-
guration to September 30, 1872, has been
s332, 79S, 1S5 IS, Of which S322, 927 ,2lS %
gold. The comparative sDlallness
Of the silver coinage Is accounted for by
The TACT that the gresfcr portion Of the
product of the coast has been eX-
ported in the fern Of bullion 70 the
East, Great Britain and China.
During the year money has been
here for the government Of Ja-
pan, and it Is probable that this city is
destined to be one of the great coinage
of the world, and that the im-
mense amounts OF bullion now exported
10 China and Japan will, in the future,
be coined before being sent to their des-
5inations.
sOFTENKNG OF THE BRAIN.
SOftening Of The brain is becoming 3
more common disease than formerly; as