The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-09-20

cess ofAIoney-naking-The Bank-Not
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES i'm the Depart
ments.
Correspondence Of The New York World.l
WASHINGTON. September Is.
1t Is a history worth reading I propose tt
give you-that OF the Printing Bureau ofthe
treasury department of the United states
which, from the superintendent who organ
lied and set 1t going with four operatives,
has grown to its present huge dimensions,
numbering, as it does, nearly 1000 operatives,
and printing 0 1000, 600, 900 OF notes, bonds and
other securities, OF which not one note OF
sheet of paper, OF any portion of a note OF
sheet of paper, has been lost to the govern
ment. To such a degree Of perfection has the
system of checks or registers been brought
that it is a positive imposslbllity for q dollar
of over-issue 10 be made, and since the intro.
ductlon of the distinctive fbrous paper upon
which our money is printed not a dollar has
been successfully counterfeised.
The operations of the Printing Bureau de-
| velop a degree of skill, ability and scientific
| knowledge, as we'll as OF integrity, diligence
| aud watchtuln. So upon the part of Its officers
| and employees that challenges the respectful
| consideration Of the country. Through the
kindness of George B. McCartee, the efficient
| chief of this divlsion-the Bureau of Engrav-
ing and Printing! have made a thorough In
vestira,ion Into all It's doiugs and details; and
| when I call Mr. McCartna efficient / do not Use
| the word In lis conventional sense, Us being
| the thing one Ia expected to say OF the head
of q bureaus; I mean that he Is O man who
understands hIs work and does It.
The ..Seautirml money" as / once heard q
little child characterize q new greenback,
fresh from the treasury. possesses an added
attraction, Independent Of Its Intrinsic value,
after goipg through this bureau and watching
its system of operation. never look at one
of these bills since my visit there that do
NOT ses again the engravers with their fine in-
struments. carefully tracing the lines which
cost 30 strict precision lest q mistake shall
reader the whole worthless; the man who at.
teDtiyely superIntends and manages the geo.
metrIcai lathe machine, tine strong, keen faces
of the printers. blackened with the adjuncls
of their toll, each with u girl 10 attend his
press: the women who count the money after
IL Ia printed; the superintendents OF the dry
ing and counting rooms; and the young, la
dies. dressed In the most bewltching styles,
Mainly and neatly, but In exceeding good
Taste. who act as bookkeepers and copylsts.
All these flash Instantly before me. and / feel
a personal interest In the work which they 30
successfully achieve.
7 commenced my studies Of how our money
is made IRON the top OF The building, or with
The platp-prlnlers In this department there
are employed twelve artists and Six Or elgnt
,ransterprs. The frat process here entered
upOn is the engraving Of The dies. This con.
sists in tracing upon o small piece OF steel a
head. yigneLle,, corner piece, or the fine bor-
der runnlug around the notes, all OF which are
first done sepalately upon these dies. me
dies are then hardened and the Impression
taken from each upon q soft steel roller, which
ia also then hardened. From q number of
these rollers, containing different subjects, In
oil furmiug the entire object to be engraved, q
complete dte Is made up Of u note, bond or
stamp. The finished die is then hardened and
by Ile AID vi, PYmsE1at assesI.- siaaI ;niar
and after this Ia hardened Inc whole ,mprrs-
siop ia transferred TO large plates from which
The notes are 10 bs printed. "
The gsoine;rical lathe work done on the
preenbscks Ia u wonderful process, aud 1t
seems impossible That machinery, Without the
aid of mental direction In making the forms,
can he constructed To give tue perfect curves
and lines 10 which Ibis process las attained.
TIE portion of the greenbacks known as geo.
mptrical lathe work embraces the die holding
the denomination OF The bill, the denomina-
iional numbers wherever used on the face OF
the note. and the entire back. The geOmetri-
cal work Is first drawn on steel, and Tie pro.
cess ia much the same as that OF the engraV-
ing. 1t IL first hardened, having received the
impression, then transferred to another plate;
from This iC is taken urOn u roller, and thence
mi upon The plates from which the notes are
printed. -.,.,a ,.u
dies aud rolls In process OF preparation, are all
kept locked In the plate vault, 10 which there
are three keys, In the hands OF three different
custodians, n Oh Wnom Is appolnIea ny Inc
treasurer, another by the comptroller OF cur
rency, and the third by the chiefo OF the Bureau
OF Engraving and Printing. To add to the
secnrliy the Waterman, with whom there
m,,st needs be collision In any attempt al
fraud. is constantly changed, 30 That no one OF
these guardians knows at any lime what Is to
be his post of duty the following night. No
roll, plate or die can be taken rom liie Vanlt
aYcent mon requisitiOn from The superlnten-
dent of printing, made to and recelpteo lor oy
the three cuslodians.
The plates being prepared and locked up,
we will now look alter The paper used IN the
manufacture of our securities. The material
noon which our money Ia printed has been the
subject of discussion and examination ever
since the making OF The same became one OF
the recognized Institutions OF The country.
HOW 10 obtain for this purpose a distinctive
paper difficult 10 counterfeit, was Tor q long
lime the slu1y of the experts and detectives
connected with the department. The paper
now used Is manufactured by Wilcox q Co.,
at Glen Mills, near Philadelphia. The Treas
ury Department:ha has at these mills q govern
ment superintendent, who Is under the con-
troll Of The secretary, but directed by Mr..
McCartee. Each sheet is registered as 1t
comes from the machine, and The keys of
these registers are kept 0y the government
superintendent. So complete Is lhls system
of registration that not one sheet can, by any
carelesauess OF inatlenlion, fail to be regis
tered.
This paper Is made with a peculiar fibre
running through II, which Is produced by The
use of lutte, u coarse ferrous plant, q native of
The East Indies, but lately Introduced and
grown in the Southern States. Silk has also
been used for hbre, but not 30 successfully az
lutte. The paper thus manufactured is pecu-
liar and distinctive, and has never been coun-
terteIted except by producing the ibrous ap-
| pearance In the process Of printing, which is
easily detected. The government superinten-
dent has q corps OF counters and examiners
under his direction, and the paper Is carefully
| counted and examined as received from the
| makers, aud packed away for shipment. This
| paper Is supplied To the bank-nole companies
upon reuulsition from the bureau.
When The sheets Of paper are ready for use
| thew are first given to the bank note compa-
| pies, where the backs and tinls are printed.
| Thew are then sent 20 The treasury depart
ment, where they are carefully counted and
examined, the imperfect ones, II there are
| any. delivered to the secretary. under whose