American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-10-19

The first proceeding is making the die.
\ plate of soft. highly polished steel is
selected, and upon it is sketched the de-
sign, or, perhaps, such portions OF the lat
ter as are of the same color, If more than
one tint is to be used. This is then care
fully engraved; the labor is most elabO-
rate and the skill of the operatives Won
derful. Steel plate engraving is SO gener-
ally understood that we need enter into
no special description of how it is done :;
but we simply note the fact that it Is the
reverse of wood engraving, that is to say,
the lines which take the ink are cut into
the plate instead of being raised above its
surface. The engraver is limited to such
parts of the work as can be done by hand;
other portions. such as the scrolls and
elaborate tracery, are necessarily done en-
tirely by machinery. The principal apa-
ratus used is a complicated piece of me-
chanism, which We have not space to
describe in detail, but which, in brief,
actuates plate to which the steel for the
die is attached and caused to press against
a diamond point. Perfectly true and del
icate lines are thus cut into the metal,
making figures technically termed Soy
cloid rosettes.'' The machine, in theory,
somewhat resembles kaleidoscope, rs it
requires to be set by accurate pointers
and dials to some special figure, which,
when the combination is changed, can
never be reproduced. One of these i'll
struments is in use, and its work, together
with that of the geOmetrical lathes, can
be readily recognized on the national cur
rency.
The die being now complete, it is ready
for the transfer process. Postage stamps,
for instance, are made in sheets of two
hundred, so that the die must be transfer
red that number of times on single plate.
1t is first case hardened and then put, face
nm yyhi iS a
bination of levers actuated by the foot. so
rs to give the tremendous pressure of
twenty-O tuns on single line. A cyl
inder or "roll'' of soft steel is, by careful
guaging, placed so as to rest directly over
the face OF the die, and, at the same time,
is so arranged as to revolve easily along
its surface even when under the full
weight. The pressure is then applied,
with the result of forcing the soft steel of
the roll into the lines of the engraving, SO
that when complete, the periphery of the
cylinder shows an exact reproduction OF
the face of the die, only the lines sunk on
the latter are now raised on the former.
Next, this cylinder is case hardened.
Then the plate-soft steel again-tO be
used for the final printing is placed in the
above mentioned press and the roll ar
ranged above 1t. Now, the cylinder leaves
its impression on the plate, the hard steel
of the raised lines cutting deep into the
surface, so that a precise duplicate of the
original die is obtained. This Is repeated
for as many times as there are to be rcpe-
titiOns of the stamp or note on the single
plate, which is then ready for use. Here
we leave it and turn our attention to an
other part of the manufacture.
The ink for printing is also made on the
spot. In large room are ten or a dozen
paint mills, which are busily grind
ing the colors and oil together.
The large ones are filled with green ink,
suggestive of liquid greenbacks, another,
with vermillion, while others are making
blue, red, and other tinted inks. Nothing
but the finest color and the best boiled
linseed oil is here used. We now pass to
the paper room, where the paper is lc-
ceived directly from the Government. cut
in sheets of the required form. The frac-
tional currency and larger notes are made
of a peculiar material containing cOlored
fibers. manufactured at Glen Mills, near
Philadelphia. The paper for postage
stamps is made by the Bank Note Com
very fine, and extremely strong. The
sheets on which currency is to be printed
are counted as soon as received, and the
result telegraphed to Washington for veri-
fication. Some idea of the accuracy re-
quired may be gathered from the fact
that, for every sheet unaccounted for, the
company has to pay in cash the full value
d,
that is to say, if a sheet intended for four
81 900 notes is missing, 81 600 must be re-
turned. The paper varies in size accord
ing to the purpose for which it is design
ed. Thus the sheet for 10 cent fractional
currency is a by lG4 inches, and SO on up
for the larger denominations. All the
paper is not received perfectly blank. for
the reason that the National Company
prints but one side of each bill The ma
terial for the Is cent and 25 cent notes is
supplied with the backs already finished
the work being done by the
American Bank Note Company while
rice versa, the 10 cent bills are sent to
National Company in similar condition.
The sheets being counted are placed in
heaps, marked off in sets of 100 and 900.
When issued for printing, the workman
receiving them has to present an order
signed by the superintendent. They are
then charged against him in his pass book,
when he carries them away to be damped,
this being done by simply wrapping them
| in wet cloths.
Leaving the paper room, we enter a
| large apartment, in the center of which
are ZIG presses arranged closely together.
These are simply cylinders moved by long
handled levers, and are each attended by
three men and girl. Here we find our
plate again, now resting upon a small
| iron box warmed underneath by gas
| flames. A workman rapidly covers it
with ink with a plate printers roller and
passes it to another operative at his side,
| who wipes the plate over with soft cot
ton cloth, and then polishes with the palm
of his hand covered with whiting, thus
removing the ink from its surface but not
from the engraved lines, which remain
filed. This done, the plate is placed, face
up, in the press. The girl stands ready
with sheet of dampened paper which she
carefully lays upon the plate. The press
man turns the levers, the cylinder re-
wolves, the plate passes under it, and the
| paper is removed bearing a perfect inn
Observation-Disclosures american.