The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1877-01-25
What Is Done With the Redeemed
Currency.

What Ii Done with the kedeeme
Currency.
The Washington Chronicle says: Tn
National bank notes and fractional cur
rency, when first turned out of the trea
sury, are very pretty to look at. Thei
crispness is a peculiarly attractive fea
ture, and the bright green and moderat,
quantity of rose color are very pleasing
to the eye. The engraving, too, is really
artistic, and taken in its entirety, Uncl.
Sans money when new may be pro
nOunced very pretty money indeed. But
unfortunately, the National bank note
and the modest 10, 20 or so cent frac
tional currency pieces are subjected tc
very hard usage. First, they may be
handled by the dapper bank clerk, who
understands their manipulation Der.
fectly,. and from whose hands they pass
none the worse for the contact. But the
man who receives them next may be q
grocer's clerk, who, disregarding their
beauties, uses his unwashed digits that
may few moments previously have
been engaged in handling nice fitch OF
bacon, to count the bills. The pork
butcher may be the next one to have tenn
porary possession of the representatives
OF value, and while in his custody they
are sure to take on more or less of the
badge of his calling. Probably they re-
pose next in the wallet of fashionable
lady, and the odors of the grease are
neutralized by musk, ylang-y lang, or
some one of the many popular perfumes
Next they will fall into the hands of
a. a NH
book, but makes his vest pocket the
neutral ground where greenbacks. cigar
cites and ends of all kinds meet on
friendly terms. This vicissitudes of cur
rency are many and varied, and there is
little room for wonder that the presses in
the Treasury Department find constant
occupation as they do in turning out
fresh supplies of paper that only too soon
become really "6lthy lucre." The de-
struction is very rapid, and one of the
chief occupations of large force in the
treasury is that of subjecting the con-
demned cash to the processes by which
1T is finally wiped out of existence.
About two years since it was the custom
to burn the redeemed bank notes, bonds.
and fractional currency, but a more
economical, and in every way more &C.
ceptable plan, is now pursued. On the
White lot, Immediately in front of the
treasury, may be noticed two brick
buildings. The largest of these is the
machine shop, carpenter, and general re-
pairing establishment of the treasury.
The other is also an adjunct and is known
as the macerating department. Here it
is that the flOlicsOme currency, after it
has been made worthless by reason of too
much abuse, is converted into pulp that
finds its way to the paper manufactures
where it is converted into paper.
Here also the bond rendered useless by
at expiration or some other
cause is made undistinguishable from, let
US say mortar, by an extremely simple
process. In the first place, the fractional
currency is subjected to a most rigid
scrutiny and count for the purpose of
detecting counterfeits, and then it is
turned over to men who with machine
cancel each note so effectually that by no
could it ever be used again;
mother count is thengone through with |
for the purpose of checking the operators
Of the machine, and preventing them
from appropriating any of the con-
demned money. After the can
ceiling, the money is next cut in
half, and once more the separate
halves are counted, and when ascertained
to be all right, are placed in boxes for
the purpose OF removing them to the
building before alluded to.
The boxes are securely locked while in
transit from the treasury to the macerat-
ing establishment, where they are opened
in the presence of three presentatives
of the treasury, one acting in behalf Of
the Secretary, another for the Treasurer,
and the last for the Register, for each
batch is usually accompanied by lot of
bonds, which are cut and Cancelled |
and the fractional currency
are emptitd into the macerating cylin-
der, which is also locked with three sep
arate locks, the keys of which are held
by the officers named above.
The process of maceration is very SIM
pie. The macerating cylinder Is re-
volved by sixty horse power engine,
and at the same time jets of steam are
injected into it, which speedily soften
the mass of paper. The mass of paper,
by its own gravity, keeps dropping, and
Is reduced to pulp by the sharp ridges |
which form the inside of the cylinoer. |
After being subjected to this treatment
for about thirty-six hours, the cylinder
Is unlocked BY the three officials, and
the pulp is then allowed to fall on an
elevation, where it's thoroughly cleansed,
aud all fatty mater removed by the
agency of quicklime and soda.
The washing of the pulp completes
the process, and it is finally dumped in a
heap to lie until purchased. Saturday
about four million five hundred thou
sand dollars worth of fractional cur
reDcy was placed in the macerator. This
was an unusually large batch, the aver
age burnings," as the maceratings are
known, being much less. There is now
m immense quantity of the pulp on
hand, probably several hundred tons.
This will be sold to paper manufacturers.
The rate paid for the pulp is in the vicin-
ity of five dollars per ton, and the priv
cipal purchaser is Mr.. George f. Hill, Of
this city, who manufactures from it the
very nice article of paper at his mills in
Georgetown. An approximate estimate
of the quantity of pulp annually made
out of fractional currency or bonds at
this establishment, is six hundred and
fifty tons. The proceeds resulting from
the sale of this may be accounted as clear
gain over the old method, as the burning
of the currency or bonds required the
expenditure of as much labor as does the
present maceratipg system, and con.
sumed a great deal moro coal. The
=. l,olo ,,,arLr IF convertiuu the plaved mt
money at this place into pulp is under
the charge of Captain Barnett. The
National bank notes are converted into
pulp by the centrifugal process inside
the treasury building, the method
adopted being similar to that pursued
with the fractional currency and bonds,