The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1878-06-20

II Was founded very nearly one hun.
dred years ago, and in Il WAS coined the
. first money used in the United States
Until 1916 all the work WAS done by
hand or horse power; the building WAS
+ guarded by watch-dogs, and the artisans
were supplied with plentiful quantities
of liquor rs fatigue ration. the an
clent and simple minded citizens look
ing upon them with especial favor. The
earliest directorwas appointed 10y Wash.
ington. The original copper cents were
made in li9a, the silver dollars IN lT9i.
and the gold eagles IN 1875. Both the
metal and machinery were importeds
\ but IN coming, As III many other things,
+ the American has made such progress
within the century that the implements
of his own construction are now supe-
rior To the models after which they are
4 patterned.
The casual visitor is welcomed from
/ Q A. NJ. until noon, and is taken IN hand
by polite and garrulous ushers, who, IN
common with all the other employees
bear themselves with the dignity that
BELTS persons living IN such close con
tact with enormous wealth. I've seen
/ five hundred and fifty million dollars 60
/ in and ont Of this place, said one Of the
employees rs he led us into "a dimly-
I lighted vault, where the pale bricks Of
silver were piled from roof to ceiling
five hundred and tfty million dollars
in twenty eight years, he repeated,
with particular gusto; and at the state
ment our fancy Immediately took wild
flight among the enchanting poSsibill-
ties ef such treasure, for when Nam
mon mounts Pegasus no adole~cent
Muse can career through realms SO luml-
nous and varicolored a. this metallic
deity, who is worshiped and despised,
courtei and reyiled, 10y the best and
worst Of men. The very contemplation
of so immense a sum was dazzling 10
the imagination. Ii WAS the aggregate
fortune Of five hundred miilionairrs, the
income OF scores OF thrones aud the
value of State, What a Protean lntlu-
ence il must have exerclsed'-currupt
ing and sustaining how many lives; pay
ing the scduy wages ot tine teu-hour
laborer, and suiliciug for the cxtrayA-
gance OF prlncely spenithrIits; carrying
ciously destroying the beneficiary; Sc
duciug the ylrtuuus and breeding sedl-
ton among the honest forever dong
good aud harm by tickle strokes; forever
indispensable and forever allunng. In
one Of his clever essays. JuuIus Henri
Browne saws with Emersoniau senten-
tIOusnesS: "Cash Is the cause and con-
sequence Of civilization. the measure OF
its breadth, and the plummet OF It's pro-
fundity. Every true ideal must rest on
the real, and the real to-day IS the com
age Of the mint" The contents Of the
little vault had probably left deeper
marks on the world than all the books
written and the sermons preached dur
ing the twenty. eight years of the Gus
todian's service.
In passing through the deposit-room
all the metal is carefully weighed. The
largest scale, with a ponderous beam
aud huge trays, combines extreme deli
cacyIwith its strength, and balahces from
six thousand ounces 10 the une-hun-
dredth part OF an ounce; another scale
tells three thousand ounces at time,
and third tells three hundred ounces,
They are adjusted several times week,
erected on solid masonry, and are true
to grain. Having been weighed, the
silver is carried % the melting-room,
where it is mixed with copper. IN order
TO give it sufficient hardness 10 endure
the friction of constant han ling, and
melted in stone cruciblss, heated TO
1900 degrees 10y charcoal-fres. This
heat is so intense that the workmeu
must protect their hands and arms by
gloves and gauntle its. The stone cruci-
bles are placed within others of plum
bago, in order 10 insure them against
breaking. Reduced TO molten fluid,
the metal is now poured into iron
moulds, whence it energies in the form
Of ingots, which are transferred 10 roll
ing mills which shape them by rapid
process of attenuation into long, narrow
slips. s.-Appieton's Journal.