The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1880-09-15
How the Greenback is Made.

Gall paper money" said treasury
officer in conversation with a Chronicle
reporter q few days ago, "both legal
tenders and national securities, is now
engraved, printed and finished in the
bureau of engraving and printing at
Washington. Some years ago one-haf
the note was finished in New York by
the Columbia Bank Note company, but
that has been done away with for some
time. Under an act of Congress build
ing has just been completed for the sole
use of the bureau. Before moving into
this they occupied part of the treasury
department"
"What about the process of makinga
greenbackP ?"
"The process of making greenback
and other government securities is this:
The paper is first taken to the wetting
division. There it is counted and damp
ened. It is then delivered to the plate
printers, each sheet being charged to
them. They again count it in the pres
ence of their assistant, who is a lady,
and give a receipt therefor, the assistant
certifying that she witnessed the count.
The receipts are taken to the wetting
division, where they are compared with
the books before work is begun, and
must. agree. The paper is then given
back. This is done with hand press.
Attached to all of these presses are reg
listers, which keep count of each sheet of
paper as it passes through, so it is inn
possible for the printer to secret any
without being detected. The note then
passes into the examining division,
where it is counted while wet and then
placed in q drying box. When per-
fectly dry it is taken out and again
counted, and the work examined by ex-
perts, all of whom are ladies. The
sheets found defective in any way are
Cancelled, and the perfect ones placed in
hydraulic press, where an immense
pressure is given them. When taken
out they are perfectly smooth. They
are then sent back to the wetting di-
vision, where they are again damp
ened."
"What is the next step in their manu-
factureP"
"Well, they are taken to the printing
division, where they receive the second
impression, which is the black part OF
the face, after which they are taken to
the examining division, the dry box, the
hydraulic press, and back again to the
wetting division, the same as at first.
They are taken from here the third time
to the state printing division, where the
third impression is received, which is
the large red seal on the face. After
this they are taken to the examining
room, dried, pressed, counted and exam
ined, the same as on both previous
occasions. From here they are sent to
the numbering division, where they
receive the numbers that are seen on the
upper right corner and left center. Both
legal tender and national bank notes are
printed on sheets, and there are always
four notes on each. After being num-
bered the legal tender notes are taken to
another room, where the margin is
trimmed from the paper and the notes
separated. This is ali done by machin-
cry. After being separated they are
again counted and placed in packages
of one Thousand notes each. This is also
done by ladies, who are experts. One
lady, Mrs. Silver, will count one thou"
sand notes in five minutes. This is the
final count. They are then ready for
delivery to the parties authorized to re-
ceive them. The national bank notes
are not separated, but are sent to the
banks that issued them in sheets of four
each, SO that they may be the more
readily signed. The rules governing the
bureau of engraving and printing are
very strict. In fact during working
hours the employees are treated more
like prisoners than they are like ladies
or gentlemen. From one thousand to
fifteen hundred persons are employed
there, the ladies numbering the gen
tlemen considerably. IS. LOUIS CbTOm
Gle.