Cheyenne transporter. [volume] (Darlington, Indian Terr.) 1879-1886, 1882-01-25
HOW MONEY Is MADE,
The Curious and interesting History
of Dollar

uulNcISdl lltcIcoJ plODdDly aNoouhoo
for the large number Of visitors to the
bureau of engraving and printing at
Washington, where Uncle Sam prints
his promises to pay and the various
stamps required to be used on certain
articles. A stranger on short visit TO
the capital will not fail to visit this
institution and trace the history OF a
dollar from the time it is simplya sheet
of blank paper until he sees 1t bundled
up with lot of its fellows, ready to
be sent to the bank and paid out through
the pigeon hole of the paying teller.
THE PAPER
on which our national securities are
printed is manufactured at present in
New England. The owners of the
mills that make it are the patentees of
what is called the "localized blue fber,"
which runs through the right hand
end of the United States notes, and on
the back of the bonds, etc. This pecu-
liar fiber is the great obstacle to the
counterfeiter. A government officer
receives the paper from the contractor,
counts it and holds it until it is needed
at Washington. Each paper-making
machine has an automatic register, by
which the mill owners account to the
government for every square inch of
paper they make, and the key of this
machine is held by government Of
fcer who watches the work. The pa
per, after it is made, is sent to the
treasury department at Washington,
and from there the superintendent of
the bureau Of engraving and printing
orders it as he finds need. He gives a
receipt for the number of sheets he
takes, and the printer, who next re-
ceives the precious blank paper, gives
receipt to the superintendent. And
now the paper is ready to receive its
first impression.
THE EMPLOYEES.
The number employed in the bureau
at present is 900, two-thirds of the
number being women. In the case of
the ladies who are engaged in examin-
ing, counting and cutting the money
and cumming the stamps, they are en-
ployed directly by the government. In
the case of the printer it is different.
The printer, always a man, is employed
by the government, and he hires such
female help as he needs. The printer
is paid by the piece work, and no mat
ter how little or how much he earns,
he must pay each Of his female help
$l.25 day. If he is sick and obliged
to be absent from business, the pay of
5he girls goes on as though they work
ed at such times.
The department is divided into vari- !
Gus divisions, the building being four
OF five stories high, the VIC -kers in each |
division attending to only one of the
many different processes through |
which the bit Of paper has to pass be-
fore it comes out Grip, full hedged |
dollar
THE FIRST IMPRESSION
given to the sheet is the face of the |
bill, without the red stamp or seal |
The printer has received from 5000 to
10000 sheets in the morning, for which,
of course, he has given receipt. |
Should but one of these sheets be lost |
or spoiled, the fact must be reported in |
the evening, and the missing sheet |
must be found or satisfactorily ac-
counted for before the man can leave
the building. And right here it may
be mentioned that no one is allowed to |
leave the building until the close of |
working hours, and not then without a
pass to show that the examination of |
the work Of the day has been found |
Irregular" 1t has sometimes happened |
that an employe has been seized with |
sudden sickness, and had to be taken |
home in the government ambulance,