Morning journal and courier., 1884-10-07
A Famous and Unique Paper.


 The paper used for printing the Bank of England notes has always been made by the Portal family, whose ancestors came over from Bordeaux after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, bringing with him the art of making fine paper, which, like those of silk weaving and dyeing scarlet, was up to that time unknown in England. Except for burglary, it is absolutely impossible to ob- tain scrap of the beautifully watermarked paper produced at the mill at Laverstoke. Every piece of this paper is registered before it is removed from the frame, and account is kept by locked dial, and every damaged note is accounted for before being ground up into pulp. MT. Portals paper has a poten- tial value, quite apart from it's worth merely as paper, for it has always been regarded as so essential to passable forgery that the world at large felt perfectly easy regarding any attempts to impose on them through the medium of the Bank of England. This pa per-it is perhaps, needless to tell anyone is quite unique Tested by touch, it emits 8 crisp, cracking, sharp sound, and in color it has been described as neither blue-wove nor yellow-wove, nor cream~laid, but white of hue that can be compared with no other white.'' The three deekle@ edges show the natural boundary of the pulp when first moulded The fourth is left smooth by the knife which cuts the notes in twain. The paper is tough-so tough, indeed, that after the addition of one grain of size it will hold Q weight of sixty pounds without tearing Yet the quantity of fibre in a fve-pound note is not more than eighteen and 8 half grains, and the sheet is so thin that ensures are oftentimes found to be extremely diff cult
 But what constitutes the main safeguard of the bank is the 'twater," or, more properly, EEToo7,Iy D oH +ron daciorO which can be instantly detected when the paper is held up between the eye and the light. This device is obtained, as all watermarks are, by twisting wires to the desired shape, and sticking them on the face of the mould, so that when the pulp settles down it must of necessity be thinner on the wire design than on the other parts of the sheet. The water is then permitted to run through the sieve like face of the mould, and the sheet of pa per in embryo, f'couched" by the mould be- ing gently but firmly pressed upon blanket to which this spongy sheet clngs. Sizing is subsequent process, so that when dry the water mark is plainly seen, being transpa- rent where the substance is driest. This water-mark is secured to the bank by virtue of a special act of Parliament, so that apart from the pains and penalties which attach to any attempt to circulate forged notes, 1t IS a very risky game to initiate even the trade mark of this most important monetary insti- tuition in the world.
 The largest amount of bank note in cir culation in 1927 was 91 ,000. It is said that two notes for e100, 900 each, and two for e50, ,O00 each, were once engraved and issued. A butcher, who had amassed an immense fors tune in war times, went day with one of these e50, 900 notes to private banker, ask ing for the loan of e5, 900, and wishing to deposit the big note as a security in the bankers hands, saying he had kept it for years. The e5, 600 was handed over, but the banker hinted, at the same time, to the butcher the folly of hoarding such sum and losing the interest.
 ssWery true, sir," replied the butcher, 'fbut like to look ont so very well that I have tother one of the same kind at home. !" An eccentric gentleman in London framed a bank post bill for 93O, 900, and exhibited it for five years in one of his sitting rooms. The fifth year he died, when the picture was at once taken down and cashed by his heirs. Some years ago, at noblemans house in Hyde Park, dispute arose about a certain passage in scripture, and dean who was present denying that there was any such text, Bible was called for. When it was opened a marker was found in it which, on examination, proved to be a bank post bill for e4O, 900. It might possibly have been placed there as reproach to the son, who, perhaps did not consult the Bible often as his mother could have wished.