Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1884-10-09
i Famana II IInlnn1 pan.r.

- paper usc1 fDf printing the Bank
Of England Notes has always been made
by the Portal fauaiIy, whose ancestor
came over from bordeaux after fhe fevo-
cation Of the edieE Of Nantes. bringing
with him the art If making finc paper.
which, like those 81 silk weaving and
dyeing scarlet, WIS: mp to that time IN
known in England Except by burglary.
It IS absolutely impossible to obtain 3
scrap Of the bsagt1fully wafcr-marked
paper produced ~ the mill At LAYER
stroke. Every piece Of this paper il
registered before Il is removed from the
frame, an account Is kept BY locked
dial. and every dauaged note ID account
cd Tor before being ground up again into
pulp. Mr.. Portal = aper has potential
value, quite apart from its worth merely
as paper, for it has always been regarded
as 50 essential to a passable forgery that
the world st large Eelt perfectly easy re-
gardlng any attempts to impose on them
through the medium Of the Bank OF Eng
land. This papestt Is, perhaps. needless
to tell any one isauite UNIQUE. Tested
by touch, it emits crisp, cracking. sharn
sound, and in color il has been described
as neither blue vQye, nor yellow wove,
nor cream-laid, butswhite OF q hue that
can be compared with no other white. y
The three deckleo edges show the nat
ural boundary Of the pulp when first
nodded. The fourth IS left smooth by
the knife which cuts the note in twain.
The paper is toVinh-so tough. indeed
that after the addition Of one grain OF
size 1t will holda weight OF sixty pounds
without tearing. Yet the quantity of
fiber in a five-pound note is not more
than eighteen and half grains. and the
sheet is so thin that erasures are often
times found to be extremely difficult.
But what constitutes the main safe
guard of the bank is the ssWater.u or.
more properly, the wire s'mark y that
transparent design which can be in
stantly detected when the paper IS held
up between the eye and the light. This
device is obtaiaed, as all water-marks
are, by twisting wires to the desired
shape, and sticking them on the face
Of the mold, SO that when the pulp
settles down II 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 sievc-likc face of the mold.
and the sheet of paper IN
embryo, s'couchad" by the mold being
gently but firmly pressed upon a blanket
to which this sppngy sheet clings. Sizing
is a subsequent process, so that when dry
the water. mark il plainly seen, being
transparent where the substance is driest.
This water-mark is secured to the bank
by virtue of q special act of parliament.
so that, apart from the pains and penal
ties which attach to any attempt to cir
culate forged notes, it is a very risky
game to initiate even the trade mark Of
the most important monetary institution
In the world.
The largest amount of bank note Il
circulation, in 1927, was 81, 600. Ii is
said that two notes for e10O, 600 each.
and two for $50, 900 each, were once en-
graved and issued A butcher. who had
amassed an immense fortune in the war
times, went one day with one of these
$50, 900 notes to.a private banker, asking
fer the loan of $1,000, and wishing to
deposit the big note as security in the
bankers hands, saying he had kept it for
years. The So, coo was handed over, but
the banker limited, at the same time, to
the butcher the folly of boarding such a
sum and losing the interest.
I" Very true, SCR. replied the butcher,
"but likes to look ont so we'll that /
have t'otner ong Of the same kind at
home" An eccentric gentleman in Lon
don framed baak post bill for $50. 900,
and exhibited it for five years in one of
his sitting rooms. The fifth year he
died, when theg picture was at once
taken down and dashed by his heirs.
Some years age at nobleman's house
near Hyde Park. i dispute arose about q
certain passage III Scripture, and Dean
who was present llenying that there was
any such text, j Bible was called for.
When it was opeaed marker was found
in it which, on examination, proved to
be bank post bial for Gao, 900. Il might
possibly have been placed there as re-
proach to the SON: who, perhaps. did not
consult the Biblesso often as his mother
c0nld have wislleA -. P1Der World