Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1886-08-10
TEE TREASURY STEEL VAULTS.
How the Nationa' currency Is Made
Counted and Worn Out

How the Sationa' currency is Made,
Counted and Worn Out.
The great chlled-iron and steel
vaults of the Treasury at Washington
are objects of much interest to visitors
but only certain ones can be entered by
outsiders, and these only on a permit
from the Treasurer
The five principal vaults are connected
with the Treasurer's Office, for the con-
tents OF which he Is responsible They
are known as the cash vault, the reserve
vault, the silver vault, the redemption
vault and the national bank vault.
The cash vault is used more than all
the others combined, in the daily trans
action OF business and presents more
interesting features. It Is constructed
IN the most approved modern principles,
ind is, strictly speaking, an fron-bound
ipartment lined with gold and silver.
The walls, floor, and ceiling are OF
chilled iron, built In sections.
these walls are over a foot thick,
he space between the inner and outer
rlates of iron being filed with heavy
ron balls, forming compact mass,
he removal of which would require
much time, skill and labor
The Bureau of Engraving and Print
ng, where all our national currency Is
manufactured, occupies large brick
uilding built expressly for it, at cost
" some 100000. 1t. has three stories
ma high basement, and Is In tn,
Romanesque style Of architecture.
Here $50 plate presses are worked BY
land, and over 500 men and wome.
Employed in the processes of printing
heets OF bank-notes, bonds and inter.
lal revenue stamps.
The long, spacious room, running tn
nitro length of the third story, is
Gene of intense activity during bushes
ours. Six hundred sheets per day al
rinted on each press, and after each in
ression the delicate copper and steo
late must be removed from the pres
arefully wiped dry, polished will
whiting, linked and then returned to it,
lace for another impression.
The fibre paper must be handled ex
lertly, and everything about the wor
lone with precision and care. All i.
)erfect system and exactness here.
The greenbacks and other securities
ssued by the Government, from the
me the paper Is manufactured unit
he finished note Is issued are subjected
o system of registering and checking
1t every step, SO minute and precise
hat the chance OF any error or dishonesty
IN the handling of this most valuable
product Is reduced to minimum.
The sheets, before being wet, are
delivered to the plate printers, counted
and charged to them, and again counted
in the presence of lady assistant, who
certifies to the count. Attached to the
machine by which the wettlng is done
are registers which automatically count
the sheets a third time as they pass
through.
Next comes the examining division,
where, after the fourth count the
sheets are dried and counted the fifth
time. Lady experts then examine the
sheets, and those which are pronounced
perfect go into the hydraulic press,
from which powerful machines they
emerge in a smooth state ready for
printing.
Any sheets spoiled in printlng-too
light or too dark or otherwise imperfect
are thrown out by the examiner, but
cannot be destroyed until after
passing through a regular prescribed
course.
The lettering and numbering divisions,
and the engraving division, on the
ether floors, are interesting also.
Visitors are permitted to inspect all
the divisions of the bureau, and II
guide is provided to conduct all who
apply on q "tour of the rooms.
Ofthe 500 or 600 persons employed in
the bureau, a large majority are ladies'
and some of the most difficult and
responsible work is performed by lady
experts.
The bureau turns out an average OF
800, 600 in notes printed daily.
The redemption division of the
Treasury Is one of the most interesting
and busiest. Here worn and mutilated
bank-notes, retired from circulation,
are examined and counted previous 10
being cancelled. Every year currency to
the value OF 100000 Is counted, can
celled and destroyed.
The counting is done by female
clerks. many of whom acquire great skill
and seldom make mistake. Some OF
these countesses" have been at wor,,
ten years or more, and have handlel
many millions of dollars.
They sit on long tables on which the
notes are piled, and package after pack
age Is opened, the notes closely scrutin-
lied and counted, and then turned over
to the officials in charge OF the cancell-
ing machine, which is run by a
turbine wheel.