Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-06-24

fibre marks when are INC cDaracterlstlcs
OF our national OF United States treasury
notes. The smallest Austrian note In Of
tho value OF one guilder or form nearly
forty cents here. The largest note issued
Is OK ths value OF 1000 forms. or 1885
inio money. The engraver must have
been on religious turn OF mind il oil
the gngel heads on these notes are OF
any indication.
ITALIAN.
"Some European countries get up
their notes regardless OF colored ink.
Thus the Italian I,000-liTo note is an
elaborate affair. The paper is plain
white, but the printing is done in pink,
blue, and carmine. Here is one which
has q very fnely-engraved vignette OF
King Humbert, and tho scroll-work will
compare favorably with tho best OF any
currency. The smaller Italian bills are
about the Same size as our old fractional
currency. They vary in denomination
from lire. or 20 cents, to 10 lire, or
about 81 in our money.
"Here, perhaps, is'the most gorgeous
ly-colored hank-note of any European
country. 1t is Russian 100-ruble bill.
1t has almost every color of the rainbow,
barred from top TO bottom as though 1t
had boon thrown through prism. The
l00-ruble bill is quite large, being,
think, four by ten inches in size. Here,
in the centre, is portrait Of Catherine
!. The paper is net OF an especially
fine quality, while the lettering is done
With dark and light-brown ink. The 25-
aud le-ruble notes are much smaller and
almost free from any elaborate display OF
colors. The note mostly used is the D
rublc, or about $2.25 in our money.
After looking at various other speci-
mems of foreign paper money we in
CURED whether, outside Of the business
exchanges, there was much used.
"Yes, there is quito call for foreign
bills, especially at this season of the year,
when so many thousands are going to and
coming from Europe. Curiously enough
semo people will not take paper money.
The French and Germans almost always
ask for coin, ard say that they do not
want the paper bills. The AuStrians and
Hungarians are just the opposite. They
generally prefer the paper money Of their
own country TO coin. The Americana
usually want coin. AS one traveller said
to me not long ago, gold is good for its
face value all over the world. and | can
get il exchanged if / want bills The
italians who go back to sunny Italy, L
found. are not very particular. They
would just rs soon take lire notes as lire
coins"
Taking engraving and paper into
consideration, what country DO you
think turns ont the best notes ?"
WE BEAT TIE WORLD.
"Well, with due regard for our Eng
lish cousins, | think that the United
States notes beat the world. Take the
item Of paper alone. Of course during
the rebellion the Government was
obliged to issue within very short
time enormous amounts of paper money
IN place of gold and silver, which seem
ed 10 have been suddenly swallowed
mp The Government then used only
piain. commercial bank-note paper,
which gave the counterfeiters
good chance to flood the country with
notes like the old greenback issue. But
about twenty years ago the Treasury De-
psrtmsnt adopted a special paper, the
distinctive feature of which was q mar
row localized line of short blue fibre
running the entire length Of the sheet
of paper in such manner as not to les
sen its strength or interfere with the
printing.
"Did you never examine the paper OF q
United States note under q CLASS ?"
"No; well, if you would you would
see chat these fbrcs have the appearance
of coarse black hairs, of all lengths and
shapes, scattered promiscuously all over
the surface OF the note. This kind of
paper is known as the Wilcox patent A
few years ago tho Government adopted
another feature of the fibre paper with
two silk threads running lengthwise
throughout the glazed surface. There is
now a law against q person using or
adopting this kind of paper for any obi
CATION or security, except under the au-
thority OF tho Secretary of the Trea-
sury.
"Let me tell you" concluded my pa
triotic informant, "that we make more
money and better money than any other
people in the world.
HOW TO VISIT EUROPE FOR ONE HUNDRED
DOLLARS.
"What is the lowest cost at which q
European tour can be made ?" is ques-
ton which a myriad guide book and So
called travellers companions have re-
Gently attempted to answer, with the re-
suit Of widely varying estimates being
given. Some acting on the principle of
sparing no expense, insist that nothing
less than one thousand dollars will cover
few weeks trip; others, more thrifty,
claim that half that amount is sufficient,
while one authority, descending the
scale. asserts that fifty cents per day
should provide for all expenses.
The nearest approach TO a correct esti-
mate was probably that given by tho au-
thor of tourists guide published in
New York some eight years since. This
writer gave $3.50 as tho cost OF visiting
London and Paris Including all ex-
penses and return, and his arrangement
allowed the tourist to remain q week in
either city. He confessed, however, that
he had never made the excursion in the
manner suggested, which certainly
proved that he was wise in his genera
ton, for its main feature was a Storage
passage to and frem Europe,
Since the publication of the work last
referred TO the cost of ocean transit has
been considerably reduced, thus mate
rally diminishing an important item of
travelling expense. Indeed so great has
become the competition between the va
Tious transatlantic steamship companies
in the matter of rates that saloon pas
sage now amounts to less than a third
class railroad fare FOR an equal distance.
How many a holiday spent in weary
ride across the country and wasted in te-
dious monotony would be eDioyably
passed amid the novel scenes of the Old
World were this fact but generally
known.
1t was owing to the possession of such
knowledge that the writer was enabled
recently to make FIVE weeks tour, which
embraced not only London and Paris, but
Brussels and Antwerp, and permitted
passing glance at many places of interest
while in transit, the total expense occa-
stoned being $fo0.
The amount stated is not great, and to
the uninitinted it may appear that much
personal discomfort must have been ex.