The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1888-03-10
A GREENBACK DOLLAR,
THE STORY OF ITS BIRTH IN THE
TREASURY DEPARTMENT.


Passes in the Bureau of Engraving and
Prnting-Checks Against Fraud-C re
| of the Plates.
II will take YOU first" said the guide, ..to
| the engraving division, for that is the foull-
dation and the starting point of all the work
that is performed i'll this building
| The engra ing division is a large room on
the main flo i III the northwest part of the
building. Along the south part of the room
runs railing, and lack of this are doors
opening into the vaults i'll which are stored
all the dies. rolls. plates, bed pieces and other
material used in the manufacture of the
| plates from which the notes and bonds are
printed. Along the north side of the room
| are desks at each window. behind which sit
men bending over with graver i'll one hand
and maSnlfving glass i'll the other, care
1uily tracing "ut the fine li!.cs upon the pieces
| OF steel, and beneath their skllful fingers
grow the portraits, the letters and the orna-
| mentation that go to make up the perfect
security Of bank notes.
Mr.. O'Se;l, the chief of the engraving di-
vision. is practical engraver himself. and he
readily volunteered to furnish ul the infor-
| nation necessary to enable his visitor to un-
dcr>tand the process by which bank note
plates We're made I'm the first place." said
ne. we make model Of the note that is de-
| Sired either by printed proofs OF engravinSs
that We already have on hand or the model
is drawn by India ink When this model is
luade and approved, then the work of ell
| craving commences. Engravers have their
spcria,irs just the same rs artists in every
| other calling. The man who is Il good lor-
trait engraver is not II good letter engraver;
the man who is an eXpcr, in letters cannot do
portraits or ornamental work: so the differ
ent parts of the engraving are distributed to
the men VIII" are The most competent To per-
| form the work
REPRODUCTION OF PLATES
Stake IL dollar hill,n he said, land L will
explain t" yoa what mean. You see in the
left hi.nl corner there is II portrait of Martha
Washington. ->uw that work is given to
portrait cli-raEer. He takes first a piece of
steel and engraves the picture upon that
Each line is gradually cut up and deepened
by the cngraHer until the perfect picture is
formed. LII" shading, of course, depends
upon the depth and breadth of the lines cut
After that picture is finished the die or piece
OF steel upon which it is cut is put into the
fire and hardened. Then we take that hard
ened die and roll Of soft steel and give it to
one of these men over here going as he spoke
to the 1ralisierrelS land they place it in this
transfer press, and by the pressure that the
press Is enabled TO bring to bear. the
soft steel roll takes up, as wo call
it, the impression from the hardened
die. Then the roll in its turn is put in the fro
and hardened, and all is ready for use in
transferring to what we call bed piece,
which is the same size as the completed note
All the other engraving upon this note is
| nj, i,,t
upon different dies, which are then hardened
and transferred to rolls they in their turn
hardened and then transferred to the bed
piece. There is one exception, and that is the
geometrc lathe work That is done bv an in
tricatc machine, which | will show YOU, and
then the numerals or letters are cut upon it
| by hand as the rest of the engraving is done
When the bed piece is completed, then roll
OF the entire bed piece is taken up, and then
that is transferred to the plates. You will
81" that there are four notes upon every plate
After the plates nre laid down they are hard
enetl and ready for printing.
You see" continued Mr. ONeal, "that by
this system of reproduction and duplication
every plate is exactly like every other plate.
and that is the greatest security against
counterfciting. No two men could do the
same piece of work in exactly the same way
No one cngraver could duplicate his OWL ell
craving so us to be exactly like the original
By the transfer process the duplication is
absolute. Every line is the same upon one
plate as upon every other plate of the same
duplication, because they are all made from
the same roll or set of rolls"
IN THE PRESS ROOM.
From the engraving division the guide
went to the press room, which is in the top
of the building Here work 400 and over,
men and women, all busily engaged Wo-
men We're wetting paper and laying it on the
presses. which We're quickly turned bv skill
full printers, and as soon as the impression
was male the plate was taken. placed upon a
gas stove. linked, wiped. polished and re-
placed upon the press to receive another
sheet of paper and to make another impress
sion. The twirling arms of the presses, the
rattle of the plates and quick motions of the
girls made a Kaleidoscope effect that was
bcwil,!ering at first.
ITO show you how careful it is Necessary
for lis to be" said the guide II will say that
each morning when the printeS receives his
Paper from the wetting division it is counted
by both himself and his assistant, and then
Al the close OF the day he must show tile
same number of srinted sheets as he receive.
in the morning AS all additional check
there is an automatic register upon each
press which !e,'ords every impression made :"
but don't the press sometimes move when
there is no impression malc:'
Sometimes. yes; but the printer knows
that every time he pulls the press record is
made upon the register, and if he pulls it
without making an impression upon the
Sheet he is obliged to call the register clerk
and notify him, and then that extra count is
faL.o int =, a.
days work
From the printing division the next visit
was to the numbering division Here the
notes are numbered and separated, both be-
ing done by machinery Here they are also
packed Tor delivery to the United States
treasurer. From the numbering division it
is but a step to what is called the examining
and counting division. Tie notcs come here
first from the press room when they are
damp with the newly made impressions and
receive, what is i;ilpw:i as a wet count They
are ti..n placed bcsween tissues and piled in
racks. ln i'll the dry box and subjected for a
certain length Of time To u stream of hot air
On coming from the dry box they are again
counted. then sent tO receive the next i'm
preston from he press room, then returned
to the examining division, again counted
and go through the same process of drying
l!e sil'it l'!il!.i l counts ulilli lne stage OIL
completion when they are sent to the num-
boring division On this same floor, also, is
the largo va"it where all the completed and
unconll,leted wolk. es we'll as the blank pa
per. is placed every evening at the close of
work. and from which it is issued to the sew
cral divisions at the commencement of work
the next morning.
CHECKS AGAINST FRAUD.
IL a,:lS: be remembered that every Sheet of
blank .,a.s.. is drawn for q specific purpose,
and r-la-.z"nts II specific money value" If it
is f,M' 81 NOTES. each sheet of !.ie: repreaants
s.; it is for 50 notes, each Sheet repreants
$50: if for $1,000 bills. each sheet represents
$4,000; if it is for $4,000 registered bond.
the sheet renreSellts thnt much in money