The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1888-08-09
| ENGRAVING BANK NOTES.
THE DELICATE WORK DONE BY
GOVERNMENT ARTISTS.
Intricate System of Transferring n
Design Difficulties that Conn
terfeiters Must Overcome.

| sald IL. y. Hatcn, formerly oil the Govern
ment Bureau of Engraving and Printing,
to the Chicago Herald: "The good en-
graver would scorn to engage in such
work. His standing as an artist and a
citizen is too high for that sort of thing.
Moreover, do not think that there Is
any one artist who combines in his per-
son the aptness for the three great
specialtics OF bank note work--the let
tering, lathe and scroll work and pic
ture engraving. Especially the latter
specially Is one in which the height of
art is reached by but few. In fact, there
are not more than six or eight proficient
artists in the line of bank note picture
engraving in this country and their SER
vices are so well paid that they would
be worse than fools to throw their talents
| away in criminal pursuits. The bank
note as you see it of course speak of
the DIES gn only--is not the work of
one endeavor. but of four to each plate
at least. Each artist engraves part of
the design and the different parts or dies
are united to one plate by an intricate
aud delicate system Of transferring
One can readily gain an idea of the
minuteness of bank-notc work when it
is learned that it takes good engraver
from twenty to thirty days to complete
the vignette-portrait or scene alone.
Each portrait requires n different
combination of lines and dots to har.
monizc with the features of the man por.
trayed,' continued Mr.. Hatch, speaking
in the Chicago Hsrdh "rhere is no
system of portrait engraving If an art
1T would attempt to employ a settled
| ,.Nl Il h, 4
In fact, each engrayer puts his own in
| dividuality into his work and his pro-
duction is rs characteristic of him as the
! signature of writer. So much Is this
the case that one engraver in this line
will be able to tell the work of another
at glance. For this reason the counter
letter encounters insurmountable ditii-
cultles in copying vignette, unless he
discovers some mechanical method, like
photographing, liiho-cngraving or elcc.
trotyping, and these aids of the counter.
feiter are, of course. at once apparent to
the expert. The counterfeiter who copies
u portrait by hand cannot keep his in.
dividuality out of the work. Picture
work requires the highest grades of en-.
craving. The artist has not only to
produce light aud shade, but he must
understand how to harmonic lines in
order to obtain what is called speak
ing illness. In this respect the en-
gravcr's art is not unlike language.
You may express the same idea in difer-
ent words which expresses the idea ex.
actly, beautifully, not word too much
nor one lacking. Thus there is but one
harmony of lines and dots which make,
correct portrait. To copy such por.
trait by hand without the copyist being
able to transplant himself into the
creative individuality of the original
artist is preposterous. This is the reason
why the inferiority of a counterfeit is
nearly always first observed in the
picture work.
Truly, the lot of bank note cneraver
is that of patient toiler. Day after
day he plods away with his assortment
Of diamond pointed graycrs, some of
them as fine as the finest needles. Line
by line and dot by dot he caves into the
shining steel plate before HIM a minia.
ture of the design to lie rcprodu ed. The
days lengthen into weeks and weeks
into months, before his work is finished.
That part of the plate. however, is not
the one from which the note is printed.
The lathe worker and the lcttcrcr have
been busy on their parts of the design
while the portrait engraycr was working,
each artist working on separate piece
of steel. These pieces are hardened and
form the die. From the latter the de-
sign is transferred to u steel roll OF softer
nature by applying an immense pressure,
actually impresSing the design of the
die to the roll, on which Of course the
parts sunk in the die will be elevated
and the elevations depressed. This part
of the work, though mechanical, re-.
quires the greatest degree of nicely and
exact adjustment Of parts in the COM
plicated machinery. The steel roll, CON
tanning now what may be termed the
matriS of the note, or rather one side of
it. is hardened in turn and from the roll
the design is transferred TO a softer plate
by an immense pressure. The latter
plate is the one from which the printing
is done. Inasmuch rs not more than
10, 900 to II, 900 impressions on paper can
be taken from one steel plate il is clear
that numerous printing plates have to be
made from the original engraving which
is known as the "bed-piece."
The plates used for printing are i'm.
medately destroyed when the impress
sions begin to show flaws. The "bed
pieces" are preserved in vault of the
Treasury and temporarily transferred to
the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
when it becomes necessary to make new
printing Plates All this is done under
the stricteSt supervision, of course, yet
it has happened that wax impressions got
into the hands of counterleitcrs. These
wax impressions have been treated with
chemicals, known only TO producers of
the "queer." until every line, dot and
tilament Of the genuine original was
transferred To the counterfeit plate. Of
course, in such cases nothing remained
for the Government but to retire the
entire series OF genuine notes from cir
culation.
But there are methods of operating on
steel plates which expert counterfeiters
know how to handle with great dexter
ity aud no mean quality of workmanship.
Two methods are especially dangerous
because they produce the original design
with such exactness that only the quality
Of the engraving-like in the recent five
dollar certifcate-furnishes q criterion
to determine whether a note Ia counter.