San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-09-10
WASHINGTON LETTER.
tFrom our Regular Correspondent.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 1889

| NAShlNGIONy SepJ. D, 1903
Daily LIGHT:
Nothing is more interesting than
| the birth, life and death of dollar
greenback, It's procreatiOn, occupation
| and macreatiOn, so to speak. | have
just inspected the big Government
factory, where 900 men are employed
every one OF whom handles enough
money every hour to make him rich,
half of these men are women, but ]
use the term advisedly for Susan
Anthony has repeatedly alleged, rely.
ing on Information and observation
for her knowledge, that "men en-
brace women
When the rays of eXiring day cast a
long shadow eastward from the Wash
ington monuments its top almost touch
es the handsome pileof brick build
ingWhich shelter the bureau of engra-
wing and printing. Above its roof a
steam pipe coughs and eXhales white
vapOr and a tall chimney spits black
smoke that sends argosles of clouds
to Richmond. Here a thousand hu-
man beings make money; a vast
volume every day. Not real truly"
money, but the substantial shadow
of money; national bank currency
and greenbacks; not values, but evil
dence of Indebtedness; not money,
but promises to pay money, which,
With cash behind them, are even
more acceptable than cash itself. 1t
is one of those rare cases when the
shadow is preferred to the substance.
70 the weaving Of those artistic shad-
0ws Captain w. NJ. Meredith's offic-
ial brood devotes its talent and time
Perhaps themost fascinating part of
the whole process is the engraving of
the plate on steel. The entire face of
a note is never engraved by one man
except by the expert cOunterfeiter.
In this bureau not less than twelve
work on a single plate
one specialist in portraits, another
a specialist in vignettes, another a
specialist in script another a special
ist in scroll-work or border, and so
on. 1t often takes six months to en-
grave one plate.
The paper of all our current bonds
and bank notes is made at Dalton,
Mass, by a process that is kept Sc
cret. In cooperation with the manu-
factdrers in keeping the secret Cap
tain Meredith has prohibited the car
rying away OF any paper by anybody
even the waste shreds clipped from
the sides of the bills. The penalty
for having any of this imprinted paper
in ones possession is a fine of 5000
and Imprisonment. The two single
threads of colored silk runnig length |
wise of every Government bill are in
terwOven by a process that has never
been successfully repeated by counter
feiters.
saw ex-COngressman Norwood in
town this week. He has grown a
little grayer since he left the house,
but the bright eyes of the satirist |
light up his grizzled visage. Ex-sen-
ator, ex-governor, eX-representative |
and author, he is full of experience and |
is an interesting talker. He is a |
southerner through and through, |
and acting with the people. |
He is on his way to his home in Geor-
gia. He expresses himself as not |
troubled by the efforts of the republic
cans to break into the south. He |
thinks they can't do it. "Ninety-nine |
)ut of every one hundred of the intel |
.igent people of the south" he says,
are tariff reformers. The great mass
Of the people don't know what tariff
s. They follow the ninety-nine, and
he hundredth man who is protec-
ZIONIST on account of some personal
interest, has no following. The re-
Dublicans can do nothing with our
people on the tariff question"
Col. Dan Lamont seems to be one of
jhe men that have greatness thrust
upon them. Last week he appeared
N New York as the sole representa-
tive of strong syndicate, and for
hem purchased all the rights, fran
;hises, and property of the Broadway
Surface railway, over which poor old
Jacob Sharp drank so much milk;
aud now he has been elected presi-
lent Of the largest corporation in the
south, the Tennessee Coal, Iron and
Railroad company, at a salary of SlO,-
300 year Few here in Washing
ton will grudge him his good luck,
not any newspaper man,
for while here as the right-hand |
spoke of the Cleveland administra-
ton Col. Dan. showed himself at all |
times right good fellow" r.
The Washington theatre gave a |
VarV fine nrnuramn1a laSt ninht tn q |