Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1891-06-18
MAKING MONEY.
PRECAUTIONS TAKEN TO PRE-
VENT FRAUD OF ANY SORT.
Following Note Through It's vari-
Gus Processes in the Bureau of En-
craving and Printing at Washing

! To show what precautions are taker
by the Bureau Of Engraving and Printing
to prevent fraud OF any sort, it is neces
sary only to follow bank note through
its various processes before it is issued
TO the world.
The steel-platc which serves rs die is
not engraved by a single hand. but by
several, each man being given that part
of the work for which his trimming has
especially adapted him. A part, indeed,
is done by most dclicaiely adjusted
machine, which cuts with a mathemati-
cal precision that no human hand is def
enough 10 initiate pcrfec:ly-a bit OF
| mechanism, moreover, too elaborate for
| counterfeitcrs 10 maze and too expensive
| for them to buy. One OF the surest
means. by the By, of detecting even the
best counterfeit is an examination TO see
whether the parts of il which would have
been assigned to certain engravers bear
the marks of their individual workman
ship; for each engraver's handling Of his
tools is 50 characteristic that an expert
can speak for it at a glance.
The several engravers having ut last
completed the dies for the face and back
| Va hOeO, SNNVp1AhS oLig luC SCdl, lnC
signatures, ana the check number. each
&c Is put into press where steel roller
whose surface has been slightly soft
tencd for the purposc--is run over it
with very heavy pressure. and bears
away an impression of the engraving
only reversed and in relief. The roller
is then hardened again and put into
another press, where it is rolled over q
softened plate under eight or ten tons
pressure, and leaves behind it fac
Smile OF the engraving on the original
die. This new plate is then hardened in
Its turn, and becomes ready for use in
printing notes.
From tee moment that the original die
Is finished IL passes out of the control of
the Bureau officers proper, and is turned
over for safe-keeping TO custodian APP
pointed by the Secretary OF the Treasury.
lie makes his headquarters on the low
est floor of the Bureau, where he has
tire-proof and burg lar proof vault In
which to store the material intrusted TO
him. Each roller made from the die and
each plate made from the roller is given
also into his keeping. In order that an
additional safeguard may be put over
this precious property, inc one rutranvv-
to the vault is closed by two doors.
Each of these has a time-lock, which
would prevent its being opened in any
event until half-past six in the morning,
the hour the Custodian comes to his post.
The Custodian possesses the secret OF the
combination which will unlock the
outer door; but even he does not know
the combination of the lock of the inner
door, which is under the guardianship of
his chief assistant. Each of these men
being Independently responsible, it
would not be TO the interest of either to
share his secret with the other.
When the Superintendent of Engrav
ing wishes the use of plate or other
material for his men TO work on, he
must make a written requisition, to
which not only his signature but that of
his clerk must be appended, stating in
full detail what is wanted. This reQui-
sition. when certified by the custodian,
Is fled as voucher against the superin-
tendent, and is not released to him again
till he has returned every iota of what has
been given him out OF the safe.
The same is true Of the Superintendent
Of the Printing Division, when he wants
plates for use on his presses. He, in his
turn, keeps an accurate account with the
pressman to whom each plate is tempo
rarily entrusted for printing. No press
man is allowed TO do the face and the
back Of note both. The pressroom is
divided so that all the faces are printed
on presses in one row, and all the backs
on presses in another row, so separated
as TO be out of reach Of each other,
-1---e,.- ga '----------.antlu in sight of the
officer in charge.
The notes are printed on distinctive
paper, manufactured for the Government
under careful restrictions, and furnished
TO an. officer in the Treasury Department
directly from the mill. BY him it is in
spectcd, and his clerks count it off into
bundles Of exactly 1000 sheets each.
These are conveyed, in instruments, to
the Bureau for Engraving in van built
of steel, and guarded by four armed men.
The officer of the Bureau who takes
charge of the paper has il coun ed again
by his assistants and il is receipted for
by number. If there is miscount, it
must be done all over again; but in order
to test the accuracy OF these counts, it is
customary 10 take out of one of the bun
dies in each batch single sheet and lay
it away in safe. This puts the counters
who are generally womcn-on their
mettle to see who will get the bundle
with the missing sheet. When one of
tn EN- reports sheet short, the chief of
| division takes the reserved sheet out of
the safe, consults his tally to see whether
it was really distracted from her pack
age, and restores it to her, when she
marks her work as correct and passes
the paper on to the people who have to
wet it down for printing. Here
receipts have to pass again as
paper which changes hands. When the
wctters give it in stated tales to the
pressmen, there must be another receipt
ing. When pressman turns over his
printed work to the people who are to
put it into the drying apparatus, every
sheet must be reccipted for again; and
so on through the processes of stamping
] the notes with their check numbers, in
| specting them for defects in printing,
and all the rest till they come out in per-
feet condition for public use. And the
receipts are not given in a pcrfunctory
way, but by actual count at each stage;
| for the rules Of the Bureau distinctly
state that II a sheet is lost, no matter in
how imperfect a stage, the person in
whose hands the vouchers show 1t TO have
been, will be charged with the full value
of the sheet as it would have been IL
| which may run all the way from
four dollars to four thousand. Should
the guilty party have succeeded in con-
/ fo 81 ho