Asheville daily citizen., 1893-09-19
COMING PRECIOUS METAL
A Glimpse of the Interesting Proc
ess Of Minting.
1t Is Somewhat Similar 30 the Work Of
the Baker - signlfication of Some of
the Terms Used In Mint
ParlanCe.


IL Is difficult 10 attempt desc rtptton
of how money Is made. Even ency-
clopedias, which are supposed to be
equal to any and all emergencies, OBJ
jeot TO that In measure they are
right. To get the best idea of the
multiple and minute processes of mint
Ing one must be an eyewitness 1t
adds charm to the proceedings to stand
by the dusty furnaces, arranged in
scntinel-like rows. to see them open
their jaws and to look right down into
the fiery cavern where Unsuitable
tongues of flame are ncking up the
molten masses Of silver and gold.
A day OF two ago, says the Philadel
pfria Times, officer Brown, standing
beside visitor who had watched with
all the fascinations OF a novice the
great iron mouths opening and closing,
betrayed himself into q neat little ex-
planation Of the process OF mintinG
money. Officer Brown has been many
years ut the mint, 30 the visitor
listened with interest,", as to ono who
spoke with authority. Here Is the proc
ess IN q nutshell:
"Malsing money" said be, with ono
OF those eloquent waves OF the hands
he keeps by him 10 use ON explanatory
occasions like this, 'is like making
cake You mix the dough, we mix the
metal You roll out the dough into
shape, We roll out the metal into bars.
You cue the dough into cslsea, we cut
the metal into coins Then We stamp
them. The metal left over Is melted
Gathess up the left-overs, rolls them
A4sin and cuts more oakes."
In other words, an amount of metal,
say the equivalent Of ninety thousand
do1lars in gold, which chemically is
made up OF ninety per cent. gold and
tsn per cent copper, " put into q
black lead cEucible about the size OF q
peck measure. 1t Is kept in tho fur
naOe one hour and fifteen minutes
The workman watches his gold as
sacretfly as the cook her cakes, and
when the molten liquid Is brought to
the proper consistency he takes q three
cornered black lead cup, about the
size that wouh At q monkeys head,
and dips up two thousand dollars
worth OF the metal at q time, pouring
1t out again with that marvellous dex-
terity which only comes from practice
into molds holding one Thousand dol
Lars each. Nothing can be more beau
ttful than tho fiery stream OF young
and pure gold as 1t giides into the
aocA.sd arms OF the iron mold. When
the liquid solidifes 1t forms q bar, or,
10 be technically correct, an ingot
0bou% twelve inches long and about
bali an inoh thick
These ingoee are subjected TO @ proc
ese OF rolling out which Iengthens them
without increasing their width Tho
boSs ere then ready to be cut One
machine oots the COIN another stamps
than after tho process OF milling has
been performed Milling, in mint par
lance, has somewhat of different sig
1ifoetton than In ordinary vernacular.
n signifies the rolling over OF the edge
Of the ooin preparatory 10 stamping 1t
with the minute denticulations, which
ere commonly known as the milling.
The latter Is part OF the process OF
stamping, and Il done at the time that
the signet Is put on the coin.
epealtinR Of stamping introduces tho
large corps OF women who form a con-
sidereble part of tho working force Of
tho mint About ono hundred OF them
arc employed, and they attend entirely
10 tho adjusting and stamping. 1t may
DO said In explanation OF the process
Of the term adjusting" that every
coAn before It Is shaped is carefully
weighed II too heevy the edge Is del
tcately 6led untn the coin Is Of lawful
veight< II too lighA the pieoe is cent to
DO Femelted This process Of weighing
oDd adjusting b an employment to
which women, with their delicacy Of
touch, are well suited. They are also
IN charge OF tbs stamping. Incident
| ally 1t may be sRid that most presses
| stamp from eighty to one hundred and
ten coins every minute In one short
hour forty-ffve Thousand dollars in ten
dollar gold pieces can be stamped
| around the edge and on both Sides
There Is smother paSt OF the work
| which comes under the charge OF the
women employed at the mint. They
| do the sewing. AT first thought It
| seems a trifle incongruous to associate
sewing with money minting, but all
the bags used By the mint arc sswed in
white duck and run up by machine,
being sewed twice for security. The
bag making Is no small thing when
| you come 10 consider the number II
takes to pack up the newiy coined
wealth Of tho country each year. The
f1ve-cent pieces are packed In fifty-dol-
lar bags and the pennies In ten-dollax
bags, small silver in one-thousand-dol-
lar and the gold in five-thousand-dollaI
pouches Roughly speaking, last year
fuily two thousand bags were made up
for gold alone, sixteen thousand fos
silver, fipe thousand for half dollars
besides many Thousand tor the smaller
coADs-
A twisted Ieac1InE.
One Of the most perverted and un
comfortable doctrines Is the one
preached to the plain girl by the we'll
meaning moralist: ''You can't b
pretty, my dear; you are hopelessly