Omaha daily bee., 1893-10-01

would De a great deal easier to carry off n
half dozen bags of the silver from the steel
vaults OF the treasury than to crib one of
these sheets of blank paper.
Steel Worth More Than Gold.
1t Is the same with the steel plates from
whlch the money is engraved. They are
worth more than their weight in gold, and
are more carefully guarded than the crown
Jewels in the Tower of London. In one dc
artment OF the bureau there are four great
vaults, before which guards always sit. The
chief OF these guards gets 81. 800 n wear. and he
Is responsible for the dies and plates in mis-
charge. He has them locked away in these
vaults In such order that he can put his
hands on them at any moment. The vaults
are entered by steel doors, and the combina-
lions with which they are closed are three
Tor each door, and only one of these is a time
lock. The combination locks are each known
TO one man, who keeps the secret to him
sell out writes out n duplicate of it and
SENDS IL IN n sealed envelope to Secretary
Carlisle. If he should die suddenly the en-
VeIope would have to be opened before the
combination could be known. Each bank
notc plate has n separate pigeon hole in
thesc vaults. 1t is only ISSUED on order, and
the plato printers, when they arrive
In the morning, have to give n check like
a trunk check for the plate, the ink and even
the rags which they use for wipinR the plate.
ihey nave to receipt for every bit of paper
they get, and IL is impossible for them to
get away with any of the dies, plates or
paper OF the bureau. There are about 49,
oOo different pieces of steel in the vault.
Ihese weigh about fifty tons, and constitu tie
tne most valuable steel in existence.
How Bank Notes Are Made.
These 10000 different pieces of steel repre-
sent the work of many lives. They are COW
cred with the finest of engra wings, and q
peck OF human eyes have been ruined in
their production. There is no finer engrav-
ing IN the world than on our bank notes, and
There Is none so ruinous to the eyesight.
Inc engraverS work in little cubby holes
under the windows, and there is q long room
here filled with engravers. The entire face
ana back OF a note is never engraved by the
same man. One engravcr makes the fancy
letters on n bill. Another makes a speciality
OF portraits and another has some other par
tlcular part of the work which he can do
better than any one else. He does his work
on a piece of soft steel. When it is done it
is hardened and is transferred to II soft steel
roll about as big around as a schooner beer
glass. This roll of steel is hardened and its
impression is rolled off onto the steel plate
from which the note is to be printed. Every
plate mas on IL the face or back of four notes,
and II takes just us much trouble to engrave
Il 81 bill as it does a 81 900 bill. Engrayers
get from $50 TO 500 Il week, and the highest
priced men are those who work on portraits.
they make the engravings for revenue
stamps and postal cards, as well as for bank
notes, and their work has to be perfect in
order to pass. just now they are engraving
u diploma TO be given out TO the exhibitors of
the worlds fair exposition at Chicago. This
Will cost thousands of dollars and is u won
derfully fine piece of beautiful workmanship.
Printing Tor the National Banks.
The work being done on the national bank
notes at the present time is more like or
binary printing than the fine work of the
bureau. All national bank notes have their
charters and seals put on blythe surface pro-
cess, and there are u dozen or more Hoe
presses which are working away finishing
the engraved notes for tho national banks.
The national bank note plates are all the
same, but the bureau has had to make new
plates for some OF the banks, and the en-
graVerS and the plate printers have been
turning out the original notes for this print
ing at lightning speed. The printing of the
notes, with the exception of this surface
printing, is all hand work. Inside a great
steel fence surrounding a room covering
about half an acre there are hundreds of
hand presses, each of which is worked by a
printer and his assistant. The printers are
of all ages and their assistants are all
women. noticed that some of the women
Were colored, and not u few of them are as
black as the ace of spades. The printers
are paid SO much and they have to hire their
own assistants. They are not allowed to
choose their assistants, but they have to
take the women which the department gives
them, The press has to be linked and wiped
OH Tor every impression, and the printers
WIN away WIFI tnelr sleeves rolled I'D to
their elbows and their arms covered with
green ink.
The press which prints the greenbacks
and other money looks like a four-armed
windmill, and it consists OF two metal
rollers, between which there is a slab of iron
running on four guide wheels. The printer
nrst puts his plate on Il small gas stove, rolls
INK over its surface with n roller and then
ru6s the surplus of the ink off with his hama
ana rag. He polishes the plate with whit
lnp I'M IL III lilo q ,ntt.,A, ,l .l
all the ink of but that in the engraved line. |
lie now places the plate ON the press. the
paper is put on it, and by a hard pull of the
windmililike arms of the press the impress
sion Is MADE, ms prints only part ola bill
and all bills have to go through the presses
several times. AS soon as the bank notes |
are finished they are taken to the driving
room and left there over night. This room is
heated by steam to 25Oo above zero. and in
The morning the sheets are thoroughly dry
ana rs crisp as crackers. In the morning
they are carefully eXamined for Imperfect
lions, and the least fault in Ii sheet causes il
to be thrown aside. If n smudge of ink has
gotten upon it or if there is the slightest mis-
take in the printing it cannot be used, and
The printer who caused the trouble has a cor
tain amount deducted from his wages for |
every sheet SO injured. The sheets are now
polished by being put between millboards
and u pressure of 5000 pounds to the square
inch is placed upon them. They are then
numbered by automatic machines, and are
finally put up In packages of 1000 notes each.
with ten slips of paper between each 100
notes.
Women Who Handle Fortunes.
The women who handle the money are the
most expert counters in the world. Their
fingers go like lightning. They do not move
their lips nor lift their eyes. but they rattle
on the bills Mt the rate of 100 a minute
They have to be women of nerve, ana if mis-,
takes are made they are charged with them
After The notes are counted they are mt
INTO the iron van md carried over to The
treasury, whence they are now being Skinned
all over the country. AT the treasury The
notes are counted MS soon us they are re-
ceivcd. The sheets are cut up and the
money Is sent out IN packages of 100 notes
each. Before starting it is safe to say that
u greenback is counted thirty times after ia
has left the printer, ana there is no possible
chance for fraud or theft.
A Million Dollar Pot of Mush.
Leaving the girls counting out these ma
tlonal bank notes and handling fortunes in
an hour | went down into the basementof
this great money factory and saw a not of
the costllest mush the world has ever known
Think OF u pot of mush worth more Imam
81 ,OOO,OOO That is what | saw in the base. |
ment, IL was steaming and seethine in n |
ind Ar~a 1 4