The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-04-02
BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES.
The Process Of Making the Paper for
$4,000 Of Them Daily.
From the London AttsacsrS.

The Process Of Making the Paper for
$4,000 Of Them Daily.
From the London ArtsecsrS.
In picturesque Hampshire nook in the
valley of the river Test stands busy mill,
from which is produced that paper whose
orispuess is music to the human ear all the
world over. Since 1919 this Leverstobe mill
has been busy in the manufacture of the
Bank Of England note paper, and at the
present time about so, coo of the coveted crisp
pieces OF paper are made there daiv,
To a careless observer there DOES not Rp-
pear to be much difference between a Bank
of England note Of the present day and one
of those which were first Issued toward the
end Of the seventeenth century, but when
looked into it will be found that the present
note is, as regards the quality of the paper
and che excellence of the engraved writing,
q much more remarkable production.
The fact is, the Bank of England and
forgers of false notes have been running a
rRce-the bank to turn out note which de-
fies the power of che forger TO initiate 1t :,
and those nimble-hngered and keeu-witted
gentry to keep even" with the bank
The notes now in use are most deliberately
manufactured bits of paper" The paper
itself is remarkable in many ways; none
other has that peculiar "feeln of crispness
and toughness, while the eye when it has
btbAH1tHu 1hh6AL Will VIC dLnOuub J may
dwell with admiration on the paper's re-
markable wilderness. It's thinness and
transparency are guards against two once
popular modes of fOrgerY-the washing out
of the printing by means Of rurpentine and
erGsure with the knife.
The wire marx or water mark, is another
precaution against counterfeiting and is
produced in the paper while in 3 state Of
pulp. 10 the old manufacture of bank notes
this water mark was caused by an immense
number of wires (over 1000, stitched and
sewn together now tU Is engraved in a steel
faced die-whjch Is afterwnrd hardened and
is then used az punch to stamp the pattern
out OF plates OF sheet brass. fhe shading Of
the letters OF this water mark enormously
increases the difficulty of imitation.
The paper is made entirely from pieces of
new linen and cotton, and the toughness Of
it can be roughly guessed from the fact that
d single bank note will, when unsized, SUD-
port a weight Of thirty-six pounds, while
wheu sized you may lift hftY-slx pounds
with it.
Few people would imagine that Bank OF
England note was not OF the same thick
ness all through. it is not, though. The
paper il thicker in the left hand corner, to
enable 10 to take better and sharper inn
preston of the viRuette there, and 1t is also
considerably thicker in the dark shadows
OF the center letters and under the figures
at the ends. Counterfeit notes are in
varlably Of only one thickness throughout.
The printing is done from electrotypes,
the figure Of Britannia being the design OF
Meclise, the late royal academioiau.
Even the printing ink Is of special make,
and is manufactured at the bank Compar-
ing "A genuine with q forged note, one OBJ
serves that the print on the latter Is gener-
auy blueish or brown. On the real note 1t
is a velYety block. The chief ingredients
used in making the ing are Hnseed oil and
the charred husks and some other portions
of Rhenish grapes.
The notes are printed at the rate Of 5000
an hour at NapieF's steam press, and the
bank issues 1900 900 OF them year, repre-
senting about ESQ, 600 in hard cash.
FIRST TRAMP-As 1 WOE tellin' yer left Gin
cinnat BY rail, end
by rail?
First Tramp-Thal's wot did. The rail was
carried by a lot Of feers and they give me one
bonr tO CIT Out.-PtttsOUry Bltllelan.