Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-30

and other money looks like four-armed
wind mill, and 1t consists of two metal roll
lers between which there is slab of iron
running on four guide wheels. The printer
first puts his plate on a small gas stove,
rolls ink over it's surface with a roller and
then rubs the surplus of the ink off with his
hand and rag. He polishes the plate with
whiting until 1t shines like a mirror and
takes all the ink off but that in the engrav-
ed line. He now places the plate on the
press, the paper Is put on 1t and by a hard
pull Of the windmill-like arms of the press
the impression is made. This prints only
part of a 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 drying room and left there over
night. This room is heated by steam to go
degrees above zero and in the morning the
sheets are thoroughly dry and as crisp as
crackers. In the morning they are care
fully examined for imperfections and the
least fault in a sheet causes it to be thrown
aside. If smudge of ink has gotten upon
1T or If there is the slightest mistake In the
printing it cannot be used, and the printer
who caused the trouble has certain
amount deducted from his wages for every
sheet so injured The sheets are now polish
ed by being put between mill boards and a
pressure OF 5000 pounds to the square inch
is placed upon them. They are then num-
bered by automatic machines, and are final
ly put up in packages of 1.0O9' notes each.
with ten slips of paper between each 100
notes.
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
off the bills at the rate of hundred
minute. They have to be women of nerve
and If mistakes are made they are charged
with them. After the notes are counted
they are put into the iron van and carried
over to the treasury, whence they are now
being shipped all over the country. At the
treasury the notes are counted as soon as
they are received. The sheets are cut up
and the money Is sent out in packages of a
hundred notes each. Before starting 1t Is
safe to say that a greenback is counted
thirty times after 1t has left the printer,
and there is no possible chance for fraud or
theft.
A Million Dollar Pot of Mush.
Leaving the girls counting out these
national bank notes and handling fortunes
in an hour, 1 went down into the basement
Of this great money factory. and saw pot
of the costliest mush the world has ever
known. Think Of pot of mush worth
more than a million dollars This is what
saw in the basement It vas stcaming and
seething in a great cylinder, and 1T was
made OF cut up greenhackS. AL, the money
that comes back to the treasury Is brought
over to this place and cooked and ground
and steamed until 1t turns from notes into
a PUPPY, pasty mixture for all the world
like oat meal Cruel. The cooking goes on
every day, and from one To two million dol
lars are ground up every twenty-four
hours. The money Is cut in halves at the
Treasury Department. 1t is hauled here in
the great steel van, and it takes sixteen
hundred pounds of 1t TO eli the mush pot.
1t goes in dirty and filthy with the selling
of many hands. The chemicals and steam
takes all the dirt and filth out of it, and IL
comes out gray and pulp. 1t is then
nodded into boards looking for al. the world
like hides or untauaed leather, and Is sold
to paper mills. Some o. it is made into
little images of the Washington Monument
caricatures of Mr. and Mrs. Cleveland and
these are sold for paper weights or souve-
Mrs for sight-seers. Each souvenir is la
beled with the amount of money Mich Is
supposed to have been made from the pulp
from which 1t Is constructed. But this, of
course, is all guess work. The same amount
of pulp could make Il hundred thousand dol
lars worth Of notes, or "A thousand dollars
worth of notes. according to the denomina-
ton printed on the paper which it repre-
scented.
Money Prospects.
Mr.. Claude NJ. Johnson, the chief Of this
great bureau of engraving and printing, is a
kentuckian, but he has been connected with
the bureau for some time. He is, / Judge,
about forty years Of age, and is noted for
his business talent and his executive ability.
He has broad gauge ideas of the money
question Of this country and during my
talk with him he said that he thought we
would soon have more money than we
would know what to do with. 1.-The ma
uonal banks" said he. have greatly in
creased their circulation and the money
which has been drawn out to be hoard
ed will be thrown back into the channels
of trade as soon confidence is restored
This will be within less than two months
and it is safe to say that within that time
more than two hundred million dollars
will come to the banks from that source
alone. In the meantime the bureau of en-
craving and printing is ready to supply
the country any amount that Congress and
the treasury may authorize All we want
is the proper authority and We will do the
work. FRANK G. CARPENTER