Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-25


| bags; also in rouleauX of paper, The
rouleaux are called '"cartridges'' The. little
sheets of paper out of which they are made
| are cut and printed at the bureau of en-
| sraving. An employee in the counting d.
| vision of the treasury devotes all of her
| time to rolling them, using a round stick
| for the purpose. They are of various sizes,
according as they are intended to contain
dimes, quarters halves, dollars or nickels
Each cartridge is marked on the outside
| With the amount and denomination of the
contents; as. for example, Five dollars
| dimes; treasury, L. s..
| A Vault on Wheels.
The filled rouleaux and paper envelopes
| are weighed finally, to make sure that tie
| contents are correct. The same thing is
| done with the bags of coins. All of these
| bags are made in Cincinnati by big dry
| goods firm that has a contract with the
| government. They cost from eight-tenths
| of a cent to eight and three-tenths cents.
| The smallest ones, for pennies and nickels,
| are OF ordinary cotton cloth: the biggest,
which hold 81, 900 in silver each, are Of a
good quality Of duck. The treasury, in
sending out the money to banks and other
applicants, gives these bags away. They
| cost Uncle Sam $500 per annum. Bags
containing so or more are sewn up, tied
| and tagged. a wax seal being put on over
| the string. Each bag bears the initials of
| the counter and note Of its avoiriupois
weight. A defective coin of very odd sort
turned up at the treasury the other day.
| 1t was a five-dollar gold piece. The man
who passed Ii at FL Paso, Tex. was ar
rested. The piece was forwarded to the
director of the mint at Washington, who
| found that ii had rot the right ring. In
vestigation proved that in the rolling of the
| strip of metal from which the pianchet for
| the coin had been eat air bubble bills
| ter had formed. This is bound to happen
| now and then. The blister in the gold
| piece was AL that was the matter with it
| The strips cut from gold bricks at the mint
are passed under roller, which Conpresses
| the substance SO that it becomes almost as
hard as steel Then the strips be
meath a punch. that punches the panchets
out of them.
In the same room where the coins are
counted at the treasury the seals are put
on all of the paper money of the United
States. The notes ana certificates come
from the bureau of engraving complete eX-
cept the seal This final touch used % he
added at the bureau of engraving, but
Treasurer Jordan, under Mr.. Cleveland 9
first administration, was uneasy about car
rying so much finished money through the
streets. All Of the paper cash is conveyed
from the bureiu OF engravin.; to the treas
ury in a ste=i-clad wagon, that is like q
vault on wheels. Nothing safer could b
imagined, but too many precautions cam
not Toe taken where millions of dollars are
transferred at each trip. At preselt tine
treasury Is receiving from the bureau of en-
craving forty packages OF paper money
each day. Each package consists Of 1880
she us, WITH Jour notes on eacH sheet. 1huS,
a package of ten-dolar notes represents
Slo,hD. or a similar package of one thou
Sand-dollar notes wCuid hold Si,FS 90. The
note for SlG1 is the biggest denominati
now printed. The government has issued
notes for $1,000, each. but they are only
regarded curiositieS now. On arrival. the
contents of the packages are counted. Then
the money goes - the press room, where
there are six small presses. which are el!-
ployed for the sole purpose OF putting the
seals on the certificates and notes. The
engraved steel seals are put away every
night in a safe.-
Guarding the Seal,
1t would be regarded as little short of a
calamity If an Impression from one of these
seals got away. The utmost care is taken
to prevent any accident of the kind. Every
day great many sheets of blank paper
are put through the presses to make sure
that the prints of the seals are perfect in
respect to clearness and color. Every i'm
preston is registered by an automatic con-
trivSrce attached to each press and must
be accounted for at night. The seals on
the ,inished notes count for 50 many, the
impressions on the blank sheets, for SO
many more. and the total must correspond
exactly with the reading of the register.
he end AZ thr EaN all al al" blank
sheets hearing impressions are burned by
the chief of the division. James a. Sample.
For the printing of these seals the finest
carmine ink is used 1t is made from
cochineal insects. Thus 1t may be said
that bugs have something to do with the
production of Uncle Sans paper money. In
old times the completed sheets of notes
were trimmed and separated by hand with
shears. 1t was for this purpose that wo-
men were first employed by Gen. Spinner.
Now. the sheets are put through ma
chine which has small revolving wheels
carrying knives. AS they come out on the
other side the employee who receives them
gathers them fourb -four and places them
81 Tho aS 20
bureau of engraving are numbered in Sc
quence. and it is required that they shall
lie kept In that order when put up in pack
ages.
AS soon as she has received 100 notes
from the machine, the operator puts an
elastic band around them. The bundle is
then passed to another employee, who
counts the notes, making sure that the
amount is right and that the numbers are
in sequence. When she has accumulate
forty bundles of 100 notes each, She de-
livers them to man in the corner of the
room, who occupies wire cage. !>e wraps
up the forty bundles. making one package
Of them, which he seals with the treasury
seal in red wax. Then he puts on a label
indicating the amount represented, with the
denomination ana numbers of the notes.
The initials of the counter and of the
@caler, with the date. are affixed. Finally
che package goes to the reserve vault.
Technically speaking 1t is not yet real
money, though finished, and will not be-
come such until it is taken up in the cash
account of the treasury.
The sealer. John T. Barnes is one of the
most trusted men In the employ of the gov
eminent. He sealed the first package of
paper money that was printed by the
United States If he wished to. he could
get away with millions unietected There
is nothing to prevent him from substituting
dummy" for a little bundle CT notes con
tanning 100000. and he might repeat this
operation a good many times before he was
found out The bundles distracted he
might easily put in his pocket. Most OF the
packages which he seals up are not opened
for many months. But the United States
treasury. like other banking concerns. &C
cepts the theory that it is necessary to
trust somebody.
The trimmings produced incidentally to
the cutting apart of the notes are portions
Of the distinctive fiber paper used by the
government for its paper money These
scraps are shaken out at the end of the
day to make sure that nothing valuable is
among them. and then they are packed
carefully in boxes to be sent to the bureau
Of engraving and there reduced to pulp by
boiling. Congress he's put q penalty of
fifteen years imprisonment and $4,000 fine
on the offense Of possessing, unlawfully, the
smallest scrap of this paper
RENE BACHE.
WOMEN WASTE SOAP.