The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-16
now PAPER MONEY is MADE.
The Engraving Work Is Very Fine.
The Lathe Expensive.
From st. Nicholas

From st. Nicholas.
II you look at the picture upon a one
dollar bill you will see that the portrait
of Martha Washingtonton or of Stanton
is composed altogether of curved or
straight lines-the only kind of engraving
that is allowed to be done in the bureau
because unless it is done in this manner,
and unless the lines are cut very deep, the
engraving cannot be used. Now, this por-
trait was engraved in piece of steel by
the use of a very sharp little instrument
known as graver.
Every little scratch on the steel plate
will, in printing, show black line, so you
will see how very careful the engraver
has to be that he shall not make any
false scratches, and that the lines shall
be just so long and just so broad.
Now, steel engraving is the direct OPP
posite of wood engraving. The scratches
and cuts made on wooden block will be
white in the print, and it is only the uncut
portions of the block that print black /;
while on the steel the unscratched portion
leaves the paper white.
When design has been cut on a steel
plate, and it is ready to be printed, the
ink is put on the plate or block and all
the cuts or scratches become filled with
ink. Then the ink is carefully rubbed Off
Of the surface, so that none remains ex-
cept what is in the lines. When piece
of dampened paper is placed on the plate
and subjected to very heavy pressure, it
sinks into the lines, and when it is taken
OIL 1t draws the ink out with 1t, and thus
the picture is printed on the paper.
1t takes an engraver about six weeks or
two months to complete one portrait, and
a man who engraves the portraits never
does any other kind of engraving. Each
engraver does only a certain portion Of the
work on note; no one is permitted to
engrave an entire note; so that, besides
the portrait engravers, there are some
who do nothing but engrave the figures,
the seal, the lettering, the border, etc. In
this way it would be impossible for an
engraver to make complete engraving
| for his own use, if he were dishonest
enough to want to do such thing
| Besides this manual work, some of the
| engraving is done by machinery, as for
example the background of the portrait
and of the borders and the shading of the
| letters-this being done by what is known
| as the ruling machine, which can rule
several hundred perfectly straight lines
within an inch. The intricate scroll
and lace-like work around the figure on
the face and the back of the note is done
| by wonderful machine known as the
geometric lathe. This machine consists
of large mum Der of wheels Of all sizes
ana III all SOfJS OF ARRANGEMENTS, together
with a complicated mechanism of eccen-
tries and rods, all of which is incompre-
| hensible to any one but an expert ma
| chinest.
| BY proper adjustment Of its parts, the
delicate diamond point that moves about
over the face of the steel is made TO work
out a perfect and artistic pattern with
greater accuracy and much more speed
than could be done by hand and hence
this delicate and intricate part of the en-
| craving is one of the greatest obstacles
! with which the counterfeiter has to con-
tend, for he finds it next to impossible to
initiate it correctly.
Fortunately for Uncle Sam, the geo
metic lathe is a very complicated and very
expensive machine, and the counterfeiter
| is generally poor man, and even if he
did manage to lay up enough money to
! buy the lathe, it is hardly likely he would
| live long enough to learn how to use it
properly, for there are only four men in
the world who understands how to oper-
ate it.
| Indeed, the man who now has charge of
the geometric lathe at the bureau of en-
craving and printing, is the only one in
the United States at the present time who
knows how to manage it, and If anything
should happen to him it might tangle
matters up for while in this important
branch of our Uncle Sans big govern
ment.
rheumatism was so bad that James Irwin.