The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1894-04-19
PAPER MONEY.
How 1t "a Made by Uncle same r,...
t~inEravers and Printers.

How II IA MADE Dy uncle SArnfa
t~.ngravers and Printers. |'
If you will look at the nirt,
upon a one-dollar bill you will es
that the portrait Of Martha w. Ie
ington or Of Stanton is cop,nosad u,
together of curved or straight linz.
the only kind Of engraving thu,
allowed to be done in the bureau
cause unless it is done in tbis w.
ner, and unless the lines are cnt ,aa
deep, the engraving cannot he usoa
says st. Nicholas. Now this N.Y.
trait was engraved on a piece of sioa,
by the use OF a very sharp bttie :.
strumcnt known as a graver
Every l.ttle scratch on the s,o
plate will, in printing, show a hl.a,
line, SO you will see how very car,
the engraver has to be that ne sbam
not make any false scratches. ana
that The lines shall be ;Gst az ,nna
and Just SO broad.
Now, steel engraving Is the dire,
opposite OF wood engraving. nv
scratches and cuts made On A. vood".
block will be white in the print, and
it is only the uncut portions of ,ha
block that prints black. while on s,oal
the unscratcbcd portion caves ,ha
paper white.
oWhen a design has been cut an
steel plate and it is ready to ha
printed, the ink is put on the pIa,s
or block, and all the cuts and
scratches become filled with ink
Then the ink is carefully rubbed a.
the surface. so that none remain, .y |
cept what is in the lines. When
piece of dampened paper ia placed O."
the plate and subjected to very heav
pressure. it sinks into the lines. and
when it is taken off it draws the INK
out with 1t, and thus the oicture Is
printed on the paper.
1t takes an engrayer about sis
weeks or two months to complete ono
portrait, and a man who engrayesth the
portraits never does any other kind
of engraving. Each engraver does
only a certain portion of,the work On
a note; no one is permitted to en-.
grave 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 e would be
impossible for an engraver to make \
complete engraving for his W use
if he were dishonest enough to want
to do such a thing.
Docidoc his n,opn,i ,u1rl,
the engraving is done 10y 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 RUE several hun.
dred perfectly straight lines within
an inch. The intricate scroll and
lace-like work around the figures en-
the face aud the back Of the note
is done Icy a wonderful machine
known as the geometrjCal lathe.
This machine consists of a | large NUN
Der OF wheels of all sizes and in all
sorts OF arrangements, together With
Il complicated mechanism Of eccen.
tries and rods, all of which is incom.
%prehensible to anyone bus an expert
machiniSt
BY a proper ad justmenJo Of its parts,
the delicate diamond point that
moves about w the face Of the steel
is made to work on a perfect and
artistic pattern with greater accuracy
and much more speed than could lie
done by hand: and hence this delicate
and intricate part OF the engraving is
n of the greatest obstacles with
which the counterfeiter has TO con
tend, for he finds it next 20 imfossi-
bic 10 initiate it correctly
Fortunately for Uncle Sam the
geometric lathe IS a very complicated
and very expensive machine, and the
counterfeiter is generally a 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 tie
world who understand how 20 operate
it.
Indeed, the nan WAC COW has
charge o. the geOmetrlc lathe III llt
bureau OF engraving and printing i
the only one in the United States al
the present time who knows how lc
manage it, and if anything shoula
happen to him it might uanglc mat
tiers up for a while in this Important
branch Of u Uncle Sans big troy
eminent.
Toughest Town in the world