The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1895-09-18
GREENBACKS.
How Uncle Sam Prints His Greenbacks.

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printed at the Bureau of Engraving
and Printing In Washington, D. c.
The plates, described ina former let
ter, from which the money is print
ed, are stored by the tonin an enor-
nous vault on the ground floor of
the building. Here, short time
before work hours begin, the print.
ers form in line and receive from
the custodian the plates they are to
use for the day. The plates are
numbered, and each man gives a re,
eeipt for his precious charge.
The presses, some two hundred in
number, are all hand presses, and
each requires the attendance of two
persons-the printer and his assist
ant. usually a young lady, whose
duty it is to place tho sheet upon
the plate for printing and then re-
move the same and examine it to
see if the impression taken is per-
feet The assistants receive s125
per day wages, which is deducted
from the pay of the printer They
arc appointed through the Civil
Service Commission, and usually are
placed under the charge of the
printers and remain with the same
ones who have instructed them in
the duties of their trade.
The paper, in sheets large enough
for four bills, comes from the Treas
ury Department in bundles of one
thousand sheets. When it arrives
it is counted into packages of one
hundred sheets each and thorough
ly moistened so that it will absorb
the ink.
The printer applies ink to the
plate with a hand roller, wipes with
a cloth, and then polishes it with
the open palm of his hand. No
satisfactory substitute has been dis
covered for the human hand for
this finishing touch in preparing
the plate for printing steel engrav-
ings, and for that reason fine work
cannot be done on steam presses.
The design is cut down into the
plate and the fine lines are filled
with ink. Each plate has to be
studied by itself, for the skill OF the
printer depends upon his knowl-
edge of the proper way in which
the particular plate should be rub
bed. No two plates require the
same treatment. When the plate
is "polished off" the attendant
places a sheet upon the same, and
then by turning a wheel the table
carrying the plate is passed be-
meath roller under great pressure,
and the ink in the lines adheres to
the paper. Every imperfeetly
printed sheet is thrown aside, and
for each press an allowance is made
of one poor sheet out of every hun
dred. IF the number spoiled ex-
ceeds this the printer is charged for
the estimated cost of the paper and
all the work put on it up to the
time the injury is done. The backs
are printed first, then after season
ing and remoistening the faces, then
then the numbers are applied, and
finally the red seal is affixed and
the bills are cut apart.
The printed sheets, good and bad,
are turned in and counted. If a
sheet is missing the printer has to
pay the government the full face
value of the four bills, no matter
how high the denomination. The
sheets are counted some sixty times
from beginning to end and the
system of work is so perfectly
arranged that it is almost an un-
known thing to find mistake made
anywhere.
a good printer prints about nine
hundred sheets day though occa-
sionally an extra rapid worker can
turn off a thousand. The pay is by
the day and depends upon work
done. After deducting the wages
of the assistant the printer has
from four to six dollars per day left
for his servises. The printers are
now entitled to a leave of absence
for thirty days per year, the same as
other government clerks, and dur
ing this time they receive the aver
age amount earned for a certain
period previous to taking their
vacations.
Puts 1t On Carder.