Evening star., 1896-12-12

and found that we were safe within the
confederate lines. From here we had 10
walk TO Charleston. q distance. Of twenty
two miles, over q heavy sandy road, and b.
the time we reached the city We were as
worn and bedraggied specimens of human
ity as II would be possible to find.
We were warmly welcomed by the people
OF Charleston, who insisted on regarding
the men Of the Seabrook as heroes. and by
Major Evans, who had arrived before us
The latter advanced us money for our inn
mediate needs. for what we had had been
lost in making our escape from the boat.
We were set to work almost Immediately in
which still stands In Broad street, Charles
ton. but after a short time were
moved to Columbia, the capital of the
state. where most of the work of making
confederate paper money was carried on
for the remainder of the war.
Where the Money Was Made.
There were three establishments in Co.
lumbia devoted to this business. One was
that of Evans & Coggswen, Of which firm
orr friend Major Evans was the senior
member They had seventy-five hand press
es in their office and printed notes of small
de denominations. ones and twos, besides the
thousands Of cotton bonds which the con-
federacy issued. The second was that of
keat1nge & Ball, where ten presses were
Kept busy running off copper-plate impress
SionS OF the large denomination notes-10U
and 500. The third establishment was that
OF Col. Blanton Duncan, where seventeen
lithograph presses turned out the notes of
the middle denomnations-five, ten, twenty
etc. The total capacity Of all these presses
per week, including the printing of bonds
came close to the one hundred million
mark. and during the latter part of 81 and
all Of '63 they were kept going at nearly
top speed. Colonel Duncan's office, being
the one with which am most familiar. will
perhaps serve to illustrate the whole work.
Each press was manned by three work
ers-one printer and two negro slave help
W a
about seventy-five in the town, were nearly
all Englishmen. as were the designers also.
The paper was all manufactured in Eng
land and was stamped at the mandatory
with the mark Of the confederacy, a small
palmetto encircled by the words Treasury
Department, c. s. A but the stones from
which the bills were printed were prepared
In Columbia by the men brought over for
that purpose. The paper came to the press
men in sheets 16x1S inches, large enough
to contain eight bills. 1t was necessary TO
take several impressions for each sheet to
get In the different colors, and the sheets
were passed on from printer to printer
Until completed and then were shipped
away to Richmond to be signed. OF course,
1t was impossible for the register and sec
retary of the treasury to sign all these. A
large force of clerks was employed for this
work and after a time some of them were
stationed in Columbia, where the signing
process could go on more rapidly.
More Difficult for COuntcrfefters
be seen from the price list appended to the
Rules and Regulations This rate was in
addition to the twenty dollars in gold which
the EnglfShmen were paid. and a good
workman could run off 1900 impressions a
week and the confederate bills were worth
at TINS time about 40 per cent of their face
value, the earnings of all the men were
high. much higher than they would have
been at home in London and Glasgow.
One effect of the efforts of Major Evans
&c Hate
in the quality and durability of confeder-
ate bills. The difference between the early
notes printed on side of fimsy paper
with a crude design, and those of later date,
on tough paper and with q design that was
intelligible if not artistic, was very striking
and 1essened the counterfeiter's chance by
some 100 per cent. AS a matter of fact
there was less counterfeiting of confeder-
ate bills than Is usually supposed. The
northern imitat tions were wretched produc-
tions and in the south there were few "a
cil1ties for such work.
"A second, no less important, effect of the
change was that 1t enabled the printers to
keep pace fairly well with the confederate
Legislators, who were authorizing new is
sues of treasury notes every few days until,
as President Davis said, they had flooded
the country with mass of paper currency
at least three times the amount required
by its business needs AS the value of
these notes sank lower and lower, the
printing presses were made to turn faster
and faster because 1t took more and more
notes to buy a certain amount of war sup
plies abroad-a retroactive policy which in
itself proves the desper of the stu
alton.
Although the men engaged in the pro-
duction of this money acted as contractors
their position was Quasi-off1cial and cores
ponded more nearly to that of government
officers. Military discipline was enforced in
all the offices and strict attention to busi-
Eess was required.
THE prices fixed for work were as fol-