The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1896-11-28
PRECIOUS colo DUST.
1Sbs 10 Table ma wes ~ he Covers.
most I'rt6tInkl tbtles.

V"S$SOOS 6SAO OOSJs
gSbs 10 Tsb,. Df4ws,, n& q. oovss..
most i'rtktIax Oiles.
Seven thousand dtllars' worth Of gold
iust In . table drawer, Poke your
angerS into tho yellow stuff and notice
how soft and agreeable 70 the feeling II
IL, saga tho Washington sss<, while the
Attendant in charge watches you care.
fully ana scns that you do not get away
with any Of It. II il smooth to the
.to,v.h, because it n, Ill composed OF
told-bcattfl film rubbed TO almost i'm.
palpablc powder. For tho same res
con. too, II is absolutely pure and virgin
metal. twenty-four cttats fine.
Tho drawer is in charge OF . pretty
young CIR at the GovSrnment printing
office. Her work thofois to stamp gold
lettering and ornamentation upon book
covers. Tho precious substance comes
10 her in the shape Of little rectangular
shoots Of foil incxpresSibly thin, laid
between layers of tissue paper made up
In book form, each book. holding TWEEN.
sy.four gold sheets. Harding thcm 10
. matter requiring great skill, though
you might not imagine It from casual
inspection. To begin with, say the
young woman places on tho table before
her IN ordinary leather book cover.
Shc takes from tho little gold book .
sheot OF tho foil, not with her fingers,
but by catching it up with small pad
Of raw cotton. Laying down tho sheet
Of pure yellow gold Upon q little slab,
shc cuts it into three pieces with . sharp
knife. Sho makes it smooth by blow
ing gently upon it with her breath.
One Of tho pieces she applies to the
back Of tho cover whore the title L. to
60; another she also puts on the back. ;
where tho name of the author is to be,
while tho third biggest piece is spread
over tho middle Of ono flap Of the cover.
where an ornamental design is wanted.
Next, after smoothing tho piece Of
gold Aln down firmly on the leather,
the pretty girl slides tho cover beneath
asmall press that stands on the table.
In tho press, faco downward, is die en-
grstcd In relief with tho name Of the
book that is to DO incased in the cover.
the authors name and the ornamental
design referred to. Tho die is kept
heated by gas. A movement Of lever
worked by hand brings the die down
upon tho cover, and the raised lettering
and design burn the gold foil wherever
there 10 contact, so that it is made to
adhere to tho leather in those spots.
The die is lifted, the cover is withdrawn
from the press, and tho gold is rubbed
OF with piece of soft leather on the
end Of . stick. Wherever the die has
not touched it the alm comes of read
lily, leaving tho lettering and the design
adhcring so closely to the leather that
they could not be removed, save by hard
scraping. Finally the young woman
rubs tho leather with q chunk Of burnt
rubber, which takes of all undesirable
particles, 50 that the ornamental pattern
and the NAMES Of book and author shine
out with beautiful clcarness Of outline
In twonty.four carat gold. Tho whole
process has taken good many words to
dcsatibc, but it is actually performed
very quickly, the covers being spreaa
with gold. stamped with the heated die.
and rubbed of in rapid succession. Each
fresh sort Of book-covcr has to have .
new die, Of course.
Tho operator is very careful in rub
bling of the loose gold after each stamp
ing. SO IS to lose mono Of it. As she uses
.he.lcathcr-tippcd stick she permits the
yellow STUFF to fall through crack in
the table top into tho drawer beneath
In tho shape Of dust. 1t is allowed to
accumulate there until tho drawer is full.
The drawer is quito big and deep. and
will hold $4,000 worth of the dust. You
would not imagine it to be any very
precious substance il you found guam
tity Of 1t in somo odd place; it looks as
much like powdered tinscl as any thing
elsc. However, it is worth $50 an ounce,
and when adrawcr full is collected the
gold 10 forwarded to tho mint in Phila- :
dolphin. which subjects it to assay and
sends back check for its valuc.
Tho burnt rubber used for tho final
polishing OF OF tho gold lettering, etc.,
10 simply lndia-rubbor which has been
subjected to . peculiar fire process that
makes it very spongiosc and absorbent. |
is its latter quality that
. chunk Of it as big as thrcc Of your I'm.
gers will take up moro than SIS worth
OF gOlQ IN It's pores. Whcn, after some |
Of uso such piece of burnt
rubber is loaded with all tho gold it will
carry, it is sent, with q lot Of
others in tho same condition, to the mint
70 be assayed.
Real gold is only used in this way foR
fino books. Designs and
of tho sort for ordinary vol.
lmes are done at tho Government print
Ing ofaco in nearly tho Same manner.
but with yellow composition called
''German metal" which looks very
much like tho gold and is decidedly
cheaper. No trouble is taken to save
Tho wastagc, and each book-cover, after
being stamped by the hot die, is simply
through brushing machine.