The age-herald., 1898-09-09
THE ENGLISH
 BANK NOTES

From the Chicago Tlmes-ieralo.
 Most Americans are inclined to sheer at the English 'Fi Pun" note, as well as the various other paper issues of John Bull un- less they happen to be in the land where the notes have their origin, when they find that the black and white have valSe, al- though to the eye inartistic
 No true Briton will allow any criticism about the lack of art in the makeup of their bills and will stoutly insist that in the engraving and design they are superior to our bank notes, notwithstanding the most intricate geometric lathework, the finest of historical vignettes and the subj tlest and most delicate coloring. There IS a decided difference between the paper money issues of the two great Anglo-Saxon races, and when one picks up the first English bank note the rattling is similar to that in handling piece of platinum foil, and the handler expects to find his money in varied pieces, but It is tough-tough and tenacious as the proverbial British pluck.
 
 The crisp, cracking sound given forth by an English bank note is due to the use Of fine new linen in it's manufacture. The texture Is extremely strong, but thin-in fact, so thin that the erasure on an English bank note is almost impossible. yet it has so much strength that with the addition of 8 single grain of size the note will sustain a fifty-pound weight without tearing. All of the notes are printed from engraved plates, but in the engraving of the plates there are numerous intricacies in lettering that scarcely half of the queens subjects have ever noticed, as much as they nave had to do with their own currency. For instance, in the spelling of London, the L is different in the e5 note from that used in the a10; the elO note from the G2O, and thus on up to the 1000 pound note, which is the largest now printed. Then, 100, ln the spelling of certain phrase that ai- ways precedes the cashier s signatufe-i e.' For the Governor and Company or tne Bank or England" the word coihpahy
 speiled "compa.," with the 'a raiseo clear above the line. Of course there are Vari- ous mystifying signs on all denominations of notes issued, which are only kno"h .o the trusted employees of the "Oid Laoy ol 1'hreaoneedle street" so that the oeteceion of commercials may be maoe easy
 The emission of notes by the Bank or England depends on the requirements or the bLsinlss public. It is fact that the institution is only permitted by the pro- visions of its charter to issue such q num- Der Of notes as IS cdueii to ehS SSSNN-e7 deposited by the government as an onset to it's debts to the bank with the additional amount of bullion actually in it's vaults al the time of issue. A part or tnls lass amount may be silver bullion, and conse- quently, owing to the fiuctuatfng value ok the white metal, this last condition IS olt- times ignored At last accounts the hduc- iary issue for the controlling financial power of England was something more than $82, ,000 900, but the amount Of gold Ill the banks vaults constantly varies With the trade conditions of balances due Ihe weekly bank return shows the amount or the notes issued and the amount in the banking reserve, and the difference be- tween the two is the value of the notes in circulation"
 In the printing-room of the Bank of Eng land each man in that department sits at a small table, and the perfected machines turn out to each individual two complete five-pound notes every twentieth of a min ute If he works six hours day he ham, dles 10000 pounds in money, and working 300 days in year handles more than $lVO.- 000 GOO worth of valuable paper. Some or the best printing machines in the service of the British government are capable of turnig out about 1S,000 bank notes day. This number is of course necessarily re- duced when it comes to the rupee notes or India, which are printed in two colors, and take double the number of impressions. It will seem strange to the average American who is used to see bank note or treasury certificate start clean and pure and perhaps travel thousands of miles, en- ter into tens of thousands of dollars worth of transactions and settle innurperable ac- counts and still be factor In England the minute a note enters the Bank Of Eng land 1t is lost to future exchange, even though it had been issued five minutes be- fore. The cancellation takes place immed- lately, and after being sorted into it's proper numerical compartment it is buried in the basement of the bank for five years. By the numerical allotment the bank of- ficals are able to keep track of every note during the course of its active and passive existence up to obliteration. As the notes come in to the bank at the rate of about 1000 day of the average of a mill ion pounds the one factor of cancellation amounts to considerable. There is one note in the treasury that stayed away from the vaults for more than 100 years, and 1t IS calculated that the bank lost 5000 pounds interest in the meantime.
 Once each week there is an auto da fe, and the once valuable but now valueless pieces of paper are consumed in a furnace that was specially prepared for the pur- pose.