The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-01-23
THE TOWER.

had set The same mistake will not be
made with Secretary Cages new notes
though the commercial world is in
great hurry TO get them and TO substitute
them for the unsatisfactory notes now
in circulation.
a measure Of precaution which the gov
eminent takes in the making of its cur
rcncy is TO have part OF the printing OF
the notes done in the basement of the
Treasury. The iron-clad wagon with
armed guards which travels between the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing ana
the Treasury every day brings from the
Bureau notes lacking the red seal which
you will find in the right hand corner
OF every government bill you are for
tunate enough to possess. These notes
are i'm sheets Of four The work Of ailiN-
ing the seal and separating the notes is
done in a gloomy room in the basement
Of the Treasury building. force OF
men and women is employed, working
the presses which print the seal and the
separating machines whose knives cut
the bills apart and trim them to a uni
form width.
The individual sheets OF notes are
brought TO the Treasury in packages OF
100. The counting of the notes in each
package occurs % times in the course OF
their handling at the Bureau of Engrav-
ing: and though the packages are deliv-
cred at the Treasury with seals un-
broken, they are opened Immediately and
the sheets are counted again. This
counting is done by women, who are
much more expert at 1t than men. Their
fingers ny between the sheets as though
they were running scales on plano and
Paderewskrs digits move very little
A ny Will /
in about 2 IL minutes. Assistant Urea
surer Moline tells me Sc packages are de-
lvered at the Treasury every day now;
so each counting takes up what Is equi-
yalent to two hours works OF one wo-
man.
The sheets are counted before they go
to the printing press and after they re-
turn and they have their final count be-
fore they enter the separating machines.
Then the individual notes are counted
and made into bundles of 100 and these
bundles are counted again for veriiica-
ton before they are PASSED on to the
vaults. Each bundle has a paper strap
about 4, marked with the denomination
of the aotos and the initials Of the coan-
ter
At this point the government is con-
frontcd by a condition which is present
in every business. How ever perfect a
system Of checks may be devised for the
protection OF property, there is always
point whero individual responsibility be-
gins. There are many places in the
Treasury scheme where individual hon
esty is the governments only safeguard.
but the most serious of them is at the
door OF the reserve vault. In this vault
| are kept hundreds of million dollars in
United States notes all perfect and
ready 10 go into circulation. Access 20
| the vault is guarded as carefully as ac-
cess TO any other vault in the Treasury
builcing-and. by the way, it is the sys-
TEN of guards not the construction Of
! tho vaults. which protects Uncle Sans
coin, currency and bonds. 1t would be
! difficult 20 steal money from the vault.
! but in the last stage of its Journey to the
vault it would be comparatively easy TO
| steal IT, AT the door Of the vault sits
John r.. Brown. IL is his duty 10 ope-
rate a press which makes OF the 100 notes
| in each bundle compact package This
press operates like the old-style cotton
| compress. which makes OF the ungninly
! mass a uniform bale. John II. Brown
| puts the bundle of 100 notes into the ma
| chine ard sets In motion the machinery
which presses the bills together. lie fast
| ems around them a strap OF paper and
| then. releasing them from the press. he
wraps them neatly in a heavy brown
! paper on which Is printed the dcnomina-
| ton Of the notes. This wrapping he seals
with wax and then he turns the pack
age over to the vault keeper to be
stored away.
In this way. there pass through the
| hands of John r. Brown each day "a
packages. ranging in value from $1,000
10 $4,000 each and ageregatlng s9ss'po.
| This aggregate increases as bills Of lars-
! or denominations are used. until pack
| agc Of i0.0o0 not is worth 81 .oo0oo0 The
largest amount which has ever gone Into
the reserve vault in y single day Is
s25,0Oo.o0a 80 = ~