Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1898-04-08
DESTROYED BY MACHINE
HOW UNCLE SAM GETS RID OF d.
lhPlDATED PAPER MONEY.

a Million Dollars Reduced tn Pulp Daily
The Mareratcd Bills Turned Into
Useful Articles Fate of national Bank
Natos -Redceming Fragments of Bills.
A million dollars day. This is the
amount that Uncle Sam makes away
with, saws j. Cecil Henderson in Sue
cess. Every piece Of money which
becomes too dirty or too dilapidated
for use may he presented to the
United States treasury for redemption.
Each day there il sent from the diff
fcrent banks throughout the country,
ful V million dollars worth Of this
soiled or torn paper. Every bundle
of money received IL turned over to
au expert, who, after carefully count.
ing and inspecting the notes to see
that no counterfeits are among them,
places them together in small pack.
ages, and marks on the wrapper the
amount contained in each bundle.
They are then passed under ma
chine which punches n hole i'll each
corner of every package; and cut into
halves, lengthwise. one-haf is sent to
one division, and the remaining half
to another, to be recOunted by two
other people. All counts must tally
with each other before the bills are
ready for destruction.
The next move il to transport the
money to the Bureau of Engraving
and Printing, where il is reduced to
pulp by what is called maceratiOn.
Tat, l,.tn Il ap
containing several disintegrating
chemicals, the bills are thrown. The
pulp thus produced is pressed into
sheets, which strongly resemble white
cardboard. This substance, which is
used for various purposes, such as
newspaper, writing paper, and souve.
Mrs, is sold by the government for
about forty dollars ton, the money
received paying the entire expenses of
mace,ation.
The only kind of money not de-
stroyed at the Bureau Of Engraving
and Printing il that issued by National
banks. These notes are not taken
charge of by those having the care of
bank currency. Every afternoon these
bills, representing from II hundred
thousand to half million dollars, are
destroyed III the basement of the
treasury building. The door of the
maceratiou room is secured by huge
padlocks, and can be opened only by
the three officials who hold the keys.
Nothing less than two-iifths of a
note will be redeemed. To the hold
or Of this fraction of bill, the govern
ment will allow half of the original
face value. For three-ffths of u note,
full value will he given.
1t occasionally happens that scraps
of bills which have been almost en-
tirely destroyed by fire or otherwise,
are presented for redemption. So ex-
pert are some of the treasury clerks
in determining to what special note,
or kind of note scrap of money
belongs, that the owner of the dam
aged bills usually receives some con-
siderable part OF their face value. A
majority Of the government clerks are
women, who are said to he more hon
est and trustworthy than men, besides
having in more marked degree the
delicacy of touch required for the de-
lection of bad money.
Some of these women are the most
expert and accurate counters and de-
tectors in the world. Their sense Of
touch is so highly educated that the
instan, they pass Il bill through their
fingers they know whether it is n
genuine or bogus note. Many bills
are such clever limitations that they
circulate through the country for IA
long time before being presented at
the treasury, where they are almost
invariably deteSed.