The Savannah morning news., 1901-07-14
SOME WASHINGTON GOSSIP.
FACTS CONCERNING A SUBJECT OF
GENERAL IMPORTANCE.


the Greenbacl<s Are Handled Be-
fore They Are Distributed to the
Pubiic-What Is 20 De Seen In the
Bond Room-No Chance for Crooks
to FIJI Their Pockets-WagOn
Loads OF Money In the Streets OF
the National Capital - Armed
Guards Always Close at Hand.
Some Points About Counterfeiting,
Other Matters of General Interest.
Washington, July 12.-Since money
whose lack is "the root of all evil' and
whose possession means power and glory
so nearly concerns the human mind,
the most interesting departments of the
government are the Bureau Of Engrav-
ing and Printing, where money, stamps
and bonds are made, and the United
States Treasury. where they are stored.
The intelligent visitor who comes to
do Washington finds a powerful fasci-
nation in both those places. He sees mon
ey in urcounted millions lying around ev-
erywhere, apparently dirt cheap; money
by the carloads; money to burn; yet
where touch not, taste not, handle not,
is the iron-clad rule, SO far as visitors
are concerned and surveillance is so
sharp that the smallest fraction of 1t
cannot cling to the light fingers or flow
ing draperies of the most expert klepto-
maniac male or female. He sees hundreds
of ordinary-looking girls and women fair
ly wallowing In money-printing green
backs galore, handling great sheets of
uncut bills, cutting them and counting
them as IL they were so many blocks of
calico for crazy quilt Surely. every
one of them Is more or less in need,
else she would not be working In the
heat and din of that Inferno of money
making machinery. Is not the tempta-
ton sometimes over-powering to appro-
pirate just little bit OF that aboundlng
wealth, whose loss would be no more
to Uncle Samuel than that Of grain
OF sand from the seashore? AS to the
temptation" none can say for those
who feel such an impulse are not prone
to talk about it, but absolutely moth
ing is ever stolen, things being too well
systematized for the smallest theft
The visitor sees men up to their ell
bows in green dye, bestowing the familiar
hue upon bank notes. He sees paper
money being baked in ovens. to make it
dry and crisp and give forth the rustling
sound of withered leaves In autumn
which so delights our souls when we are
lucky enough to possess a few fresh
notes. He sees revenue stamps by the
ton-each tiny stamp worth a good deal
more than its weight In gold. He Is per-
mitted to inspect the outsides OF the safes
In which are slowed the precious bank
note plates-one-third only OF each plate
In a separate safe, secured by an indi-
vidual lock and key, each lock different
from all the others and having no coun-
terpart anywhere. More than that, each
key is kept by a different man, and each
mans knowledge Is confined strictly to
his own key, he being never allowed ac-
cess 40 any of the other safes, or even
to know the combination of their locks
so that whole bank-note plate presents
insuperable obstacles. Uncle Samuel goes
on the principal that the price of safety
Is eternal vigilance and enforced honesty.
Again, down stairs In the bond room,
where millions upon millions of securi-
ties from our thousand and odd national
banks are kept. The narrow corridors
swarm with visitors of every nationality.
color, grade and status. Ii looks like the
0OAttbb hiHu VI a cHdp AOA ClOOhbt db lHt
coming and going crowds jostle each
other in the dimness. and employees, intent
on their business squeeze through them,
and the ear is dulled by the hum and
clank OF machinery and the clamor of
many voices. But woe unto him who
attempts to ply his crookedness herel
The seemingly mixed-up swarm Of visit
ors is really divided into small groups,
each group In charge OF a separate guide,
and carefully counted by watchful OFF,
Gals as they enter this department and
return from 1t, lest some designing indl-
vidual be left behind TO rummage amid
the half-made money and bank-note
plates. Guides and other officials, though
usually the understanding of old gen
Element, are ''armed to the teeth" what
ever that expression may mean, and
would not hesitate a minute about shoot
ing a person they could not manage. The
bank-note securities, OF incalcula BILE value,
are enclosed in simple cardboard boxes,
each box holding few sheets of paper.
Here are hundreds of millions OF dollars
in f1msy paper-literally money to burn"
by the wagon load; and the wonder is
that II has not burned long ago.
BY the way, speaking of wagon loads OF
money. there is actually vehicle which
may % seen any Jay IN the StfeetS OF
Washington, laden with a million dollars
or so in cash, or with thousands OF dol
lars worth OF stamps, or with quantities
of the priceless paper used In the printing
of money. 1t is the United States Treas
ury cash wagon, which travels between
the Treasury and the Bureau of Engrav-
ing and Printing. The body OF the wagon
hangs low TO the ground, 1t is covered
with a wooden roof and awning, and the.
three powerful draft horses which haul It
seem sometimes to have all they can do.
This is when the vehicle is loaded with
scores of boxes OF "greenbacks"-newl
printed money In bills of all denomina-
tions. lacking nothing to make 1t ready
for circulation but the stamp of the small
seal which is put upon each bill at the
Treasury, or else II is weighted so heav-
lily that the horses strain at their task,
with the even more valuable paper from
which the money Is made. As a matter
OF fact, counterfeiters would rather have
the paper than the printed money; for
with that In their possession, they could
turn out as much money as they chose
in bills OF denominations TO suit them
selves.
Though there Is little about the vehicle
to distinguish ii from an ordinary ex-
press wagon, II is an armored affair,
which would be exceedingly difficult to
hold up" as well as extremely danger