The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-12-28
Printing, Of Which Capt. w. NJ.
Meredith 9s Chief
DAILY OUTPUT OF THE PRESSES
HOW REDEEMED TREASURY NOTES
ARE "MACERATED."
Sale of "COld Tea" I'm Capitol Restau.
rants-James s. Barcus to Retire
from Politics.

Staff Correspondence of the Journal
WASHINGTON, Dec. H.-The man who
makes more money in day than anybody
in Washington and at the same time gets
away with more of it is an Indiana man
Capt w. M. Meredith formerly of In
dianapolis, and now chief of the bureau
of engraving and printing. 1t is this es-
tablishment that supplies the United States
treasury with currency in the form of new
bills. The bureau under the direction of
Captain Meredith. is now turning out
something like s1,5O0OO0 or 100000 every
day. The institution. however. destroys al
most as much nearly every day about noon.
Recently 1,4S7 pounds of paper money. ag-
gregating si,535,oO0 were ''macerated" in
one day. The money destroyed represents
the old or damaged bills that are re-
deemed by the treasury department. One
seldom sees an old bill in Washington and
silver dollar here is almost unknown.
Nearly all the money that daily passes
through the hand of the merchant or the
banker looks as if it were fresh from the
printing press.
Chief Meredith has an ideal establish
ment that gives employment to several
hundred men and women. The bureau of
printing and engraving is one of the
meccas of the tourist. The chief is proud
of his establishment and is always glad
to show visitors the details of money
making-by machinery. The bureau has a
number of young women guides at its serv-
ice and there is scarcely an hour in the
day that a party of visitors is not being
shown through the great money and
stamp-makng building. One Of the privi-
leges of the institution is to allow
visitor to hold a package of $4,000 of new
bank notes in his hand. They are COM
plete except the seal which is placed on
them in the treasury department.
The "macerating'' of hundreds of thou
sands of dollars each day at noon is an
interesting sight to visitors. After the
bills have been counted several times and
torn in two they are placed in an immense
'macerater'' and for three days go
through a process that reduces them to a
pulp This pulp is sold to the paper mills
and some of the finest stationery on the
market is made from this material The
money is destroyed by committee from
the treasury department. There are three
locks on the ''macerater and after it is
closed and locked three members Of the
committee are each given key. Thus all
three keys have to be used to open the
''macerater.
each press is worked by man and a girl
The girl feeds the press and the man per-
forms the manual labor. Each printer has
his lady," said one OF the young woman
guides to a party of visitors. Should a
bill be spoiled in process of printing and
thrown on the floor, the loss Is discovered
before the day is over, so complete is the
system of keeping account of what is
going on When anything is wrong in any
one of the divisions no one Is allowed to
leave the place until the matter has been
cleared up. Should printer misplace, for
instance a one-hundred-dollar bill in print
ing IL, he would be responsible for the
amount and ii would be charged to him. II
not found he would lose that much of his
salary.
Strange as 1t may seem. the point Is
made that the continued maintenance OF
the restaurants In the House and Senate
sides of the Capitol is largely based on
the question Of whether liquor win COM