The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-07-19
GRINDING PAPER MONEY.
A Business i'm the Treasury Depart-
ment at Washington.

Washington Letter in Brooklyn Eagle.
Half dozen hired laborers, earning about
$50 month each, from the Treasury De-
partment destroy every day in the neighbor-
hood of a million and half dollars. They
work in the basement OF the big treasury
building, and their principal duty is TO carry
boxes full of paper dollars. fves, tens and
twenties, and dump them into a giant mas
cerator, where sharp knives cut them into
tiny shreds until they are reduced to a wa
terry pulp.
The destruction of paper currency is part
of the Aladdin-like process by which the
government gives out new money for old
Any person presenting tattered and worn
out b& nix note at the Treasury Department
will receive for ii a crisp aote that has new
er been folded. The same exchange may be
made, even If the note has been torn into
bits. providing that all the pieces are pre-
scented.
1t keeps a comparatively large force of
men constantly at work 10 attend 10 the
destruction of notes that come into the de-
partment In WORKOUT condition. a regu-
lar routine is observed for getting rid OF pa
per that has been condemned. and the strict
est sort OF rules are enforced To prevent
frauds and losses.
The average life of treasury or bank
note is from three to four years. In times OF
business prosperity. when money passes
seasons, a note will have outlived its use
fulness in a shorter period. but ordinarily
when piece of paper money leaves the
treasury IL stays out in circulation for three
or four years.
When ii begins to get dirty looking and
frayed about the edges IL is sent by some
bank to the department for redemption III II
happens to be a national bank note IL Is
thrown aside, for the redemption or national
bank notes is conducted separately from
that of regular treasury notes.
There lie q
an agent of the national banks, who keeps
| tab on the notes of his clients that are set
aside for redemption AT the end of each Gay
| an accounting is made and the various
| banks are credited with the amounts OF
money condemned as useless for circulation
purposes. The Bureau of Engraving ana
| Printing prints new supply of notes equiv
| alent to those destroyed. The same process
| is followed with United States notes that
| come in for redemption.
The greatest care is naturally observed In
| counting the money marked for retirement:
| 1t is gone over time and again by skilled
| counters, and is finally stacked up In
bundles six or eight inches high. These pack
ages are pushed under the blade OF mons
| tea knife that is operated by electricity ana
| in ala instant the bills are cut into halves:
| They fall into a large box that Is near ana
| when the receptacle is filled IL IL closed and
securely locked, when ii is ready for the trip
TO the mascerator. This is located down In
the bowels of the department building. A
force of sturdy laborers pick up the boxes
and carry them 10 the mascerator. There, In
the presence Of a treasury official and the
| agent of the national banks. the boxes are
unlocked and the contents dumped into the
| dark Enclosure.
Six or eight sets of sharp steel knives re-
volve about the interior, while chemical
| liquid is introduced TO hasten the pulp for
nation. The opening is locked and the grind
| ing process begins. continuing for several
reduced to a whitish mass about the con-
| sistency of pasty dough. Ii Is shipped TO the
| Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where 1t
| goes through the same process again. The
knives in this mascerator are smaller than
those in the department, and they cut up
\ the bits into very fine pieces.
The government is of an economical turn,
! and sells all this pulp. Ii is disposed OF at
| the rate of cents a pound. the income from
| this source being about 5000 year. The
| pulp is rolled out into boards about by 5
| feet in length, and these are eventually sold
| to paper manufacturers. A small proportion.
| however, is saved for a few favored indi-
viduals of this city. who manufacture inn
| ages of various kinds from the material
Visitors to Washington have seen the mimi
allure Washington monuments Capitois and
White Houses that have been modelled from
| the pulp OF paper money. They are on sale
| at many of the stores throughout the city.
1t Is reported that the man who first con-
ceived the idea of manufacturing these
models earned a fortune from their sale. IL
| is possible To buy for 80 cents model OF the
| Capitol composed of pulp originally worth
S1O0 600