Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-23

because of the greater convenience of ship
ment from that city. Both OF the money
factories are now working full blast.
AS fast as the bricks Of metal are de-
livered at each mint by the smelling and
mining firms they are being hurried to the
melting room. thrown into the keg-shaped
plumbago crucibles and melted up. The
liquid metal is then ladled out in three
spouted gray dippers and poured into clamp
molds. The molds are dashed into tanks OF
cold water. The ingots, thus hardened, are
cleansed. numbered. assayed, rolled into long
lath-like strips. tempered and rolled again.
The silver ingots. which when leaving the
molds resemble bars of solder. in point of
size leave the last rolling process In long
fat straps, those for the thinnest coins be-
ing six feet in length. These are passed
through the cutting machines a man on
one side feeding and one on the other TAX
Ing out the straps. which emerge filled with
punched the planchets or blanks which fall
into tray beneath. Planchets about the
size of a twenty centavo piece are cut in q
single row from each strap, the smaller.
coins In double rows.
The Finishing Touches.
Uncle Sam is as strict in every particular
with the Philippine coins as he is with his
own money. All Of their blanks pass to
automatic weighing machines. which. almost
as quickly as the eye follow them,
sort these smooth disks into piles of stand
ards" lights and "heavies." All of the
light" planchets are. being condemned
and melted over. The others are then
''milled'-that is, given their raised rims.
The American girl Is putting the finishing
touches upon these strange oriental coins
The milled planchets in the exact sizes of
the peso and subsidiary centavo denomina-
tons are fed by deft-fingered young women
to rows of tall. flat-faced, steel machines.
Each fair operative sits before a sort of
manager filled with the glistening disks,
which she piles into cylindrical stacks and
drops into vertical tube in the center of
the machine Two dies coming together
stamp the diverse and reverse design upon
each coin at the one blow, and at the same
time the saw-edge is added Each of these
young women Is turning out pesos at the
rate of SO per minute; so centavo and -
centavo pieces, so per minute; centavo,
ITO per minute. and copper pieces, 40 per
minute. The finished coins are then spread
upon boards which count them out at d
tremendous speed Ten thousand little 10
centavo pieces are counted in eighteen Sec
ondS. The new coins are then placed in
bags inclosed in iron-hooped cases. sealed
with wax. Then they are ready for ship
ment to the orient.
Why System Was Necessary.
asked Director Roberts to explain to the
popular mind why these coins, no different
from our own, were adopted for people
under the sovereignty Of the United States
q
Mexican dollar" saddle, but since silver
has been so greatly discarded as money
metal throughout the world fluctuations in
its value have been so frequent and 50
wide that commerce Is very seriously en-
barrassed In any country which attempts
to use silver standard. So there has been
a disposition in Mexico, Indo-China, Siam
and the Straits Settlements to abandon sill
yer and adopt gold standard, and the
same considerations which have led them
n n 90 how lnd ha ant ~
Philippines to adopt the same policy.
when discarding the old currency the
government was obliged to decide whether
to adopt the currency of the United States
or that which had obtained In the Philip
pines. The objection to adopting the cur
rency of the United States was that there
would be violent change in wages, prices
and existing contracts. and 1t was feared
that great friction would result Take, for
example, a man who Is getting 20 pesos
month in wages. American money Is intro
duced with 81 equal to $50 Mexican. This
wage-earner would get IS per month equal
to his 20 pesos, each little larger than the
new dollar offered him. He would not I'M
derstand this. 1t was feared to undertake
such violent change which would have in
volved the islands in labor disturbances,
have threatened peace and deferred invest
ments 1t was thought better to adopt a
new coin about the size of that to which the
people had been accustomed. to put it in
circulation at one-half the value of the
redeem 1t on demand and to hold it to a
fixed relation to the money of the United
States 1t Is believed that this will give
the Filipinos staple currency without frlc
ton. The gold coins of the United States
will be legal tender In the Philippines and
will be used in large transactions on basis
of two pesos to one gold dollar.
Porto Rico and Hawaii will both have
the currency of the United States. The old
Philippine coins will probably be shipped to
Hong Kong and sold"