Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1903-08-28
GRINDING PAPER MONEY.
important Branch of The Treasury De-
partment Business.

Half dozen hired laborers, earnin
about $50 a month each, from tt
Treasury Department at Washington
destroy every day in the neighborhoo
of million and half dollars. The
work in the basement of the big Treal
ury Building, and their principal dut
is to carry boxes full CT paper dollars
fives, tens, twenties, and dump theI
into giant macerator, where shar
knives cut them into tiny shreds un
til they are reduced to watery pulp
| The destruction of paper currency i
lpart of the Aladdin like process b.
which the Government gives out nev
money for old. Any person present
ing a tattered and worn-out bank not,
at the Treasury Department will re.
ceive for it crisp note that has never
been folded. The same exchange may
be made, even if the note has been tori
into bits, providing that all the pieces
are presented.
| 1t keeps comparatively large force
of men constantly at work to attend
to the destruction of notes that come
into the department IN a worn-out con.
dition. A regular routine is observed
for getting rid of paper that has been
condemned, and the strictest 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 from hand to hand more
freely than in dull seasons, a note will
have outlived its usefulness in short
er period, but ordinarily when piece
of paper money leaves the Treasury it
stays out in circulation from three to
four years.
When it begins to get dirty-looking
and frayed about the edges it is sent
by some bank to the department for
redemption. If it happens to be ma
tional bank note it is thrown aside. for
the redemption of national bank notes
is conducted separately from that of
regular Treasury notes.
There is always on duty at the de-
partment an agent of the national
banks, who keeps tab on the notes of
his clients sthat are set aside for re-
dempti0n. At the end of each day an
accounting is made, and the various
banks are credited with the amounts
of money condemned as useless for cir
culation purposes. The Bureau of
Engraving and Printing prints new
supply of notes equivalent to those de-
stroyed. The same process is followed
with United States notes that come in
for redemption.
The greatest care is naturally observ-
ed in counting the money marked for
retirement. 1t is gone over time and
again by skilled counters, and is final.
ly stacked up in bundles six or eight
inches high. These packages are push
ed under the blade of a monster knife
that is operated by electricity, and In
an instant the bills are cut into halves.
They fall into a large box that is near,
and when the receptacle is filled 1t is
closed and securely locked, when 1t is
ready for the trip to the macerator.
This is located down in the bowels OF
the department building. A force of
sturdy laborers pick up the boxes and
carry them to the macerator. Then,
in the presence OF a Treasury official
and the agent of the national banks,
the boxes are unlocked and the con.
tents dumped into the dark inclosure.
Six or eight sets Of sharp steel knives
revolve about the interior, while a
chemical liquid is lntroducedto hasten
the pulp formation. The opening is
locked and the grinding process begins,
continuing for several hours. At the
end of that time the money is reduced
to whitish mass about the consistency
Of pasty dough. 1t is shipped to the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing,
where it goes through the same pro-
cess again. The knives in this macer-
ator are smaller than those in the de-
partment and they cut up the bits into
very fine pieces.
The Government is of an economical
turn and sells all this pulp. 1t is dis
posed of at the rate of cents pound,
the income from this source being
about IS, 900 year. The pulp is roll
ed out into boards about three by eight
feet in length, and these are eventually
sold to paper manufacturers. A small
however, is saved for a
few favored individuals of New York,
who manufacture images of various
kinds from the materials. Visitors to
Washington have seen the miniature
Washington Monuments, Capitols 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
conceived the idea of manufacturing
these models earned fortune from
their sale. 1t is possible to buy for so
cents model of the Capitol composed
of pulp originally worth 100000.
The Death Penalty.
A little thing sometimes results in
death. Thus a mere scratch, insight
fcant cuts or punu hollis haua Maid