Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-08-07
NEW KIND OF MONEY.
No More Crisp" Notes to be Made by
Uncle Sam.

mo wore SFIoP INo~SS ~ ~ '~~S ~
Uncle Sam.
Washington, Aug. 1.-The days of the
"crisp banknote" are numbered. In
stead of being crisp, the money which
the government Bureau of Engraving
and Printing will hereafter turn out
will be soft and velvety, if important
experiments which are now being con-
Quoted in the presence of Treasury
officials for the purpose of demonstra-
ting the advantages of a novel chemical
treatment for paper prove satisfactory.
The prediction is made that the expert
ments will prove satisfactory, as they
have been almost completed. The re-
suit of the adoption of the new secret
process will be to revolutiOniZe por-
ton of the work connected with the
printing Of the paper money of the
United States. Under the new process
it will take just sixty days less time
to manufacture a bank-note than under
the present method; which is regarded
as extremely important in the present
commercial era, when new money is
sometimes demanded Immediately, and
to supply which the government has to
lay most careful plans and keep bank
notes printed ahead. ssa .,Sgs
Resides rendering paper soft and
velvety, tho new process also makes it
nom shrinkable, an important ac-
complishment which has heretofore
balled the ingenuity of the paper man.
ufacturer, and which, when applied to
the printing of postage stamps alone,
will make d saving of just 20 per cent
of stock and work. Because paper
shrinks after it has received the I'M
preston of the head of George WASH
ington on the one side, in the manu-.
facture OF postage stamps, and the1
coating of mucilage on the other, and
because no two sheets shrink alike,
one-fifth are ruined in the process of
perforating. Experiments just made
under the new process eliminate all of
this loss.
The invention is the product of the
combined efforts for the last five years
of r. II. Fowler. chief draughtsman of
the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and D.
N. Hoover, chief printer that bureau
When Mr. Fowler took charge of the
draughting division five years ago, he
was told by the chief printer that it
was impossible 10 print the maps pre-
pared in the draughting division. be-
cause there was no paper to be had
which would not shrink, and thus rem
der the maps inaccurate as to scale
and consequently of no scientific value
All such maps, therefore, had to be
copied by hand on hand made linen
paper manufactured especially for that
purpose. In college Mr.. Fowler had |
taken great interest in chemistry,
and he at once began the series of ex-
periments which two years ago resulted |
in the chemical solution which, when |
applied to paper, materially changes
its quality. Paper so treated is declar- |
ed to be "mellowed and non-shrink- |
able" The process is not expensive. |
1t has been patented both in the United |
States and foreign countries, and al
though no publicity has heretofore
been given to the discovery Messrs.
Fowler and Hoover, the large paper
of this country have
heard of the results accomplished and
are making f,attering offers to the in
ventors for royalty rights. The jap
anese Government has also bid for the
process, and as Japan has for centuries
been considered the magician of the
world in the art of paper making the
oAlCi II oIll tIIe OIleul Is regarded as a |
marked acknowledgment of merit.
The United States Government, how
ever, Is to have the first advantages Of
the discovery, and should the officials
now investigating the process decide
hat its value is too great to be kept
lnder restraint of patent laws, the
government may buy the patent and
make the process known to the world. |
BY the application Of the chemical
mixture to Japanese napkin that ar
.lcle becomes as soft and pliable as q
issue of silk. The chemical prepara-
ION acts as an antiseptic and a pre-
'ervative. When applied to old docu-
nents it seems to knit the fibre to-
,ether and prevent further decay. I'm
Ter the present process of printing pa
'er money the paper has to be thor
'ughly soaked in water. While 1t is in ,
his soaked condition one side of the ,
ill is printed. The sheet Is then |
'laced in a steam room and kept un- :
er high temperature for thirty days. | \
he time necessary for the first ink to | r
ry. The sheet is again soaked as in ;
he first instance and the reverse side n
the bill printed. The thirty-day | =
rying process then has to be repeated.
n cases where a third impression On
ne bill is necessary, which is required
hen the printing is done in two colors,
ne wetting and drying process has o
be repeated a third time, and an e
Their month is thus consumed in its s
reduction. Besides the delay of this G.
recess, the wetting and drying rot the Z,
bre of the paper. and, although it is "
'tarched" to give it the crisp appear "A
nee, the starch soon wears out anG E
lie bill becomes limp and worn. a
In printing bills On paper which has a
cen treated by the new process no q
citing is necessary. The ink loses Ia
one of it's lustre when applied to the te