Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1904-05-27
FATE OF OLD BANK NOTES.
To He More Thoroughly Macerated,
For Pieces Have been Redeemed.


For Pieces Have Been Redeemed.
Through an order promulgated by
the treasurer OF the United States the
Old macerating machine IN the sub
basement OF the treasury at Washing
ton has been put out OF commission,
and hereafter all paper money. wheth-
er issued 10y the government or by ma
tional banks, will be reduced to pulp
In the large macerator at the bureau
of engraving and printing.
This order was brought about by n
protest made by national bankers
claiming that the old machine failed
to do its work perfectly and that the
Dank notes dumped into il not infre-
cuently turned up in sections for re-
demption by the banks of issue, that
the pulp sold TO various makers and
manufacturers of images, to be resold
as souvenirs, was filed with large
pieces of bills and that these were
picked from the pulp images and of
fered for redemption. Notwithstand-
Ing the fact that the treasury macera-
tor has been in service for many years
and has reduced to pulp many trillions
of dollars in bank notes which had
ceased to be current, this complaint
was the first one ever made against its
noDperformance of duty. but the treas
urer got such positive evidence that
the bankers were correct in their as
sertions that he issued the order.
Washington souvenir dealers have
haf q l,A al,
found n heavier demand than any 9th
or, and those made from the pulp of
the notes last destroycd-or partly So
by the treasury macerator have always
brought higher price than the ones
manufactured from the pulp of the
maceratOr at the bureau of engraving
and printing. this being due entirely
to the fact that images from the latter
contain not Speck of greenbacks, the
notes being reduced to almost n whit
ish pulp. Naturally visitors prefer an
image made from real money" in
which some of the money would be in
evidence. The treasury macerator pro-
duction. or output, was therefore worth
n great deal more to the manufactur-
ers and always brought Il much larger
price. In fact, the bureaus pulp was
almost drug on the market.
But now the imuges-buSts of presi-
dents. the Washington monument. I'm
Gle Sans hat, the national emblem (the
eagle), the capitol, the treasury. cats,
dogs, frogs. etc. each representing
from $1,000 TO S15,000-must be made
from the bureau pulp or first class
must be in this specially constructed
macerator, which works every day and
night in the year except Sunday. there
being from $1.500.OO0 To 100000
maceratcd every twenty-four hours.
This work Of maccration and the prep
nration for ii are under the personal
direction OF representa- tiveS of the
treasurer, the secretary, the comptrol-
Ter and the register. and these repre-
sentativcs go with the heavily guarded
wagon containing the money to the bu-
reau, where IL is taken from the steel
boxes, checked of, placed i'm the mac
orator, the iron doors closed. locked
and scaled. and then the machine he
gins its work OF destruction. The large
boiler or vat i'm which the money Is
placed is filled with some kind Of chem
icals, and network of machinery
keeps up continuous churning and
grinding until u o'clock the following
day. when ii is stopped. the pulp taken
out and another million or two placed
in to be treated I'm the same way for
the next twenty-four hours.
by this process of maccration II Is
utterly impossible for any one to find
any evidence of money in the puIp.
even the small silk threads which run
through all genuine notes being entire.
~ destroyed save 20 form a part of the
whitish pulp.-Ncw York Tribune.