The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-07-17
SMALLER DOLLAR BILLS.
Paper Currency May Be Made in
Less Size.

Secretary Shaw has now under con-
sideration a suggestion which has
been offered to the treasury that the
paper money issued by the treasury
should be made of smaller size. The
idea, oddly enough, has had its origin
In certain new notes of various denom-
nations from 20 to 200 pesos, which
the bureau of engraving Is beginning
to print for circulation in the Philip
pine Islands. AS yet none of these
notes have been put forth, but have
excited the admiration of high Off
Gals by reason of their remarkable
beauty, and more especially ON account
of their size. which makes them more
convenient to handle than our own
greenbacks.
One of our dollar bills measures Z
inches In length by inches in width.
The Philippine notes are only inches
long and 2 1-2 inches wide. Thus
expressed the difference does not seem
to be very great, but when the two are
seen side by side it is observed that
the area of the one is nearly one-third
greater than that of the other If our
greenbacks were of the lesser size
we could fold the mand tuck them
comfortably into an ordinary pocket
bo0k-Whereas, as everybody has no.
tlced. they are rather large and clumsy
to be thus Accommodated, the result
being that many business men resort
to huge wallets.
Up to the present time only three
denominations of paper money have
been printed for the Philippines-notes
that is to say, for 2, S, and 10 pesos.
Four more have been prepared and will
soon be issued. One of them for SO
pesos, has portrait of General Law
ton on it. Another for 20 pesos, is Or
namented by handsome vignette re-
presenting volcano. A third, for 100
pesos, has a portrait of Magellan, the
discoverer of the archipelago, and the
fourth, for 200 pesos, is adorned by a
picture of Legaspi.
When these notes shall have been
put into circulation the Filipinos will
find themselves pretty we'll supplied
with paper currency, which as mat
ter of course is guaranteed by the
treasury of the United States. At the
same time they are to be provided with
postage stamps of their own-a luxury
which they have not enjoyed since the
American possession of the islands be-
gan. From that time until the pres
ent they have been obliged to use our
stamps. surcharged with the words,
Philippine Islands,"
The Bureau of Engraving is about
to begin to print new Philippine stamp
which are very pretty and are decided
denominations, running all the way
from 2 centavos, which is equivelant
to cent, to 10 pesos which is IS. Some
of them bear portraits of American
celebrities, while others are ornamen-
ted with pictures of famous Filipinos
and Spaniards, SO that there is quite
a curious mixture.
Necessarily many millions of the
Philippine notes will have to be print
ed Immediately, and on this account
the quantities of col0red ink consumed
by the Bureau Of Engraving will be
greatly augmented in the immediate
future. The materials for these inks
are bought in the shape of dry colors
as they are called, such as Prussian
blue, Venetian red, chrome yellow,
Italian burnt Sienna, Chinese blue,
vermilion and chrome green. They
come in the form of fine powders, mix
ed with due portion of linseed oil
and converted into ink by grinding
with steel rollers which are operated
WIN electrlclty-tn1S last, by the way
being plan newly adopted by the bur-
eau.
One gets notion of the huge amount
of such colors consumed in the huge
printing of money from the fact that
more than one ton of the finest chrome
green is used every day for the backs
of our greenbacks.
To provide the necessary room for
all of this new work and to extend the
facilities of the Bureau of Engraving
a large brick building of two stories a
height has recently been added to the
establishment as an annex. 1t has in
fact, been only just completed, and all
of the business of postage stamp pro-
duction will soon be transferred to it.
The machinery required, which is
somewhat complicated, is even now
being moved in.