Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-03
INTO THE cRUC|BLE
Method of Destroying Useless
Dies, Rolls and Plates.
CHANGED INTO GUN METAL
Material From Which Money and
Stamps We're Produced.
IN CHARGE OF COMMITTEE
Process of Eliminating Worn-Out
Material Accumulated at Bureau
of Engraving and Printing.

A big box truck, more like an animal
hearses than any other recognized con-
! struction for transportation, wends its
way from the bureau of engraving and
printing to the. foundry building at the
navy yard. Behind it, maintaining the
same pace. trails wagon containing six
passengers.
1t looks like some sort of a funeral. 1t
is funeral. Abandoned engraved plates,
rolls and dies of the United States gov
eminent, from which have been printed
millions in paper money, postage and
revenue stamps, areson their way to the
crematory.
The remains are disposed of in sections.
About ton and half of it is carried in
the bureau "hearse" at every trip, and
there will be about eight trips before the
ghost is laid.
In the coach which trails behind are
the members of the special committee
charged with the duty of consigning the
material to ashes; the driver, and a
couple of employees of the bureau Of en-
heavy work of handling the weighty box
es. Other ''hefties' ride on the big van.
Inspection Made Annually.
Dies, rolls and plates. the engraved
work of every description in the vaults
of the bureau of engraving and printing,
are inspected annually and number
marked as unfit for use The Secretary OF
the Treasury names a committee of three
members. one representing the Treasury
Department, another the commissioner OF
internal revenue and the third the con-
troller of the currency.
TIL. che xr-i~l
duties. It will compare and check with
the records of the engraving division OF
the bureau of engraving and printing, and
of the vaults of the custodian OF dies,
rolls and plates. the engraved work OF
every description in the two great vaults
pertaining to bonds. notes, national bank
currency, checks and miscellaneous issues
of the government, including internal rev.
enue stamps, postage stamps and other
securities.
rency are to be compared as TO the en-
graved work pertaining to the printing OF
national bank snotes. Should any en-
graved work be found Of which no record
exists, the committee will attend to its
entry on the record. II any piece of en-
craving described in the record is not ac-
counted for the committee will report the
deficiency to the Secretary of the Treas
ury.
Nest interesting and spectacular of tie
of dispOsing of plates selected for de-
struction. The committee schedules these
plates. supervises their cancellation. has
them packed I'm c0nsecutively numbered
boxes. schedule of the contents inciosed,
and the boxes nailed up and sealed with
| the seal of the Treasury. and then. at a
| time found convenient, accompanies the
/ transportation of the boxed plates. etc.
to the navy yard melting pots, and
watches them fed to the flames to be con-
1 int toll vxhie S}S a %
governmental purpose.
Arthur II. Smith of the Treasury De-
partment. William Kinds Of the internal
| revenue bureau and Michael II. Cahill.
/ representing the controller OF the cur
| rency. are the members OF the committee
| which has been assigned by the Secretary
| of the Treasury TO this work for the pres
ent year. Their appointments bear date
of January ), 1912. Within that week
| their labors were begun and now have
progressed until the destruction of con-
demned engraved materials is the major
part of the work yet to be accomplished
| Storage of Materials.
| In the bureau of engraving and print
/ ing are two great vaults used for the
| storage of engraved materials, and these
| vaults are in charge of the custodian OF
| dies, rolls and pla ties, Glendie b. Young
/ The contents of the smaller vaults arc
| confined to dies. rolls and plates used in
| the making of paper money and the rec
ords 1t is known as the national cur
/ rency vault The larger depository is
1 designated United States and miscella-
neous vault" and contains materials of
| all shapes and sizes, representing the
! dies, rolls and plates used for making
| postage stamps. revenue stamps, beer
and tobacco stamps and a wide assert
ment of engravings for various purposes
| Die. roll and plate have intimate rela-
| tons i'm the pfocessN e producing paper
money or other printed engraved matter
| From the plate is printed the paper note
| or stamp or other finished product of the
| engraver's art. From the roll is made
the plate. From the die is made the
roll.
The die is cut by the engraver direct
| with his craving tools on the hard pol
ished steel. The die Is apt to be merely
a detail of the finished work, a yignette
scroll or some other detached section
of what appears on the finished plate
or a total of I3.0l7 for making none.
and of a grand total for all purposes OF
2U,1I6 stored in the bureau vaults. three
dies last year and only one die this yeal
We're consigned to the scrap heap.
i Date Back to 1861.
Dies made in the year 1851, when the
bureau was established. and its engrav
ing done by private concerns, are still
on the shelves intact and available fol
USE Those destroyed had become un
serviceabie because of cracking of tn,
metal. practically the only enemy to theil
perpetuation.
! The die. which is an engraving in tn.