Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-08-11
UNCLE SANS MONEY FACTORY

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eleven days in the various processes Of
manufacturing the money.
After the backs have been printed the
sheets dried and examined and the tissues
removed, the paper is again
Printing sent to the wetting room.
And here it is again put
3"eoS' through the wetting process.
And again from here it goes to the print
ing room, this time to have the faces
printed, after which the same work of
drying. examining and removing the It's
sues is repeated. the entire work OF MAX
Ding a note having required twelve days
actual work thus far.
The next step is that OF sizing the
sheets, a process which is among the
most interesting of all those connected
with the making Of money. The work of
sizing Is done in a little room in the
basement. On one side are three large
brass kettles. while in the middle of the
room is a row of machines somewhat re-
sembling washing machines. In the ket-
ties Is frothy. white substance. forced
by series Of pipes through the machines
and back into the kettles again, thus
making an endless flow. The substance
is glue. To $50 pounds Of animal glue $40
gallons of water are required. to which
is added q pounds of alum. The result
ant substance gives to the printed notes
the same body which the paper had before
going through the two wetting processes.
On account of becoming dirty through
contact with the printing ink a fresh
supply of glue has to be made every two
days. Before leaving this room the notes
are recounted.
After leaving the sizing room the sheets
are pressed and trimmed, following which
they are ready to be taken to the room
in which they are numbered, the final
step in converting blank paper into actual
money. In this same room they receive the
seal which is the final token of the govern
ment's financial authority, and the sheet is
separated into four parts. Nothing then
remains but to deliver the money to the
United States Treasury. which is done in
the large van which has now become
familiar accessory Of Washingtons well
known money plant. The work of sizing.
drying. pressing and trimming requires
one day for each, while three are required
in the numbering. sealing and separating
room, these seven days added to the
twelve previously accounted for making
nineteen. This length Of time together
with the eleven taken up between times,
makes the thirty. or the time necessary
to the production Of the note. Nearly
$46O. 100000 is in the bureau vaults ready
ment upon demand.
Four kinds Of notes are printed: United
States notes. silver and gold certificates
and national bank
MANY Kinds notes. The denomina-
81 n.4 tons of each print
O'' ed are as follows:
United States notes. five and ten dollars:
silver certificates. one two. five and ten
dollars; gold certificates, ten, twenty, fifty.
one hundred, five hundred, one thousand.
five thousand and ten thousand dollars;
national bank notes, five, ten, twenty, f1f-
~ and one hundred dollars. There are
eleven denominations.
To return to statistics. the sheets used
in year number S7,O54. 1913. each sheet
taking four Impressions. That means that
each day 200. 49, sheets are printed. The
paper costs annually s4O5, 600 or, for a
single day, $3.50. The entire cost of
e96, 600, or $12,32O per diem. Against
that. however, is the daily output of
notes, the value Of which is $4,S1c,734
But the cost of the paper is not the only
large item in making the notes. There
Is the ink. of which $40 tons are used
every year, or two and three-quarters
tons a day That costs $4,000 a year,
or $47S each day. An important item also
on these every year is $4,000. or s467
each day. The number Of plates made in
a year is about 2.414. of which number
2.14 are faces and the remainder backs.
Seventy-f1ve men are employed in en-
craving these plates, while an entire year
Is required In preparing the original plate,
including the engraving of dies. transfer
ring to rolls, etc. Three days are neces-
sary. however. to make subsequent re-
newals Of plates. 1t is possible to take
about 10000 Impressions from plates for
the backs, while the plates bearing the
faces can only be used about A. 900 times.
So
Think of having almost two tons Of
crisp. unwrinkled bills. done up neatly in
packages Of 100. and of
Tons OF all the various denomina-
M. tons! Such is the weight
of single days output
from the bureau. The annual output
weighs ga tons.
In addition to the paper money printed
at the bureau Of engraving and printing,
bonds are also manufactured. Last year,
for example. $1,000 Panama canal bonds
was $74, 100000. These were new bonds
One thousand bonds of an old series were
also printed, that of the loan of 1885,
at face value of 100000.
In the pruning OF these OOnQS three I'M
pressions are required. The face Of a
bond is printed in black, the paper being
previously given a tint of the color in
which the back is printed. Several colors
are used. according to the face value Of
the bond. The back is printed, the tint
is put on the face. and then the face is
printed in black. The tint is for the
purpose of preventing the face value Of
the bonds being raised. In the event of
an erasure not only would the black ink
be removed, but the tint WELL leaving
the paper dead white and thus exposing
the fraud.
On an investment of $685. 600 Uncle
Sam produces an article the face value
of which is redeem
Four Hundred able at the gigantic
Per Cent Profit. 800 or very close
to four hundred times as much. 1t would
require more than 100 horses to haul the
annual output of money. while If that
amount were spread out it would cover
quarter of the entire District Of Colum-
bia During the process of manufacture
the money Is counted sixteen times. in
almost every instance by different people.
Taking the bureau Of engraving and