Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1913-11-01
Fate Of Those Used In Printing
Our Money and Stamps.
ALL ARE JEALOUSY GUARDED

denominations Of currency issued t.
national banks, are printed from en-
graved plates in the bureau of engrav
Ing and printing at Washington.
/ The original dies are never destroy
ed. BY a. system Of transferring thu
impression or design Is passed from
the die to a soft steel roll. which h
later hardened. A hundred plates cur
be produced from one hard steel roll.
All of this engraved work receives
the same supervision and Is accounted
for just rs accurately as the securities
that are printed therefrom. Every
morning the plates are issued to the
various printing divisions Of the bu
reau. and In the evening. when the
days work Is over. they are returned
to the vaults OF the custodian Of dies
rolls and plates, where they are count.
ed. checked and locked up with time
locks.
After approximately $4,000 impress.
sions are printed from steel plate Il
becomes useless as far as Its original
purpose ID concerned. The delicately
engraved lines and geometric lathe
work become worn. and the portrait
loses its detail. When the plate be-
comes SO affected as to render II unit
for further satisfactory printing du-
pllcate Is ordered to be made for
printing future orders from the treas
ury department The old plate is then
Cancelled and laid aside. subsequently
to be destroyed.
This destruction. or. rather. trans
formation. takes place just after the
1st Of January each year under the d.
rection Of committee appointed by
the secretary Of the treasury composed
OF three persons. one of whom repre-
SCENTS the secretary and acts as chair
man. another the commissioner Of in
ternal revenue and the third looking
after the interests of the comptroller
of the currency.
Under instructions from the depart
ment the committee makes schedule
in duplicate Of oil the Cancelled mate
rial. the original list being retained by
the committee to form part Of its re-
port to the secretary and the duplicate
placed inside the box In which the
plates are to be packed. The boxes
are made to hold an average of 1850
pounds EACH As each box Is filed the
cover Is nailed on and the box mum.
bered and sealed with the treasury
seal. The sealed boxes are then stored
In the vaults Of the bureau until such
time as is convenient for their convey
ance to the place Of destruction.
The committee recently reported to
the secretary Of the treasury the de
struction Of 1925 pieces, weighing
41.8lO pounds-over twenty tons with
drawn from the vaults. To convey
this vast amount Of metal required the
services Of eight laborers and team
of draft horses attached to one of the
huge money wagons of the bureau.
making eight trips to the United States
navy yard, where the cremation takes
place In the FOUNDRY.
On arriving at its destination the
committee directs the unloading. The
boxes are removed from the wagon on
to hand trucks and taken by elevator
up to the door level Of the cupola door
The boxes are here opened. the carbon
duplicate schedule removed and the
plates again counted and checked as
they are cast into the furnace.
From the time the plates are taken
from the vaults Of the custodian until
the last one Is thrown into the fire they
are under the watchful eyes Of the
members Of the committee, who see
that none goes astray, for II one or two
Of these plates should fall into illegiti |
mate hands and later be put to i'm
proper use It would probably cause.
embarrassment to the gov
ernment.
In order to ascertain whether the de |
structiOn has been complete, the com
mittee must wait until all the melted
steel Is drawn from the furnace and |
the cupola opened and cooled. The
melted steel is poured into molds GOV
ering a great variety of castings that
eventually find their way to the arma
ment Of our modern battleships.
1t may be yoke for an eight inch
gun weighing three or four tons. or II
nay be some minor casting for tor
Dedo tube II Ii not beyond the range
# possibility that the officer who sights
me Of the immense fourteen inch rides
nay have IN bis pocket at the time
tote of some denomination printed
rom steel money plate that has de
'eloped by a series Of evolutions into
,art Of the very gun he II adjusting to
vrenk destruction upon any object In
he path Of its flying projectile
What appears to be waste In one
Of the government thus be
zones a valuable asset In another
aew York Times
The Modern polonius.
my son. be polite until you have &C.