The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1914-12-24
Late Inventions and Appliances
GUARDE!G PAPER FOR MONEY.

.
N constructing the new building for
4 the United States Bureau of En-
craving and Printing in Washington,
provision has been made for recrea-
ton space for the employees on the
roof, where it is planned to provide
comfortable seats, luncheon tables,
etc., as well as space for promenades
and games.
These provisions are necessitated
because of the rule prohibiting en-
ployes from leaving the building or
even entering the public parts Of 1t
between their arrival at work in the
morning and their departure in the
evening. This rule Is only one of
the many precautions the Govern
ment employs to prevent the theft or
accidental loss, not only of paper
money, which Is manufactured at the
bureau, but also of the special bank
paper upon which money Is printed.
This paper is so valuable that the
plain white sheets are counted, re-
counted, checked, sealed and ac-
counted for just as If they were
money. Without a scratch or line
upon its white surface, the very pos
session of a single sheet of this paper
renders II liable to a fine Of $4,000,
or to Imprisonment for five years,
or to both fine and imprisonment.
Made in but one mill, at Dalton,
Mass, by a secret process, and under
the strict supervision of Government
inspectors throughout the entire proc
ess OF manufacture, every precaution
Is adopted to prevent a single sheet
from falling into the hands of unau-
thorized persons, who might use 1t
illegally.
Until impressed by the engravings
that convert them into money, these
sheets are simply high-grade bond
paper. Nothing but pure linen rags
Is used in its manufacture, and these
rags are fresh, new and undyed. They
are clippings from linen used in the
manufacture of shirts, collars, lin
gerie, and such articles. Being pure
white, no bleaching is necessary, and
the fibers are spared the action of
strong chemicals.
The rags are washed in flowing
warm water until every trace of
starch, size and filler is removed.
They are then placed in a steam cook
err, or digester, where they are boiled
for a long time, and then pounded
or beaten until they are reduced to a
pulp. This pulp is then stored in
filters from which the water drains
off. From this pile of long-fber pulp
a sufficient amount Is taken for the
days work, put in grinding machines,
where, mixed with pure water, the
pulp is reduced to a uniform consis-
about 80 per cent water to 10 per
cent fiber.
Thus far the manufacture Of bank
note paper follows the accepted
methods for the manufacture of any
high-grade bond paper. At this point,
however, begin the secret m~anipula-
tons which increase its wearing quail
tiles and incorporate the silk fibers,
red and blue, which are characteris-
tic of American paper money. The
method by which these fibers are in
c%orporated into the texture Of the
paper is one of the most carefully
guarded secrets, known only to a
very few trusted and bonded en-
ployes Of the manufacturer and the
Government officials in charge of the
work. There are two stripes, or
bands, of silk fiber. so placed in the
pulp, at some stage Of the process
of manufacture, that all bank notes
cut from the sheet will contain an
approximately equal number Of these
distinctive markings, so disposed as
to fall principally on the portions of
the note not covered by engraving.
In their finished condition, the
sheets, which are SA by 1871 inches
in size, just large enough for four
bills to be printed upon n sheet,
are counted by employees of the mill
and then a check count is taken by a
force of counters of the Treasury De-
partment located at the mill. A
thousand sheets are then counted,
checked and placed in a package
which Is sealed with the Government
seal, which is not broken until the
package is delivered to the Bureau Of
Engraving and Printing. when the
paper is again counted before any
unpk 10 done mon II.