The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-10-06

hundred people being kept busy in n
great room where this part OF the
work is done. The ink, which is Spe-
cially prepared in the bureau under
the supervision Of an expert chemist,
is rolled all over the plate, filling in
the depressions as we'll as covering
the smooth surface of the plate. This
pigment is then rubbed Off with the
bare hand. leaving each line on the
plate carefully filled.
The plate is then placed on the
press. a damp sheet of paper is laid
upon it, and it passes under the roller.
and thus the design, with all its del
icate shading and details, is trans
ferred to the paper. This work re-
quireS a high degree of skill, and each
printer is allowed a young woman as
sistant. whose duty it is to place the
sheets on the plate and remove them
after the printing is completed.
Seasoning the Bills.
Next, the sheets go TO the drying
room, where the pa~rtly-finished bills
are allowed to remain at least fifteen
days to- season, except in such rush
times as at the beginning Of the war,
when two days is h extreme limit.
Then they are placed in the humidOrS
! and rewet, to prepare them for the
printers who will finish their work
by printing the faces.
This process is similar to the print
ing Of the backs. and is again follow
ed by drying. Then comes n Of the
most particular branches of the work,
the inspection by the special examin-
ers to see that every note is perfect,
and that there is no blemish Of any
kind. These experts, who are all wo-
men, handle from 35, 600 to 10000
sheets daily under ordinary condi-
tions; but while the emergency cur
rency is being hurried out they have
often run as high as IS, 900 and 10, 900
sheets per day.
About l per cent of the notes are
found imperfect, and are turned back
to the bureau Of loans and currency
for destruction. These sheets, how
ever, are all carefully accounted for
and washed clean of all ink before be-
ing placed in a huge macerator, where
they are ground into a pulp. The
government obtains an annual income
of about $4,000 through the sale Of
this pulp. which is used for making
papier mache Of a special kind.
From the hands Of the examiner:
the printed sheets go to the sizing
ROOM, where they are covered on botl
sides with a preparation Of ANNA
: glue and alum, which imparts to tn
l notes the criSpneSs which makes new
paper money so attractive. This alSt
serves as a shield for the ink, ant
adds many years to h life Of on,
: paper money. The notes are the
l baked in a room which is kept at
: temperature Of $50 degree, hardening
the glue.
S Then m the ironing. when tn
z sheets are passed between roller
t similar to those in the mills wher
: armor plate is made. They come GU
r as smooth as though polished. Nex
e the sheets are carefully trimmed, du
e allowance being made for the pOssibl
expansion or contraction which ma
o have taken place in the Wetting an
e drying Of the sheets.
h Numbering and Sealing.
# Now comes the final process whe
e the notes are numbered and sealed
this being done by the most intricat
e machine in the entire bureau. In tn
It case Of silver and gold certificate
the notes are cut apart on the sheet
o and wrapped in bundles Of 100 each
8 but with the bank notes, which forl
a the emergency currency, they are lie.
8, in their sheets of four n only c,
IN apart after they have been signed b
d the cashier and president of the inst
l. tuition for which they have beer il
sued.
m The work to be done ON the ban
Mt notes in this final process is rattle
he complicated, as each note must I
n stamped with it's number, with II
nuIIfOcI VI IL Ddlh Charter ana IL
letter Signifying what section Of tt
he country it is located in, as well as wit
IN the denomination numerals and Sc
of the Treasury.
mt One Of the most important depar
ne ments, however, has been left out, II
d, engraving division. Here, after IL
Ii plate itself has been made by the e
re perts, on d~ecarbonized steel, which
E. specially imported from London, it
hardened by a special secret process
This die, as it is called, goes to
skilled workman known as a tran
ferrer," who. using it as a negati1
-eS places the hard die in an extreme
lr- powerful press and transfers its pc
feet lines to a roll of soft decarbon-
ed steel. The engraving on the die +
to ing in intagliO, the soft steel roll
forced into every line and dot of t
die and. when a perfect impresSi
M has been secured, the beautiful e
his craving appears in relief on the st
pc face Of the roll.
mo- Th;~ ;S fhop hardened nv the Sac1