Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-10-13

The stencil can then be used to print
his name on his interest checks, to
register his account on the index caro-.
and to pay the principal when 1t be.
comes due. 1t Is used for leaves. proof
nected with the bond. The addresso-'
graph machines are forty in number.
and each can turn out thousands OF
addresses a day. The saving accom-
pllshed by such methods Is enormous.
On the 18th of last June the treasury treasury
checks for the registered bonds Of the
first two loans. They numbered 415,o00
and the third liberty loan has so IN
creased this number that the checks
of each interest period will be more
than one million. According to the old
system of issuing checks the cost
was about nine cents per check TOT
each Individual bond owner. Now the
cost Is only three-fourths or one
cent per check, and the arrangement
is such that the name or ADDRESS can
be changed three times without ad-
ditional cost.
During my visit to the several
branches of the Treasury Department.
connected with the liberty loan nave
gone through vault after vault where
are stored in great quantities. In the
bureau Of engraving and printing
everything is guarded in the process
of making, and there are vaults OF
chilled steel protected by time locks
Of intricate workmanship IN when
bonds are printed are kept. This
vault is built like a watch and its
door is wonder of intricate mech
anism. That bureau has vaults also
for storing the bonds before they go
out to the people.
In the Treasury Department itself
there is a catacomb Of vaults Of one
kind or another and the bookkeeping
branch has little vault on the same
floor where most of the account keep
Mr.. McGroarty. Its interior is walled
with pine shelves filled with packages
of government securities now in the
process Of handling. AS /! looked l
was told that the value before me
enae only % o. IN
lifted up package and asked me to
hold it. The package was as big as
a shoe box and it did not weigh more
than five pounds. looked down at
the tag fastened to 1t ana saw ahae
Of s10,OOO,0OO. The bonds were those
of the third liberty loan and the in
terest upon them would be $425,ooO
per annum. or almost $1,000 day
year in and year out It was right
mandment. but saved myself re-
garding the Eighth and gave 1t back
with sigh.
Later on we went down to tho
basement, where went through
vaults containing amounts to which
those overhead were as nothing. Of
remember one room walled with steel
and divided up into sections by net
work of steel rods. The room was
thirteen steps long. seventeen steps
wide and three times as high as my
head, and 1t was chock -full of the
bonds of the liberty loan. The securi-
ties. it seemed to me. were thrown
about in the most casual way. Around
the walls were shelves containing
packages Of bonds, each representing
millions Of dollars, and inside the
network similar packages were piled
UP much like the bales OF cotton IN
one Of the great warehouses OF the
south. On the floor were mai! SACKS
which bulged out with bonds and
everything looked to me to be in con-
fusion.
was shown, however, that every
sack bore its tag and number. and
upon test the Keepers were aple
to pick out any package OF bonds
on short notice and to tell at a glance
where anything was.
The bonds sent out through the mails
go in pouches so numbered that any
tampering with a pouch will destroy
the number upon it and receipts are
given which show what the exact
number on the pouch should be when
it arrives. Advices as to the bonds
mailed are sent apart from the bonds
themselves, and the safeguards are
such that in all this enormous busi-
ness not one bond has been lost while
in government hands. When one re-
members that almost 20,OO0,0OO cou-
pom bonds were sent out for the sin
gle issue Of the third liberty loan
and that the registered bonds OF that
loan amounted to hundreds of thou
sands he can appreciate what this
~ FRANK G. CARPENTER.
Gloom.