Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-12-19

Gu VI flcil dulO-
NV matically vision Pittsburgh
or Detroit or Bridgeport,
and yet right here in Wash
ington we have three outstanding in
dustrIal plants that, for importance
of service rendered. are not matched
anywhere else in the world-the Blu
reau of Engraving and Printing and
the Government Printing Office. which
stand peerless as the largest printing
establishments in the world, and the
Naval Gun Factory, at the Washing
ton Navy Yard. which IS the Nays
unique plant turning out intricate
mechanism for the Nations defense.
These three plants. employing more
than 10000 persons, show that while
the National Capital is not an indus
| trial city in which the atmosphere Is
| beclouded with smoke and beautiful
buildings and monuments thereby de-
| faced. and though we are free from
| the shame Of attenuated and enact
ated and pinched features Of prema-
| turely old child laborers, we do have
here the highest class Of mechanical
labor, skilled artisans, doing superior
work.
! For size. number OF employees and
value Of output, the Bureau of En-
craving and Printing is the worlds
premier printing establishment. Its
1 DIO0uCL AS Ilc6OIldOl0 paper
| of high monetary value. There are
| 5.151 employees. representing % trades,
which run the range from the ordi-
nary mechanic, such as a bricklayer,
plumber and gasf1tter, to those in
which a small number of especially
clever craftsmen are employed, such
as plate printers. transferers and en-
gravers.
Under Expert Management.
II is not generally known that 90
per cent Of the bank note engravers Of
the world are employed in this one
Washington plant, so per cent of the
transferers and 20 per cent of the
plate printers. Right here 1t should
be emphasized that this great indus
trial plant is under expert manage
ment, for, while A. W. Hall, the direc-
tor. is not technical man, he has
at least two Of his assistants who
came up from the ranks Of mechan-
ical labor.
John J. Deviny, who is in charge of
production, entered the bureau as an
apprentice. He scraped out ink buck
cts and washed rags, and gradually
worked his way up. He has been
honored by being elected international
president of the Printing Plant Execu-
tives' Association of the World-the
OIIICC III ilAo t1ii- VI
work.
Another assistant director is H.
Preston Dawson, practical engraver,
who was formerly superintendent of
the engraving division and who has
spent his lifetime in the business and
is now in charge Of service.
Such administrative officers have
proved to be inspirational to EN-.
ployes, besides getting most efficient
service from the plant. because every
one. all up and down the line, knows
the business from the ground up.
The paper money turned out by the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing is
the best in the world. There is less
of it counterfeited than any other
paper money. Also. we have more
paper money in circulation in Amer
lea than in any other country. All OF
this is attributable to the excellence of
the product-due to the process and
to the skill of the craftsmen who APP
ply the process.
The work of the bureaus engravers
Is so delicate, and with the cream of
the craft employed there, that out
side efforts to duplicate the work are
so clumsy in comparison as to be
soon detected as counterfeit. Most of
the attempts to counterfeit are photo
mechanical. 1t Is difficult to reproduce
the steel plate fntaglio process of en-
| craving and printing by photo-me-
chanical means. 1t is inadequate for
reproduction purposes.
Various Types Employed.
| In the making of the original die
| from which steel plates are made diff
ferent types Of engraverS are employ
| ed, no one of whom is competent to
match the work of the other crafts
men. One makes the portrait. another
| the block lettering, another the scroll
work, another the signatures. So the
net result is that the face of a dollar
bill represents the highly specialized
work of some half dozen expert en-
gravers, and there is no one engraver,
even in this Federal bureau, who has
the skill 10 reproduce one of these
bills.
! In addition to our own supply of
paper money, it may be interesting to
note that 81 per cent of all the paper
money used in other countries is made
| in the United States in private con-
Germs. With the cream of the craft
employed in the Bureau of Engraving
| and Printing, it can be readily seen
why our paper money Is the best in
, all civilization.
Again, in the matter of ink Is en-
| pha sized the superiority of this plants
product. 1t makes the ink it uses and
| it uses the stupendouS- amount of So
| tons a week. 1t has to have peculiar
| properties, which cause 1t to stand in
i relief from the paper, thus producing
a cameo impression. 1t must have
qualities that render it immune to
| water, so that 1t will not blur when
wet. In other words, it must be of an
outstanding, permanent, lasting char
acter.
In other supplies, as in the matter
Of ink, the Bureau of Engraving and
Printing is almost entirely self-sus-
tanning. This has to be so, because
IL there was any temporary suspen-
sion of the Bureaus production, due
to failure to receive needed supplies, it
would have very serious and adverse
effect on the financial business of the
country.
Probably the greatest portrait en-
graver who ever lived devoted his ex-
traordinary talents to Identification
Of the currency of the United States.
This was the late F. c. Smillie. An
other portrait engraver of surprising
ability was the late Lorenzo Hatch.
Women Also Engaged
About 5000 women are giving Uncle
Sam very skillful and efficient service /
in the Bureau of Engraving and Print |
ing, as counters and examiners, ham,
ding money, postage stamps and
other money-value paper. Women are
also skillfully engaged in the actual |
work Of making money as plate print !
ers' assistants.
There Is growing knowledge |
among the public about this intensely
interesting Government Industrial |
plant, due to the fact that people from |
all over the Union are now visiting the |
money printery at the rate of 2S5. 900 |
q year. There are now more visitors |