Year: 1877

the proud beauty gives herself away
she takes the flower wreath from her
hair, and throws it down to her lover,
promising to be his forever.


WHAT BECOMES OF OLD GREENBACKS.
A BOUT two years ago it was custom
IA airy to destroy the immense amount
of mutilated and dirty paper currency,
which was redeemed in new bills by the
Treasury Department in Washington by
burning il. This plan is now superseded
by much more effective and economi-
cal operation. A new sub-department
has been added to the Treasury called the
Macerating Department, and here the
literally filthy lucre is made into pulp
to be transformedinto clean, fresh paper.
In the first place the fractional currency
is subjected to most rigid scrutiny, and
counted for the purpose of detecting
counterfeits, and then Is turned over to
men who, with machine cancel each
note so effectually that by no possibility
could it ever be used again; another
count is then gone through with for the
purpose of checking the operators of the
machine, and preventing them from ap-
propriating any of the condemned mon
ey. After the canceling the money is
next cut in half, and once more the sep
arate halves are counted, when ascertain
ed to be all right are placed in boxes for
the purpose of removing them to the
macerating building before alluded to.
These boxes are securely locked while in
transit from the Treasury to the macera-
ting establishment, where they are open
ed in the presence of three representa-
tives of the Treasury, one acting in be-
half of the Secretary, another for the
Treasurer, and the last for the Register,
and each batch is usually accompanied
by quantity of bonds. From the boxes
the bonds, which are cut and cancelled
thoroughly, and the fractional currency
are emptied into the macerating cylinder,
which is also locked with three separate
respectively by the officers named above.
The process of macerating is very sim
pie. The macerating cylinder is revolv-
ed by a sixty horse power engine, and at
the same time jets of steam are injected
into it, which speedily soften the mass
of paper. The moistened paper by its
own gravity keeps dropping, and is re-
duced to a pulp by the sharp ridges
which form the inside of the cylinder.
After being subjected to the treatment
for about thirty-six hours, the cylinder
is unlocked by the three officials and the
pulp is then allowed to fall on an eleva-
tor, which conveys it to large tub,
where it is thoroughly cleansed, and all
fatty matter removed by the agency of
quicklime and soda.


The washing of the pulp completes the
process, and it is finally dumped in to
heap to lie until purchased Recently
about S4, 100000 worth of fractional cur
rency was placed in the macerator. This
was an unusually large batch, the aver
age burnings, as the macerations are
called, being much less. There is now
an immense quantity of the pulp on
hand, probably several hundred tons.
This viii be soldto paper manufacturers.
The rate usually paid for this pulp is in
the vicinity of So per ton, and the prin-
cipal purchaser manufactures from it a
very nice article of paper. An approxi-
mate estimate of the fractional currency
or bonds at this establishment is $50
TONS, The proceeds resulting from the
sale of this may be counted as net gain
over the old method, as the burning of
the money or bondsrequired the expend-
iture of as much labor as does the pres
ent macerating system, and consumed a
great deal more coal.


The National Bank notes are coverted
into pulp by the centrifugal process in
side the Treasury building, the method
adopted being almost in every respect
similar to that pursued with the frac-
tional currency and bonds, as described
above. The improvement on the burn
ing plan is too obvious to need extended
mention. Extraordinary precautions
were required TO keep the destroyed