bers on each bill are put on by these machines. Intense care is necessary in this work, to prevent mistakes, and each bill is critically examined to ascertain its correctness. If mistakes are discovered at once, they can be rectified; but the red ink soon hardens and becomes indelible. If the mistake is discovered too late to correct it, it is charged to the lady who made it. This has been found to be the only way to secure adequate care on the part of the numberers.

The last line of printing is received in the red number set at top and bottom; all that remains for the dollar, before starting on its journey into the wide, wide world, is to be divided from its brethren, that it may start alone. Thus the United States note sheet is carried into the separating and trimming room. This used to be done by scissors, and gave to women, I believe, their first work in the Treasury. This room is one of the largest and busiest in the Bureau, and second only to the printing-room in interest. The wheels, straps and pulleys reaching to the ceiling, with which its air is perforated, give it, at first glance, a complicated atmosphere, till the eyes rest upon the many ladies sitting serenely at work below.

This work being all clean, and some of it dainty in its character, the result is visible in the tasteful attire of the workers, whose snowy aprons and delicate ribbons are in direct contrast to the worn and soiled raiment of the weary sisterhood of the tubs, and the inky presses of the wetting and printing divisions. Part of the woman's work of this room is to needle the sheets, which must be done so accurately, that when hundreds together are laid in the cutting machine, the glittering blade will strike through a single line, not wavering a hair's width

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through two hundred sheets. The room is thronged with those little guillotines, whose gleaming blades are in constant execution. Each Treasury note sheet which passes under them is cut into four notes at once, each sliding down, correctly sorted, into its own little box waiting below. Excepting the fractional currency cutters, all these exquisite machines are worked by ladies, who manipulate them with unerring accuracy.

In this Bureau but one more thing remains for our dollar, that it should be laid "in its little bed," before it goes down to the Treasurer. This is speedily done, and its bed is a very dainty affair,-a pretty box, made in an adjoining room by pretty hands; and pretty hands lay our dollar away; indeed dollar on dollar, so many in a box, which shuts them in-fair, tempting, tantalizing-out of sight, to await the call of the Treasurer and the mandate of Uncle Samuel.

There are fourteen divisions in the Printing and Engraving Bureau. Yet it is its unyielding rule that not a sheet of paper can pass from the hands of one superintendent to his operatives without a verified count and a written receipt, which is made a permanent record in a book kept for the purpose. At the close of each day's labor, the operatives in every room report to its superintendent, before they leave the building, how much paper they have received, how much finished, returning the balance. The superintendent of each room makes a report, on a printed form, at the end of each day, showing the amount of paper received, delivered up to the morning, through the day, the amount delivered that day, the amount on hand. This report is delivered to the Chief of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and a duplicate sent to the

Secretary. From these reports the Secretary compiles his report of the work of the entire Bureau, which must correspond with the report made by the Chief of the Bureau.

When any given issue of notes or bonds is completed, the Secretary of the Treasury holds a report, which is a complete history of the issue through all its stages of growth, from beginning to end. The test of the utter thoroughness of this system, is that every note printed in this department from its beginning, if returned to superintendents, could be traced, through every stage, back to blank paper; the books showing the date of its arrival, and by whom it was printed, sealed, numbered, separated, and delivered to the Treasurer of the United States.

The system of checks used by the Bureau of Printing and Engraving is so perfect that it is almost impossible for the Government to lose a fraction from it. The paper is registered at the mills-every sheet accounted for. Every sheet manufactured is accounted for every day. To perfect a fraudulent issue, there would have to be a universal collusion between all the superintendents of all the divisions and all the operatives, and between the superintendents and operatives. Several high officers of the Printing Bureau are appointed by the Secretary, independent of the Chief of the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, which is another security against danger. These are but a part of the safeguards within which the United States Treasury holds its dollars.

Mr. McCartee, the present Chief of the Bureau of Printing and Engraving of the United States Treasury, is so utterly the master of the momentous machinery

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which he "runs," that you cannot ask him a question concerning the labor in detail of his eleven hundred employés, that he cannot answer more perfectly than the person doing the work.

Beside his own practical knowledge of the business committed to his charge in minutiæ, he employs only men trained from their youth up in the art of plate engraving, to perform the skilled labor, or to superintend the divisions of this most important Governmental Bureau. The responsibilities and mental anxieties of its chief are so inexorable, that he must be at his post by a little past seven in the morning, and remain till five P. M. He must return about seven P. M., and remain until ten at night. Often the wheels and presses, and patient hands of this department, go from day to day to be able to meet the enormous demand of the country upon its resources. No added comment is necessary to prove how honorable is its lowliest toil, or how indispensable to its chief are the highest mental and moral qualities.

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE LAST DAYS OF A DOLLAR.

The Division of Issues-Ready for the World-Starting Right-Forty Busy Maids and Matrons-Counting Out the Money-Human Machines-A Lady Counting for a Dozen Years-Fifty Thousand Notes in a DayCounting Four Thousand Notes in Twenty Minutes-Travelling on Behalf of Uncle Sam--In Need of a Looking-Over-" Detailed" for the Work-What has Passed Through Some Fingers-Big Figures-Packing Away the Dollars-The Cash Division-The Marble Cash-Room-The Great Iron Vault-Where Uncle Sam Keeps His Money--Some Nice Little Packages-Taking it Coolly-One Hundred Millions of Dollars in Hand-Some Little White Bags-The Gold Taken from the Banks of Richmond-Anxious to Get Their Money Back-A Little Difficulty-Nọt yet" Charged"-A Distinction without a Difference-Charming VarietyA Nice Little Hoard-Five Hundred Millions Stored Away-The Secret of the Locks-The Hydraulic Elevator-Sending the Money off-How the Money is Transported-Begrimed, Demoralized, and DespoiledWhere is our Pretty Dollar?-The Redemption Division--Counting Mutilated Currency-Women at Work--Sorting Old Greenbacks-Three Hundred Counterfeit Dollars Daily--Detecting Bad Notes-" Short," “Over,” and “Counterfcit "--Difficulty of Counterfeiting Fresh Notes -Vast Amounts Sent for Redemption-Thirty-one Million Dollars in One Year The Assistant Treasurer at New York-The Cancelling Room-The Counter's Report--The Bundle in a Box-Awkward Responsibility" Punching" Old Dollars-They are Chopped in Two-Paying for Mistakes-The Funeral of the Dollar-The Burning, Fiery Furnace "The Burning Committee "-What They Burn Every Other Day→→→ The End of the Dollar.

FO

OLLOWING our dollar, we come this soft summer morning to the Division of Issues. It is in the Treasurer's Bureau, and here, crisp, new and ready for its adventures, our dollar has arrived. The fate that may