Ten Years in Washington or, Inside Life and Scenes in Our National Capital as a Woman Sees Them ... to Which Is Added a Full Account of the Life and Death of President James A. Garfield

CHAPTER XXXI.

Chapter 31171 wordsPublic domain

THE WORKERS IN THE TREASURY—HOW THE MONEY IS MADE.

The Dollar with the Counters—In the Tubs—Getting a Wetting—Servants of Necessity—That Scorching Roof—Brown Paper Bonnets—A State of Dampness—Squaring Accounts—Superintending the Work—The Face-printing Division—The United States “Sealer”—Printing Cigar-Stamps and Gold-Notes of Many Colors—With a Begrimed Face—The Fiery Little Brazier—What the Man Does—The Woman’s Work—The Automatic Register—An Observer Without a Soul—Our Damp Little Dollar—The Drying Room—The First Wrinkles—Looking Wizened and Old—Rejuvenating a Dollar—Underneath Two Hundred and Forty Tons—Smooth and Polished—Precious to the Touch—A Virgin Dollar—The “Sealer” at Work—Mutilated Paper—What the Women are paid—The Surface-Sealing Division—Seal Printing—The Aristocratic Green Seal—The Numbering Division—Dividing the Dollars—Snowy Aprons and Delicate Ribbons—Needling the Sheet—A Blade that Does not Fail—Sorting the Notes—The Manipulation of the Ladies—The Dollar “In its Little Bed”—Dollar on Dollar—“Awaiting the Final Call,” 317