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 XXXII.

Chapter 32199 wordsPublic domain

THE LAST DAYS OF A DOLLAR.

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 Day—Counting Four Thousand Notes in Twenty Minutes—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—A Distinction Without a Difference—The Secret of the Locks—The Hydraulic Elevator—Sending the Money off—Begrimed, Demoralized, and Despoiled—Where 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 “Counterfeit”—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—The Funeral of the Dollar—The Burning, Fiery Furnace—The End of the Dollar, 326