BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING. ORGANIZATION AND HISTORY OF THE BUREAU. During the administration of Mr. Secretary Chase, in February, 1862, the first step was made toward the organization of this Bureau. The public issues at that time were printed by private corporations in New York City, and from there forwarded to Washington for signature by the proper officers. This mode of preparing the public securities was soon found to be impracticable as well as insecure, and the Secretary was authorized by Congress to have the seal of the Treasury Department, together with the engraved signatures of the Treasurer of the United States and the Register of the Treasury imprinted thereon, under his immediate supervision, in the Treasury Department, and a sum sufficient to procure the necessary machinery was appropriated. Mr. Spencer M. Clark, of Connecticut, was placed in charge, and under his management the organization of the Bureau was carried forward; and as the needs of the public service became manifest inventions were made which enabled much of the work to be done in a more economical and rapid manner. Urged by the considerations of security and economy, in June, 1862, the requisite authority was given by Congress to have the entire mechanical work upon the public securities done under official oversight, and since that time a very large portion of the work on these securities has been done in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in the Treas ury Department. Mr. George B. McCartee, of New York, in 1869, succeeded Mr. Clark, and continued in charge of the Bureau until February, 1876, when Mr. Henry C. Jewell, the present incumbent, was appointed chief. CATALOGUE OF EXHIBITS AT INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1876. Exhibit No. 1.—The large frame to the right on entering contained proof specimens of various public securities, checks, &c., which had been entirely prepared in the Bureau. In the center of the frame was placed the medal awarded to the Bureau by the Emperor of AustriaHungary for the excellence of the engravings exhibited by it at the International Exposition in Vienna in 1873. Exhibit No. 2.-The large frame to the left contained a proof-copy of the Centennial certificate of stock; also specimens of lettering produced by a process invented by Mr. G. W. Casilear of the Bureau. The peculiarity of the process is, that after an alphabet of any kind has been once engraved and properly transferred in relief upon rolls the letters can be indefinitely reproduced by pressure upon steel plates, and in a much shorter time than by the process of successively engraving them. Exhibit No. 3.-The frame in the center contained proof-specimens of various Government issues, and a proof of the $10,000 United States funded loan bond, with coupons and other engraved work; also portraits and vignettes. Exhibit No. 4.-The frame at the right end contained various vignettes and portraits of public men, with proof-specimens of bank notes, &c. This frame was exhibited at the Exposition in Vienna in 1873, and the medal above mentioned was awarded therefor. Exhibit No. 5.-The frame at the left end contained specimens of the distinctive paper manufactured under the supervision of the United States Government at Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, by Messrs. James M. Willcox & Co., and which is used solely for the public securities; also impressions of one dollar United States notes, showing in detail the successive printings, &c., which, combined, make the perfect note. |