Chapter XXXII: 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