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Show FAIR COUNTERFEIT DETECTORS. The Most Expert in the Country. Poison Absorbed in Handling. , Washington Letter. There is a veryjarge amount of counterfeit coun-terfeit paper afloaf, and some of it finds its way to the Treasury, when it is discovered discov-ered in the redemption division. It is here that all the money sent in from outside out-side sources is counted and examined. The counting and sorting are done by ladies, and they are the most expert in tho country. They can tell a counterfeit instinctively, with eyes open or shut, and there is not a bank cashier in the United States, or even among the large contingent contin-gent now sojourning in Canada, who could compete with them in the matter of determining counterfeits. They can tell a spurious bill as far as they can see it, and the mere handling of the paper i3 enough for them to decide upon its genuineness. genu-ineness. The silk paper upon which treasury notes are printed can only be made by expensive machinery, and it is a felony to even manufacture the blank paper without due authority. Under the circumstances cir-cumstances all counterfeits are printed upon inferior paper, which lends this great facility in the matter of detection. These female experts receive $75 per month for their services. "They do nothing but count from 9 in the morning until 4 iii the afternoon, and their-hands move with a rapidity seldom acquired by the most expert bank clerks. But they make no mistakes. A miscount or a counterfeit overlooked comes out of the wages of the one making the error, and two or three mistakes a month would wipe out a girl's salary, as some of the bills, handled are very large. The great drawback of the position is the poison absorbed by the continuous handling of money. The backs of all i treasury notes are printed with a pigment which consists chiefly of Paris green. Small particles of this substance are absorbed, ab-sorbed, and in a year or two the girl who may have entered the Treasury smooth-skinned smooth-skinned and healthy finds herself a victim vic-tim of lassitude, and with her hands and face broken out in malignant sores. Each employe is furnished with a sponge to moisten the fingers while counting. A new one is supplied every morning, and by evening its color will have changed to a dull black by the action of the poison. Notwithstanding this drawback there is never any difficulty in filling vacancies. |