Beside his own practical knowledge of the business committed to his charge in minutiæ, he employs only men trained from their youth up in the art of plate engraving, to perform the skilled labor, or to superintend the divisions of this most important Governmental Bureau. The responsibilities and mental anxieties of its chief are so inexorable, that he must be at his post by a little past seven in the morning, and remain till five P. M. He must return about seven P. M., and remain until ten at night. Often the wheels and presses, and patient hands of this department, go from day to day to be able to meet the enormous demand of the country upon its resources. No added comment is necessary to prove how honorable is its lowliest toil, or how indispensable to its chief are the highest mental and moral qualities. CHAPTER XXXII. THE LAST DAYS OF A DOLLAR. The Division of Issues—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—Travelling on Behalf of Uncle Sam—In Need of a Looking-Over—“Detailed” for the Work—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—Anxious to Get Their Money Back—A Little Difficulty—Not yet “Charged”—A Distinction without a Difference—Charming Variety—A Nice Little Hoard—Five Hundred Millions Stored Away—The Secret of the Locks—The Hydraulic Elevator—Sending the Money off—How the Money is Transported—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—They are Chopped in Two—Paying for Mistakes—The Funeral of the Dollar—The Burning, Fiery Furnace—“The Burning Committee”—What They Burn Every Other Day—The End of the Dollar.