=89. Bank Note Engravers.= "Steel engraving was first practised in England by the calico printers; but it was first employed for bank notes and for common designs by Jacob Perkins, of Newburyport, Mass." The American Bank Note Company, New York, employ about sixty girls, forty-seven of whom are engaged in printing or making impressions; the others in drying, assorting, and laying together the sheets to be placed under a hydraulic press. It requires but a few weeks to learn the part done by girls. Some are paid $3 and some $3.50 per week. They are mostly American girls. A lady told me that she heard a girl, who had been employed to cut up bank notes (done with scissors), say she often earned $9 a week. The company pay a boy $3 a week from commencement until through his apprenticeship, which is usually four or five years. Here a man can earn $100 a week, if a first-class bank note engraver; but in England not more than $10 or $12. There, however, paper money is but little used; a £5 note being the smallest in value. Bank note engraving is both mechanical and artistic. At the office of the National Bank Note Company, a gentleman showed me the various processes. He had often thought ladies would do well to learn bank note engraving. I saw two or three gentlemen engraving. The process is simple, but requires a good deal of patience and practice. Their girls are employed to place the sheet for an impression under a roller, and, after the impression is made, remove it. Some receive $3, and some $3.50 a week. It is dirty work, on account of the oil and ink used. Their girls wash every evening the blankets used on the cylinders. Bank-note engravers of the first order receive a salary of $4,000. Some receive from $2,000 to $3,000 per annum. Bank note engravers work but eight hours a day. Mr. M. thinks there would not be much difficulty, if a lady wanted to learn bank note engraving, from the prejudices of men, for some of them are not only just but generous. One of the gentlemen engraving knew several ladies in England that were bank note engravers.
=90. Card Engravers.= I was told by a card engraver that it was not usual to pay a learner anything. He gives his apprentice only his board the first year. A card engraver may draw letters well, and not be able to write well, and _vice versa_. One should be steady and patient to draw and form letters, and possess some natural taste, to succeed. It requires also much practice. A card engraver can earn $5 a day, if he is industrious, and has sufficient work. A journeyman is paid in proportion to his abilities, from $5 to $25 per week. Some card engravers earn $2,000 a year, clear of all expenses. The older a city, the more engraving is done. In Europe, first-class merchants never use type cards, but engraved ones.
