"Yes, sir."
"Good! What were some of the places you visited?"
Again the lad regarded his conductor curiously.
What had his trip to Washington to do with the decoration of china, he
wondered.
"Oh, I went to the Capitol, of course," he answered, "and to the White
House, and the Congressional Library; then Dad took me to the
Smithsonian Institute and to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, and
----"
"Stop!" cried Mr. Marwood. "I now have found out exactly what I wished
to know. So you have seen bank notes engraved?"
"Yes, sir."
"You remember then how the design is cut on a copper or steel plate?"
"Yes, indeed," came promptly from Theo.
"I am very glad of that, for it is precisely this method we use when
we print designs on china. The difference is that the designs on our
money are printed in ink, and those we transfer to our porcelain are
done with mineral colors; nor are our plates so finely made. However,
the idea underlying the processes is identical. The color is applied
to the metal plate, and what is not retained in the engraved
depressions of the design is carefully scraped away. Then on a kind of
paper expressly prepared for the purpose the picture is made, and
while it is moist it is placed against the ware and rubbed in with a
piece of soft flannel.
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