Here the ingots are spread out .. then carried to where they are rolled thin ..

And here the small blanks are polished to make them fit for striking ..

Mr. Najm Zoghaib operates the automatic coin counter .. after they are struck ... into the bags ..

In every bag, a thousand pieces .. under the supervision of the delegates of the Ministry of Finance ..

Only a few days will pass before the contents of these bags are in my hands and in yours ... They are all but leaving the walls of the "Eastern Company for Precious Metals" to become the property of the state and of the people, and to record, for the first time in Lebanon, that our currency is being struck in a national factory — the first factory of its kind in the Arab world.

Try to visit it .. It is in Jdeideh, here close by you; and if you cannot get in, because of the demands of the work, then turn back to reading The Woman's Voice — it will give you a picture, complete in every line, of this factory. You will hear whispers — do not repeat them, and do not let them disfigure this beautiful picture of industry in our country; it is as if it were decreed for us that no great door should ever open in this land without foul odors rising up behind it.

Six years ago

Mr. Najm Zoghaib is the manager of the factory, which is owned by Messrs. Joseph and Michel Doumit. Mr. Zoghaib talked with us, leaving some of our questions without answers and answering questions we had never uttered.

The factory was