The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-14 00:00:00

TIIE SUN. LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 14, 18M.

Fluter mixings, which gave him the idea of

its non-conducting powers, and the sugges-
tion of its value for fire-proof lining. About

he .same time this discovery was made in

New York, and the inventor filled with the
plaster the safe he used—the first thus con-
structed--and now, as a curiosity, retained in one of
the stores of Messrs. Herring, Farrel, and Sherman.

For many years plaster of Paris held sway. But
though well adapted as a protection against fire,

experience proved that while in one way preserving
the papers it destroyed them in another. The

calcined plaster was of no use as a fire-proof
cement unless mixed with water, while the
damp compound, when thus mixed, moulded
and destroyed books and papers. Without
the water the plaster-of-Paris was no better than
sand against fire ; with the water it intrcduced a
sure process of destruction against an uncertain one,
not only rotting the papers, but rusting the iron be-
tween which it was confined. The Wilder patent of
1843 was brought to the perfection attainable, in the

hands of Silas C. Herring. But it was clear that
another fire-proof filling was necessary, and large
rewards were offered by the firm for the invention

of a better material.

The Crofton water-safes

were then proposed, by which water was let on

either by the burning of a string or the melting of
a soft cement fawcet on the approach of heat.
Alum and clay were recommended, the old water
theory to produce steam being adhered to. But

he firm saw that such contrivances did not meet

the requirements. Water, under certain circum-
stances, but feeds the flames, and it was seen that
it was not the quantity of moisture, but the quality
which holds peculiar moisture the longest that was

required. "It was well known that the production
of certain atmospheres are antagonistic to heat,
and in the presence of some gases no flame can
live. The production of the Herring patent com-
position demonstrated that though it did not
secrete so much moisture, yet it was more
slowly evaporated or driven out by fire
than any other compound heretofore known, and

the more recent improvements which we have
secured by patents during the past two years have
proved that a fireproof filling for safes is produced
_ _

that is perfectly dry and unchangeable until the
fire attacks it, which will not damp or mould books
and papers, will not corrode or rust the iron of the
safe, and does not dry out or lose any of its fire-
proof qualities from evaporation in a warm room.
In place of boiling at 212 dega., the boiling point
of water, its fumes are noticeable at the red heat of
iron (1,000 deg.), and our fire-proof lining being a
double sulphate, produces an•atmosphere in which
so long as it lasts no flame can exist." This filling,
though dry as flour when put in, fuses into a com-
pact mass on subjection to a hot fire without losing
bulk or leaving large holes or cracks like other
composition. Thus it adds to the security,
for as the fire progresses, the lining becomes
a solid firm mass, which immensely strengthens
the safe and fits it to endure the next great
ordeal, which it finds when it is precipitated

from the story on which it stands into the
cellar amid the falling ruin of iron girders,
beams, and huge stones, whose blows it then has to
resist. Silas C. Herring's attention was first at-

tracted to the manufacture of safes in 1840 by a
great fire which then broke out at the foot of the
Wall-street, New York. The leading fire-proof
chests were then all destroyed except the newly-
introduced Salamander, which was at least so far
successful as to carry off the palm of victory.
"Previous to his embarking in the enterprise the
history, of the Salamander had been one of misfor-
tune, owing to the want of means and ability of
those having it in charge, and the natural slowness
of the public to encourage new productions. The
destruction wrought by the Coffee House Slip fire
demonstrated the insecurity of what were then
termed safes, and induced the public better to receive
the efforts made to introduce a more efficient con-
struction. When Mr. Herring commenced, his stock
of safes was stored in a little room 20 by 40 feet, each
ranging in value from $4O to $250. This building
was turned into the manufaetory—the basement being
the blacksmith's shop, or forge and filling room.
The first floor was the sales and safe room, the two
upper storeys were occupied by the iron workers,
who cat the iron and framed the safes, and the one
solitary blacksmith, who could furnish all the locks
as fast as the safes were ready for them. It was
not till 1845, a year of great fires, that the value of
his work came prominently before the public. The
offices of the Tribune and 400 buildings were
destroyed in the City of New York on the 19th
July, when from £1,500,000 to £2,000,000 sterling
worth of property was consumed. From the midst
of the ruins of the Tribune establishment the Her-
ring's Safe was taken, where it had lain red hot for
36 hours in its fiery bed, when, to the astonishment
of all beholders, the contents were extracted unin-
jured. From a merchant's office one of these patent
safes was taken after an exposure of 60 hours in the
same way, every line of the books being perfectly
legible. These, with numerous other instances, at
once stamped with the seal of security the Patent
Safes manufactured by the firm, while the
old-fashioned fireproofs were false to their profes-
sions, and even solid vaults of stone and brick
yielded to the fiery adversary, in the great trial
of 1845. Since then, in the single city of
New York, nearly 100 Herring safes have passed
through this ordeal, in every instance pre-
serving their contents, amounting to millions
in value. The confidence inspired created an
era in this branch of domestic manufacture. Steam
power and machinery were brought into requisition,
and the little shop of 26 years ago, in which two
or three safes a week were produced, has given place
to a magnificent establishment where 300 hands are
constantly employed and vaults valued at $20,000
are manufactured.
The book contains 130 closely-printed pages of
letters received by the firm from all parts of Ame-
rica, giving accounts of great fires, and of the
triumph of the safes. One-tenth the number would
have carried conviction to any mind. As a sample
of these, we may quote a passage from a letter from
Weeks and Prescott, as the fire described was in a
distillery, and the heat therefore must have
been seven times intensified. Writing from Buffalo,
December 14, 1854, they:say :—" We roasted a Her-
ring last night, and notwithstanding we started the
scales freely it came out triumphant. The safe
was one of Herring's patent, and was in Truscott's
distillery, which was burnt and made a hot fire."
The editor of the Daily Republic went to look at it.
"It was so warped and sprung," he wrote, " by the
action of the intense heat that it was impossible to
unlock it. It was cut into,:when, much to the
surprise and delight of the owners, the contents,
consisting of a set of account-books, bonds, and
mortgages, policies of insurance, notes, bank-
bills, specie, &c., were found to be in a per-
fect state of preservation (the editor vouches
for what he saw), not the slightest sign of
any unusual heat being visible in any part
thereof." It is not till close to the end of the
work that burglars are even touched on. " We are
often asked the question, Are these safes burglar-
proof ?' and invariably answer, that they are as
much a protection against the burglar as the price
will admit. This is the most that can be said of
any safe. Nothing is made by man that
man cannot unmake, and a safe made for
books and papers only as a fire-proof pro-
tection, is not a fit receptacle for coupon bonds,
Government Securities, or large amounts of money."
The firm here allude to the combined fire and bur-
glar safe, the one built within the other, the outer
to protect from fire, the inner from burglars.
Against burglars, the inner safe has the advantage
that it cannot be operated on with the same facility,
as it is enclosed and protected by the outer or fire-
proof safe. This was the principle which enabled
Mr. Herring to defeat, with a third-class safe, the
best efforts of so celebrated a maker as Mr. Chat-
wood in the recent trial. Plate 16 gives the illustra-
tion of the safe tested, which is a common construc-
tion with this firm. The upper portion is framed for
books, with pigeon-holes above for papers, while the
lower portion shows another safe imbedded with the
formidable door which foiled for so lengthened a
period the most skilful workmen of Lancashire.
Turning to Plate 27, we came to Herring's Patent
BAnkera' Safe, and in Plato 28 is seen the design of

the safe on which he issued his challenge. This
consists of a triple safe, and a glance at the draw-
ing will give an idea that if the safe deli-
neated in Plate 16 foiled a party representing
burglars with every advantage, what chance they
would have bad if the attack had been made on the
bankers' safe. A desperate attempt was made in
New York in March, 1861, to break into the
Exchange Bank. The burglars entered the vault
through the floor by digging a tunnel some 70
feet long. Although they had from Saturday
night till Monday morning to carry on the operations
against the Herring burglar proof, they were com-
pelled to give in, abandoning their tools, and leaving
the vault in ruins. Another attempt was made on
the Kent National Bank, Ohio, where the failure
was as signal. It was necessary for the bank
to force the safe, the lock being injured; and it
required 14 hours of sledge hammers, used by
the most skilled to be procured in Cleveland,
which, with the work already accomplished by the
burglars, gave fully two days and three fresh gangs
before the safe was opened.
In the frontispiece a safe is represented which
went through the great conflagration that destroyed
the City of Portland last year. The effects of the
fire are strongly marked, but, although the brass
work melted and the heat warped portions of the
iron-frame, the contents were extracted in good
condition ; not a leaf of the account books were in-
jured nor a word erased.

Miscellaneous Foreign News.

(From Correspondent of the Anglo-American Times.)
PARIS, October 10.

I promised last week to continue my un-
finished sketch of St. Cloud, a promise which
has been impressed upon my memory by a circum-
stance similar to that which happened to King
George of blessed memory, when he had to pay so
many florins for a dinner of eggs. Eggs, said mine
host gravely, are not scarce, but Kings are, and so
I presume must be the case at St. Cloud as regards
haricots (the French or kidney bean) and visitors.
The fresh air and the long walk from Paris to St.
Cloud, followed by a stroll in the Park, had pro-
vided me with a very respectable appetite, so I
determined to enjoy my modest luncheon and half
bottle of wine al fresco on one of the many tables
set forth for the wayfarer on the outside of a restau-
rant of promising appearance. Everything was
proceeding most happily ; the cutlet was done to a
turn ; the bread (the usual French roll) excellent,
and the half bottle of yin ordinaire equally unex-
ceptionable; but, alas ! what mortal knows when
he is well off, or can leave that well alone; in an
evil hour I took a fancy to ask for vegetables ;
there were only haricot verts ; I ordered a portion.
Now be it known to the reader that these aforesaid
haricots are sold in Paris at the rate of id. to 2d.
per pound, and if orderei at the best restaurant
therein at their first coming never by any chance
exceed fivepenc• for one person. I ordered the
bill. Haricots, lfr., the third part of the cost of
the luncheon. Now if there be anything I par-
ticularly dislike it is what is called in France being
" rolled," or, in plain language, "taken in." How-
ever, all was of no use, for some reason unknown
this vegetable, so cheap and plentiful at Paris, be-
comes so comparatively dear at the short distance
of five or six miles that nothing was left for it but
to console myself with the conviction that mine
host would surely be punished for it sooner or
later—

Raro antccodenteur scellestum,
Descruit pania pede claudo justitia,
and with the ability of rendering my readers the
very serviceable advice never to order haricots at
St. Cloud. After leaving the restaurant I strolled
towards the Palace, the external apparance of which

'rom the circumstance of the various alterations and

[lmprovements made by its respective possessors,

having been made to satisfy an immediate want
or caprice, lacks the finished ensemble possessed by

similar edifices completed on one original plan.
One enters by what is termed the Vestibule of the
Emperor, remarking on the staircase a painting by
Rouget, the subject being the presentation to Napo-
leon Bonaparte the decree of the Senate by which

he is proclaimed Emperor. The decree is being
presented by Cambaceres and Lebrun, whilst the
future Empress Josephine, her daughter, afterwards

Queen Hortense, Eugene de Beauharnais, Murat,
Massena, Kellerman, Talleyrand, and a group of

Senators, assist at the ceremony. At the top of the
staircase is the vestibule of the grand apartments,

,o the left the door which gives access to the theatre,
,o the right that which opens on the Saloon of Mars.

The series of apartments thrown open to the public

are the Saloons of Mars, Diana, Venus, Truth,
Mercury, Aurora, and the Gallery of Apollo. It is
scarcely possible to describe the magnificent appear-
ance of these various apartments, which take their
names from the principal portraits exhibited
therein. These paintings are mostly by Mig-

nard, the sides of the apartments, as well
as the vaulted ceilings, seem to resemble a
collection of paintings of every size and shape,
the gold groined arches forming, as it were, the
frames or setting. But it is not alone by the brush
of the artist that these splendid reproductions of
history are conveyed to the visitor; the loom hath
its part ; and to give the reader an idea of what the
Goblein tapestry is like, I will only mention the re-
mark made to me by a lady who stood by. " How
exquisitely," said she, " that picture is painted,"
pointing at the same time to one almost within
reach of her hand. "Do you think that is a paint-
ing ?" said I. " Look a little closer, and you will

find that the needle, and not the brush, has accom
plished that matchless piece of tapestry, which, un
less on the minutest inspection, bears every indica
tion of being a painting emanating from a master
hand." Another most remarkable item in connection
with these tapestries (with which also, by the way,
the enamelled and gilded chairs, sofas, &c.,
are also covered) is a number of immense vases of
the celebrated Sevres porcelain, exquisitely
painted and enamelled, amongst them being four,
representing the Four Seasons, which have been
highly appreciated at the Exposition, of which they
lately formed a part. The gallery of Apollo, the
theatre of the splendid fetes offered to Louis
Quatorze by his mother, and subsequently those
offered by the Regent to the Czar Peter and others,
was consecrated under the Directory to the sittings
of the Council of the Ancients. The ceiling repre-
sents Apollo in his chariot, and amongst the other
grand tableaux Circe Clymeire, daughter of the
Ocean ; the Fall of Icarus, Apollo and Tau,
Apollo and Marsyas ; whilst Philippe d'Orleans,
Monsieur Duke of Orleans, Charlotte of Bavaria,
Anne of Austria, Marie Theresa of Austria, Louis
XIV., the Dauphin, all accompanied with the
devices of the personages they represent, and
affording to the visitor by the mere effort of the
coup d'ecil are trospective chronologic record of most
of the principal events relating to the French
Dynasty. Below the gallery lies the chapel,
plainly fitted up in white marble, panelling the
numerous doors of the gallery of Apollo, opening
on it so as to enable the Court to attend the
religious services without leaving the apartment.
A description of the other saloons would be but a
repetition of the foregoing, coupled with the titles
of the paintings and their distinguished artists. I
will content myself with noticing, in conclusion, a
very magnificent architectural work placed on the
summit of a verdant amphitheatre, which has re-
ceived the name of the " Lanthorn of Diogenes."
It consists of a truncated obelisk crowned with a
copy of a very pretty choragic monument, with
which Lysierates had adorned Athens to consecrate
the souvenir of the prize which he had carried off
from all his rivals. But I exceed my limits. Ac-
cording to the Moniteur, the establishment of a
French trans-Atlantic cable is finally resolved upon.
The cable, according to authorised permission, will
be carried from Brest to St. Pierre Miquelon. These
two points are admirably chosen ; the space which
separates having been through all its length the object
of recent hydrographic labours, by means of which it
has been ascertained that the depth was fathomable,
and that its disposition consisted of a vast tele-
graphic plateau, on which the cable could be ex-
tended in the most advantageous manner. A new
model of a cable has been adopted, for the perfection
of which the very latest improvements of science
and industry have been called into action, the basis
of the system reposing upon the complete system,
which has obtained the principal gold medal at the
Exposition Universelle. Despatches direct between
Europe and North America, already very consider-
able, increase every day. The greatest part of these,
it is said, are assured to the French cable. The line
from Antilles to Cuba is about to be inaugurated.
The Anglo-Indian Telegraph, and the telegraph
from Rio Janeiro, which will place the whole of
Asia and the whole of South America in communi-
cation with Europe, will be executed before long.
Their despatches, in accordance with recent arrange-
ments, will arrive by the French cable, which will
be in operation about the month of August,
1868. It is probable thus that France, from
her advantageous geographical position, will
be called upon to centralise by the inter-
mediary of the French cable the telegraphic
despatches of the whole world. From communica-
tions to the Gironde from Biarritz it appears that
the Empress Eugenie and the Prince Imperial have
had a very narrow escape in visiting St. Jean de
Lui, in the Imperial yacht, the Chamois. The
evening of the day had come in dark and rainy,
and it became necessary to make a long tack to-
wards the Spanish coast before approaching the
dangerous coast of St. Jean de Luz. The debarka-
tion was ijeing effected in the boats of the yacht
when by son, .e oversight of the pilot Larretche,
who was, nevertLl'eless, perfectly acquainted with the
coast, the Imperial boat struck on a shoal when
near the shore and 1„.1 swamped. .6.11, however,