Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1867-03-23

SECOND WARD OFFICERS.
For Aldermen,
W. f. MILES, CHESTER FOX.
For Assessor,
MASON STONE.
For Justice of the Peace,
P. V. WISE,
o1.o .leap, Six millions of dollars in five
and ten dollar bills; one half million of
dollars in internal revenue stamps, fifty
thousand dollars in fractional currency,
put up in large paper boxes, and five
and one half millions in United States
bonds.
HOW THE VAULT rs MADE.
The door of this vault rests on thirty
feet of solid Missionary, from the ground
mp; on the top of this granite there
are two feet of wrought iron, and be-
tween the iron plates space filled up
with bullets. If rouge should sue
coed in boriag through the granite and
iron, the moment his drill touched a
bullet that would commence to revolve,
and by the time he had penetrated it,
another bali would drop in its place;
in this way he would soon find that he
had an endless Job before him, and the
attempt to get into the vault would
have to be Abandoned.
The sides and top of the room are
composed of eight feet of granite and
two of iron arranged in the same man
ner as for the floor. This safe, as it is
called, was invented by Geo. r. jack
son, of the Excelsior Iron Works. Mr..
Rogers once remarked that if the peo-
pie of the treasury department should
happen to get locked out of the safe,
it would take him q month to break in
to it A night watch is kept to look
after these strong boxes, but they are
considered perfectly safe without him.
THE DOORS OF THE VAULTS.
There are four doors to be opened,
one after the other, before We enter
the safe. Each one of these doors weighs
two tons, and contains two locks of
different patterns. A lever is so ar
ranged that after the doors are closed
four large iron bolts are thrown across
the doorway, resting in sockets which
have been made in pillar Of wrought
iron. If thief should succeed in cut
ting the hinges of one of these doors.
usually considered to be the most vul-
nerable point; the door would not drop
down from its place, and nothing would
be gained. But like the deacon's cele-
brated one-hoise shay, these doors are
made as strong in one paIt as in an
other, and the hinges show no sign Of
weakness. 1t viii take les rful earth
omaha 70 ahaIra than down
CURIOUS LOCKS ON THE VAULTS.
No good idea can be given to the
reader of the locks and their operations,
but few general remarks may be of
interest. The first door mas one of
Dodd's Eureka locks; there is no key
hole for this, and the outside combine
ton wheel is divided into b. g letters of
the alphabet, the nine unit (, and frac-
tions of figures. The combinations
which may be made by this arrange.
ment are endless, and no on 10 can open
the lock, showing back the bolts, unless
knowing the words, figures and frac-
tions which have been used in locking
the door. Even if person was so for
tunate as to get from Mr.. Birdsall the
combination, he must have an extern
sive acquaintance with the lock TO know
how to manipulate it correctly. The
second door contains an Isham lock,
which is altogether different from
Dodd's lock. The third door has L.
Gales Monitor lock, and the fourth
door contains Gales Treasury locks.
From one of these doors, after it has
been fastened, portion of the lock is
taken of, and put under lock and key
in some secret place. Without this il
would be useless to attempt to get into
the safe.
INTERIOR OF THE SECOND VAULT.
The second vault is much larger than
the first one described, but just as diff.
fcult to get into. There are one hun.
bred and twenty cases in this room,
where gold can be put up. at the time
we looked into the vault there were
ninety tuns, or forty-five millions oi
dollars in gold stored in the room. and
twenty millions in paper. The green
backs, as they are paid into the treas
ury, are put up in packages of one
thousand bills, all of the same demon
nation.
COUNTERFEIT GREENBACKs.io
An inquiry made in relation to the
counterfeit money which came into the
treasury revealed the fact that there il
large amount of il In circulation, and
some of this is so well executed that
it passes as genuine with the national
banks. The one hundred, and the fifty
dollar greenbacks, and the twenty dol
lar notes of the national currency are
very dangerous to all persons outside
of the treasury. Here they have
never teen deceived, but readily de
tect the counterfeit, Immediately brand
it as such in several places, and send i
back to the bank from which it came
to be redeemed and destroyed. Wa
were shown some very handsomely ex
ecuted five dollar greeubacks, and quite
O collection of fractional currency il
different stages of completion, which
had been seized by the detectives On,
man can count forty thousand notes il
La day of six hours. On the 18th inst
one and three-fourth millions of dollar
were paid in by three o'clock. 1t i
asserted at the treasury that soon afte
the war closed the south was hoooe,
with counterfeit greenbacks, and a
the people in that section Of the coun
try were unacquainted with the genuin
money of the north, they readily too
it.
The whole number of people employ
ed in the building sis seventy, and th
amount in the treasury exceeds on
hundred millions of dollars. ~ Z
DIR. J. Ct. Holland has been enga,
ed during the winter on one of I'll
lonUagt American mans ever vrrittal