The Portland daily press., 1867-04-13
The New York sub.Trea.ury Building.

The vaults of the United States Sub-Treas-
ury are said to exceed in size those of Eng
land. The strong and thoroughly fire and
burglar proofmanner in which they have been
constructed excites the admiration OF all be-
holders There are two OF these immense
vaults, one at each corner of the Pine street
end of the rotunda. The rooms are perhaps
twenty feet long by fifteen wide, and ten or
twelve feet high. They contain no windows;
there is bit one door opening into each, and
gas lights are kept burning inside. The IN
ternal appearance of these vaults has strik-
ing resemblance to a fash enable tomb in
Greenwood cemetery, rows OF cases being ar
ranged around the sides of the room, each
about two feet square, with iron doors attach
ed. There is one door for each case, and
when the apartment has been filed with bags
or gold or bundles of sreenbacks the doors are
closed. Each case will contain half million
ofdollars, put up in bags of live thousand dol
lars each. When a case is thus filled the door
is closed and seal is affixed in the presence
OF the Naval Officer and the Surveyor OF the
Port. 1t takes one hundred bays TO hold one
million OF dollars. In the first vault entered
there were seventy-two compartments arrang-
ed round the room, which formed tier some-
what higher than mans head.
Running over the top OF these was a balco-
ny with an iron railing in front; there was
piled up in this balcony, in ore heap, six mii-
lions OF dollars in five and ten dollar bills one
half million OF dollars i'm internal revenue
stamps, fifty thousand dollars in fractional
currency, put up in large paper boxes, aud
five and one half millions in United States
bonds.
TIE door rests on thirty feet of solid mason-
ry. from the grodnd up; on the TOP OF TINS
granite there are two feet OF wrousnt IRON,
and between the iron plates space hiled up
with bullets. Ifa rogue should succeed in
hor;no through the granite and iron, the mo-
mant his drill touched bullet that would
commence 10 revolve, and by the time he had
penetrated it, another ball would drop in its
Mace in this way he would soon lind he had
an endless job before him, and the attempt to
get into the vault would have to be al andun-
ed.
The sides and top of tue room arc compos
cd of eight feet of granite and two os iron ar.
ranged in the same manner as tor the floor.
This safe, as it is called, was invented by Mr.
Isaiah Rogers, and built by Nj. George IL.
jackson of the Excelsior Iron Works. Mr..
Rogers once remarked that il the people at
the treasury building should happen to get
locked out of the safe, it would take him a
month to break into it! A night watch Is
kept to look after these strong boxes, but they
are considered perfectly safe without nlli'
There are four doors TO be opened, one az
ter the other. before we can enter the safe.
Each one ofthese doors weighs two IONS, ana
contains two locks Of dierent P'dtteo doonS "a
lever is so arranged that after inc uoofs are
cosad y ,our an iaree iron bolts are thrown across
| the doorway. resting in Sockets Whlch nave
tne uooi,my 1s !, pillar of wrought iron. III a
neea maud ,i,auG succeed in cutting the hinges of
tn'e, tbese doors, usually considered TO be
the the n most vulnerable. point, the door would
.nt . drop down from its place, and nothing
would be gained. But like the deacons one
horse shay, these doors are made as strong in
one part as in another, and the hinges show
no signs of weakness. 1t will take fearful
earthquake to shake them down. ~. /.
Erentng Gazette.