Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1873-09-05
A Hundred Tons of Gold.

THE widest and most visionary of
"The Argonauts of '49'' never dreamed of
the golden possibilities hidden in the
rocks and earth of the Pacific coast. Cap
tain Sutter, when he drearily worked his
little wooden mill on the American Fork
of the Sacramento River, in the winter of
1S49, could not, by the widest stretch of
imagination, have had a conception ofthe
magnitude of the auriferous deposits in
the fertile slopes and valleys about him.
Little did he dream that his insignificant
mill-race led to wealth that would dwarf
that of eveu the tabled land of Ophir in
its influence on the world.
On Monday afternoon there arrived at
the Sub-Treasury in this city 100000 in
gold coin. 1t was forwarded by the
Adams Express Company from the Sub
Treasury in San Francisco. The weight
of this coin was about four tons. 1t was
packed in twelve strong iron chests, each
about two feet and a half in length by six
teen inches in breadth and depth.
The gold consisted entirely of double
eagles, inclosed in one hundred stout can
vas bags, each containing $4,000. Every
bag bore the seal of the Assistant Treas
urer in San Francisco, and each of the
chests had three combination locks. The
explanation of the combinations was sent
| to Assistant Treasurer Hillhouse in two
| installments, one by mail and one by ex-
press This was to prevent its possible
use in the event of its falling into un-
worthy hands.
The car containing the treasure was
guarded by nine armed men. AS an adj
ditional security the Express Company
was held responsible to the Government
for the safety of the gold. On its arrival
here it was carried in express wagons. to
n pipo ctraat Of tha T'rna cI1rxr
where the chests, which weighed between
six and seven hundred pounds each, were
placed on trucks and rolled into the coin
division. The bags were emptied and
the contents counted by weighing. By
this mode the absence of single piece
would be instantly detected, as the exact
weight of $4,000 in gold coin is registered
| About 81 900, 600 of the treasure is fresh
| from the mint, and this it was necessary
merely to weigh. The remainder, having
| been in circulation, is to be examined
piece by piece to see that every one is gen.
uine. The experts began this labor yes
terday, and will be occupied in it for a
| week.
Mr.. Ashley, the chief of the coin divi-
sion, saws that so large an amount of gold
is rarely received in the Sub-Treasury at
one time 1t was sent here by the Treasury
| Department because New York is the
only city where the Government needs to
keep large quantities of gold for mcrcan-
tile purposes. At the close of business
Yesterday there was balance of gold coin
in the Sub.Treasury of $4S, ,522, ,54S.79, or
about 100 tons of gold. This is an un-
usually heavy supply. One reason for it
is the light shipping demand, only Sill
600 having been delivered for shipment
since Jan. 1. That is less than half the
amount in the corresponding period last
year.
In addition to this, the Sub-Treasury
contains about $10,000,000 in gold bars,
| 100000 in silver, and about S32,OOO,OO0
in currency.
There are two treasure-chambers on
different sides of the main floor in the
Sub b-Treasury. Each has walls of mas
sive stone eight feet thick, built in two
parallel sections. The intermediate space
is filled with boxes of chilled iron, pack
ed with balls of the same material about
an inch in diameter. These will turn the
most powerful drill ever employed by
burglars The door is covered with iron
plates, and rests on solid masonry, which
extends thirty feet below the surface of
the sidewalks. The five iron doors are
secured by several heavy locks. These
doors weigh about two and half tons
each. The chambers are divided into
iron compartments. In the west side
chamber the gold is deposited, each COM
partment containing $5O0,000 when filled.
The gold is packed in small canvas bags.
The chamber on the east side contains
the currency, silver coin, and gold in
bars. The currency is in packages of ST.
000noteJ. These packages weigh scarcely
pound each, yet they are stamped 81 ,OOO,-
a.NlA oil NtTnR In
$4,000 each, after having been melted in
the assay office, preparatory to being
coined into money in the Philadelphia
mint-Nelo York Sum-