The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1873-09-05
A HUNDRED TONS OF GOLD.
Twelve Iron Chests of Glittering Tress
ure Guarded by Nine Armed Men


' ------ 81 s4
The widest and most visionary 0
"The Argonauts of 40" neve
dreamed OF the golden possibilities
hidden in the rocks and earth 0
the Pacific coast. Captain Suffer
when he slraarily worked his littl'
wooden mill on The American Fork
Of the Sacramento river, in the win
ter Of 1913, could not, by the wild
est stretch of Imagination, have hat
conception of the magnitude Of thu
auriferous deposits in the fertile
slopes and valleys about him. Lit
tie did he dream that his insignifi,
cant mill Trace led to wealth thai
would dwarf that of even the tabled
land of Ophir in its influence on the
world.
| On Monday afternoon there arriv.
ed at the Sub, Treasury in New York
| SO, 100000 in gold coin. 1t was
forwarded by Adams Express Com.
pany 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 half in length
! by sixteen inches inc breadth and
/ depth.
A HUNDRED BAGS OF DOUBLE EAGLES.
The gold consisted entirely Of
double cages, enclosed in one hun
dred stout canvas bags, each con-
tanning $4,000. Every bag bore
the seal Of the Assistant Treasurer
in San Francisco, and each of the
chests had three combination locks
The explanation of the combinations
was sent to Assistant Treasurer Hill
house in two installments, one by
mail and one by express. This was
to prevent its possible use in the
event of its falling into unworthy
hands.
The car containing the treasure
was guarded by nine armed men,
AS an additional security the ex>
press company was held responsible
| to the government for the safety Of
the gold. On its arrival here it was
carried in express wagons to the
Pine street entrance of the Treas
ury, where the chests, which weigh
ed 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, al
the exact weight of$20,00O in gol(
is registered. About 81, 100000 o.
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 genuine. The experts began
this labor yesterday and will be oc
cupied in it for week.
ENORMOUS PILES OF GOLD.
Mr.. Ashley, the chief of the coin
division, says that so large an
amount Of gold is rarely received in
the ub-Treasury at one time. 1t
was sent here by the Treasury De-
partment because New York Is the
only city where the government needs
to keep large quantities of gold for
mercantile purposes. At the close
of business there was a balance Of
gold in the Sub-Treasury of $48,-
522,6 70, or about one hundred
tons Of gold. This is an Unusually
heavy supply. One reason for it is
the light shipping demand, only
$11, 900 having been delivered for
shipment since January /. That is
less than half the amount in the cor.
responding period Of last year.
BARS OF COLD.
In addition to this the SUBJ Treas
ury contains about $l0,000,000 10
gold bars, 100000 in silver, and
about 100000 in currency.
There are two treasure chambers
on different sides Of the main floor
10 the Sub>Treasury. Each has
walls Of massive stone eight feet
thick, built in two parallel sections.
The immediate space is filed with
boxes Of chilled iron packed with
balls of the same material about an
inch in diameter. These will turn
the most powerful drill ever employ
ed by burglars. The floor is cover
ed with iron plates and rests on SOL
id masonry, which extends thirty
feet below the surface OF the side-
walks. The FIVE iron doors are So
cured BY several heavy locks.--
These doors weigh about two and a
half tons each. The chambers are
divided into iron compartments. In
the west side chamber the gold is
deposited, each compartment con-
| tanning 100000 when filled. The
gold Is packed IN small canvas bags.
The chamber on the east side con-
tains the currency, silver coin and
gold in bars. The currency 10 il
packages Of 81, 200 notes. These
packages weigh scarcely pOunt
each, yet they are stamped 81, 900,