The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1876-03-16
Tue SILVER GLCf.
" n
A Treasurer Who 4. Overwhelmed Win
Coin.


A Treasurer Wbo IL Overwhelmed Win
DIN
Eev fcfk Commercial Advertiser.
Uncle Sans strong box on the corner
Of Wall and Nassau streets, in what Is
known rs the sub.trcwury, il well
crammcd with "Rlthy lucrc," which
some profess to iosNisc, while Others
worihip, and which all find very conyc-
nicnt to have. At no time has the
present assistant trcm urcr, Mr., George
Ashley, had in his possession less than
$lOO,OOO,000. The amount thus con.
ddcd to his trust isso large that u Is not
in the power Of the Official t6 rite hde-
quatc BINDS for It's security, If disposed
to bc dishonest he might ruin all his
surctics, and the government suffer a
loss Of nntOld millions. In this single
instance, at least, it il necessary TO rely
upon the integrity Of an individual
Learning through Mr., Lindcsmonn d..
rrctOi o. thc United States mint, that
the treasurer in New York had reported
himself overwhelmed with coin, 80 that
he could receive no more, our reporter
sought an invitation to view the I'M
won'c1 e'ght
II was first nccdiul to be admitted
through y couple Of iron gates TO the
rear Of the counters where coin is
handled, counted and weighed. Several
clerks were engaged in various processes,
At one side half concealed in a thick
| wall, ~ the entrance to the Vault, Five
doors must be passed, one Of them
weighing 5000 pounds, and secured by
double locks, each independent Of the
other. At last, guided by the treasurer,
the inmost receptacle Is reached and
there, ~ within Il tomb, a single jet OF
| gas lights up the accumulated treasure.
On all sides from floor to ceiling are lit
tie iron closets filled with gold bricks,
| bags Of silver, or packages Of treasury
nolc-, while the entire central space from
the rear wall toward. the threshold is
slowed solid with bags Of silver, laid in
regular tiers from the marble tiling be
meath almost rs high rs n man can reach.
Here, on the ground, remarked the
officer, ARE 1000, GOO in silver, and in
the treasury $5,6OO,OOO Then opening
Il little iron door, where there was a re-
cess about two feet square, the interior
was seen to be filled with golden bricks,
apparently no more than could be taken
oTin a whcclbarrow at Il single load, but
the officer remarked, "hcrc are two tons
Of gold, worth over 81 100000 - adding
that each brick or bar was worth 10000
and weighed thirty-iyc pounds. To APP
pcarancc one Of them might easily have
been concealed in Il coat-tail pocket, or
carried off in Il hat, but the experiment
would not have proved a success. These
handsome bricks Of such n deep saffron
hue, any one Of which would have al
most bought II stone front or u splendid
farm, were once British sovcrcigns, sent
to the United States in 1878, during
times of high monetary excitement.
Another turn Of the key, or what may
bc described As another rub IF Aladdin'S
lamp, revealed riches surprising all the
rest, no less than S2j, 600, 600 being visi-
bic at Il single glance in treasury notes,
" %IIcrc,' said Uncle Sans faithful
guardian, care a couple ofmilIiondoIlars,"
at the same time handing his visitor a
]diminutiyc package neatly bound with Il
paper strap, each note bearing the figures
'Sl 900" II is needless to say that the
package was returned, though there is II
certain degree Of pleasure Of being pos
scSscd Of $1,000, 600, if only for n mo-
mcnt. Next We stepped into what might
he called the gold vault proper, where
there stood exposed to view nothing but
a little kcg, scarcely larger than Il chiId's
toy drum, but it contained SjO,OOO in
gold, and weighed the same rs Il barrel of
flour. The little closets ON all sides were
at the same time seen crammcd with
gold.
Word comes from California that one
of the mining companies intends to for
ward to the centennial exhibition Il
single mass of silver vaIncd ut SlO,OOO,-
GOO. The treasury officials, who seem to
regard this story rs 4 "roOrbaCk," have
made n curious calculation, viz: A
mass OF silver Of the value named would
make Il solid block ten feet long, ten feet
wide, and eight and Onc-tcnth feet high,
containing $40 cubic feet. A cubic foot
of fine silver is worth in old American
dollars about $1,000, and weighs 727
pounds a%voirdupois. Ergo, "A cube Of the
size spoken of by the California miners
would weigh 5SS,9l9 pounds, or about
M tons. As ten tons make an ordinary
carload, it will he perceived that the
proposition does not look very feasible,
A New York banker suggests that the
idea is simply to make Il sale of 100000
GOO in silver for United States bonds, for
although the " Virginia Consolidated"
is admitted to he Il rich concern, it is not
believed the company wonld pcrmitSIO,-
OOO 900 to lay around very long.