Omaha daily bee., 1884-03-19
FRErGHTED wrrHToNs OF GOLD.
Double Eagles and Bullion Piled Up
In the Treasure Rooms of
Two Steamers.

New York Sun.
Trucks loaded with well.dressed men
rolled up West street at intervals yester-
day morning and disappeared on the COW
cred pier of the Cunard Steamship COM
pany at the foot of Clarkson street. Be.
sides the men the trucks carried small
kegs and iron bound boxes, which were
unloaded on the pier alongside of the
steamship Servia, which sailed in the aft
ernoon. The men carefully carried the
kegs and boxes to the after part of the
vessel, where they were locked in an iron
chamber. The kegs and boxes held 49,
1901 600 worth of gold, which wac going
to Europe. On the steamship Baltic
50, 800, 900 in gold was shipped.
The gold was in the form of bars and
double eagles, and was the largest amount
shipped on a single day for several years.
The gold bars were obtained in exchange
for gold certificates at the assay office,
and the double eagles came from the
vaults of the subtreasury, where gold GER
t~ificates were deposited in their stead.
The double eagles were delivered in
canvas bags, each holding $4,000. The
bars, which are worth anywhere between
"a, 900 and So, 900 each, were packed in
saw.dust in wooden boxes. They were
carried on trucks to the offices of the
firms that had bought them, and were
then boxed and barrelled and carted
off to the steamship piers under heavy
guard.
The little kegs and iron-bound boxes
stored in the treasure room" on the
Servia were forty all told, and we're count
ed by the purser and all the officers be-
fore the large iron door was closed and
locked. The purser has the money in his
wealth in the Serviva createdno particular
stir.
SIT is not unusual for us t. receive on
board large amounts of gold, said a clerk
at the wharf. 1--WE carry more or less on
every trip"
"What precautions are taken against
robbery
SIN the first place, the treasure room
is of iron and is as strong as any bank
safe. 1t has complicated locks, and
no cracksmen, 10 matter how clever
they were could get into it inside of a
week."
us it especially guarded during the
trip"
'Yes, it is thoroughly looked after.
The purser and officers thoroughly in
spect it three times a day and three times
at night"
"Was the Servia's treasure chamber
ever broken intol"
Never, and no one ever tried to break
into it. Anyway, if thieves did get in,
they could not very well carry away the
gold, for it is too heavy. The gold in
these forty kegs and boxes weighs close
to %, 900 pounds"
A weather beaten man with a dropping
eye-lid, who had been listening, tapped
the reporter on the shoulder as he was
leaving the wharf.
"Young man." he said, "ever heerd of
Cap'n Kidd? Well, his plumber warn't a
rope yarn to a six-inch hawser alongside
this here wealth in the Servia. Eff Kidd
was around these days them millions
wouldn't never get across the pond. Wot
a pity for him he's dead"
The superintendent Of an importing
house which is constantly sending out
large amounts of gold said yesterday that
the house insures it. The firm get the
money from the sub-treasury or assay
office, prepare it for shipping and then
lodge it in the vessel. There their trouble
ends.
"Do you send any n along to watch it
on the way?"
"No; it would do no good. The money
is perfectly safe in the vessel and in the
extremely improbable event of a pira-
teal attack cur man might get killed"
"Why do you send out gold!"
"Because it is impossible to buy CON-
mercial bills. There are not any in the
market"