Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1885-05-02
ENeLANps GREATEST BANK


sAThe Old Lady I'm Threndneedle street.
and Her Method of Doing Business.
lChsmbers' Journal
The Bank of England originated In
the brain of William Paterson, q Scotch
man-better known, perhaps, as the
organizer and leader of the Inflated
Darien expedition. IL commenced
business in 1894, its chatter
which was in the first in
stance granted for eleven years only
bearing date of July % of that year.
This charter has been from time to
time renewed, the last renewal having
taking place in 1874, The original cap
ital Of the bank was bat 200, 0U0
pounds sterling, and it carried on its
business in single room in MERGERS
hall, with staff of fifty-four clerks.
from so small beginning has grown
the present gigantic establishment,
which covers nearly three acres; and
employs in town and country nearly
900 officials.
All Bank of England notes are
printed in the bank itself. Six printing
presses are in constant operation, the
same machine printing first the par
ticulars of value, signature, ETC., and
then the numbers of the notes in con-
secutive order. The printing
presses are so constructed as to
register each note printed, so
that the machine itself indicates
automatically how many notes have
passed through it. The average pro
duction of notes is so, 900 a day, and
about the same number are presented in
the same time for payment TIL.
Library" of Cancelled notes-not to be
COMPOUNDED with the bank library proper
is situated in the bank vaults The
stock of paid notes for five years-the
period during which, as before stated.
the notes are pre- erved for reference
is about 77,745, 900 in number. They
fill Is, 400 boxes, about eighteen inches
long, ten wide. and nine deep. AS each
day adds about so, geo notes to the num-
Der, It is necessary to find some means
of destroying those which have passed
their allotted term of preservation.
This is done by fire, about 400,000
notes being burned at one time in q fur
mace specially constructed for that pur-
pose. Formerly, from some popularity
in the ink with which the notes were
printed, the cremated notes burned into
a solid blue clinker; but the compost
ton of the ink has been altered, and
the paper now burns into fine gray
ash The fumes of the burning paper
are extremely dense and pungent, and
to prevent any nuisance arising from
this cause the process of cremation is
carried out at dead of night, when the
city is comparatively deserted. Further,
in order TO mitigate the density of the
fumes, they are made to ascend through
a shower of falling water, the chimney
shaft being fitted with a special
shower bath arrangement for this pur-
pose. The stock of gold in bullion
vault varies from / 200, 900 to 5000, 00G
pounds sterling The bars are laid side
by side on small fat trucks or barrows
carrying 100 bars each. In glass case
in this vault is seen a portion of the war
indemnity paid by King Coffee, of Ash
antee, consisting of gold ornaments, a
little short of standard fineness.
The safeguards against robbery, by
force or fraud are many and elaborate
At night the bank is guarded at all ac
ceSible points by an ample military
force. In the event of attack from with
out. there are sliding galleries which can
be thrust out from the roof, and which
would enable body of sharp
shooters to rake the streets in
all directions. Few people are aware
that the Bank of England con-
tains within the walls a graveyard,
but such is nevertheless the fact. The
Gordon.riot of 1880, during which the
bank was attacked by a. mob, called at
tention to the necessity for strengthen
ing its defenses. Competent authorities
advised that an adjoining church, re-
joicing in the appropriate name of st.
Christopher e-Stocks, was, in mill
tary sense, a source of danger, and &C.
eordingly an act of parliament was
passed to enable the directors to pur |
chase the church and its appurtenances |
The old churchysrd, tastefully laid out. |
now forms what is known as the bank |
garden" the handsome courtroom
or bank parlor' abutting on one of its |
sides. There is magnificent lime tree, |
one of the largest IN London, in the |
center of the garden, and tradition
states that under this tree a former |
clerk of the bank, eight feet high, lies
buried