The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-10-17
UNCLE SAM'S VAULTS.
1 Was hington Star. 1

sneak -thieving, dedication on the part oi dishonest employees, and the like. but Il IS not known that there has ever been an attempt made to pick the locks or break open the sates to get at the great wealth stored there. The treasury vaults have been oitener assailed with false claims than with false keys
 To outside appearances the treasury is no more of strong box than IS the gen eral post-offlce, the interior department or the Capitol building, and the attention of the visitor going through the buildings is not attracted by any extraordinary pre-. cautions. They are allowed to roam aooul the halls. Nobo y watches them or a,ks any questions In one room they may see man signing bonds that are stacked up Tn front of him, representing probably thousands 0f dollars. Tn another they may see some one putting his name to little slips of paper, hundreds of which lay upon his desk. These may be war. rants or drafts fer large sums of money, but the visitor doesn't know unless he examines them, ard even then ten chances to one he wouldn't understand them. As matter of fact none of these would be of value to anybody getting possession of them by chance or dishonesty. At most they could only furnish basis for forg- cry, as they are in an incomplete form or are diawn upon some particular place, to be paid to specified person.
 One of the greatest safeguards of the department, though, of course, not the one most relied upon, is the fact that a thief wouldn't know what to steal, where to find 1t, or what 10 do with 1t if he should happen to get it. To stranger all the workings of the department are mysterious. and they lose sight of the strong. box in contemplating the business establishment-the clerks at work on cor. respondenCe, and a Sthousand and one other routine matters. At the north end of the building IS the only place where there are any indie ations of the presence of great sums of money There are To- cated the ueas9rer's office, the cash room, the counting rooms and the great vaults. There is collected nelrly two hundred millions in silver, gold or paper currency, such as would be good for use at once Tn the commerCl Al world, besides indefinite thousands of old notes that have been cancelled and are on their way to destruction. and iu the neigborhood of four hundred million dollars iu registered bonds, which are left as security for the national bank circulation, and are of no value excent 10 the banks ln whose names they are registered, or to the United States. But sltor as5ing to that part of the building is not stopped by any grim .visaged guard, but is allowed the same privilege to walk through the cor. riders as he had where there was nothing more valuable than appointments or de- cislons lie IS even allowed to walk out on the balcony above the cash-room and look at the men handling the money that IS taken out of the vaults for use during the day. While walking around this bal cony admiring the marble paneled walls they are at one time very ne2r vaul. that is loaded down with wealth. They may even lean with their packs against it, but they don't know it. More than this, 1t is not difficult for the visitor to get pass that will admit him into the very vaults themselves, and he can stand in the immense iron and steel rooms, sur rounded by piles of money, which, if it fall on him, would crush him to death. Or the visitor may be allowed to go into beautiful little vault and be permitted to hold package of two or three millions in his hand for moment Besides all this there is huge vault in the south end of the building known as the registers vault, which at times has many millions In unsigned bonds in it.
 It must not be presumed from the fact that bolts and bars and guards arc not visible that no precautions are taken agains. robbery. It is the conciousness of perfect safety that makes them so easy The vaults are about the strongest and best toat the ingenuity of man could con- trive, and they are very carefully guarded They are made of chilled iron and steel. and are as near being imrenetrable as safes can be made Their double steel docrs aye locked with time locks in the night. In the day time these are opened and the entrance closed with a steel erat- ing, near which the custodian stands with his key. It might seem very easy to knock this man down, take his key from him and bag the wealth, but 1t wouldn't be at all easy. You would have to pass through great many iron gra.- ings, where large number ot respons- ible employees are assembled, to get at S some official, and there would not be more than two or three of you go in at a time, where there would be half dozen good men to deal with you if you didn't act right. lt you succeeded in getting away with all of these, you wouldn't have tiEnc to get out before the whole treasury watch would be on hand to receive you ifyou had "pals in the corridors ready to join you in fight with these, and you killed them all of, the district police force would have time to get there before you could do it, and if you were very hard to whip, a file of soldiers and gat. ling gun might be brought to bear on you by way of recruits.
 In this way the money and bonds are safe during the day. In the night the vaults are locked up with time locks that can't be opened again till morning, and all the clerks and officials are away, the building being left to force of watch