The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-07-08
ALADDTNTS- CAVE.
WHERE THE TREASURES OF THE
WEALTHY ARE STORED.
A Vault Which no Burglar Can DemoIi>h-
Structure Against Which the Mob
May Rage in Vain-The
Inside.
New York Sun:1


i The vast fortunes IN stocks and bonds OF
( the millionaiTes of the city are not stored in
the brown-stone dwellings of tie avenue
/ The thin walls, black walnut doors. anc
easily picked locks of those houses y,oul
offer little resistance against the violence o.
q mob OF the ingenuity of a burglar The
days when skillful cracksmen could capture
large quantities of valuable property In rich
mems homes have almost passed away
Taught by experience, OF admonishei by
example, persons with porta BILE valua bies
have been forced to seek places of storage
and security. Within nearly the last dozen
OF years there have sprung up III answer 20
that demand buildings of massive struc .ure
and exceptional strength All that invent
i've genius could discover or money COM
mand has been employed to render these
places fire and burglar proof There are
many OF them scattered through the CITY
from Wall street to Harlem, all agreeing
in their main features of massive strength
and inspiring solility. These are known a,
safe deposit vaults. They usually occupy
the ground floor of some stanch frs-proof
structure, and the mass Of locks bars, bolts,
combinations and burglar-resisting con-
trivances is really wonderful.
A description of one uptown near the
center of the city will answer for the rest.
Entering from the street you pass up to a
wall of solid steel bars, every bar as thick
as mans wrist, and twelve or fifteen feet
high. These firmly fastened to each
other and into the stone floor and across
them is placed a stout wire screen Two
keen eyes sharply survey you from the in
terSticeS of the screen If their owner is /
impressed favorably there is clicking of
locks rafting of bolts and slowly the /
ponderous iron gate swings back Next YOU 4
fall into the hands of the superintendent |
who gives you another keen survey and |
then, unlocking an iron wicket ushers you /
into the t.. Two massive doors. each !
nearly eight inches thick stand aiar Each
of the three Ell RANGES is double doored and
every door is secured by time and combna-
ton locks and six large bolts of steel Leav-
ing the daylight with the outside world and
passing into the interior the brightly burn
ing gas jets reveal a Iow-ceiled, square
apartment. The floor is stone, iron, and
cement; the ceiling is iron, and four iron
walls are concealed behind four rows of iron
safes This is the tire asurs house of Van Ter
bilt. Human skill could not build it stronger;
mortal genius has not welled steel and stone
into firmer combination
When ones eyes become accustomed to
the light of this iron chamber one perceives
that the surface of the walls is divided into
little squares of various sizes. The depositor
inserts thin key of curious make in one of
the squares. He begins to haul on the
square, and it lengthens out into an oblong
=, - hrx nearly three feet long and divided
80 80 oo,,,,1o l+1-3aepts These boxes are nova
e, and may be taken Out t - brought into
private room, where in the st440DctesC prl-
ICY the contents of the box may be exam - y
ed Other safes are firmly fastened into 90
q wall, and have changeable combination q
cks. The locks of the outside doors of the +
lults are both time and combination locks -,
Id the time locks are so arranged that tn -
,ors once closed, cannot be opened until
clock in the morning. Outside and inside [s
lea dozen persons are within earshot, u
Id could easily hear the slightest unusual Dt
,ise. 1t is calculated that if by any acct ~
mt the locks should all get out of order, it q q
ould require more than four days of con- -
ant labor to effect an entrance. ID
These vaults contain almost every variety II
valuable property-gOld and silver cOin =
diamonds and other precious 81
ones, bonds, deeds and valuable papers of VI
-ery description. Families breaking up u
ousekeeping and removing or going abroad, -
e obliged TO store their plate and valuables a.
r safety's sake Mr.. w H. Vanderbilt y
Is an immense amount of property stored II
this way and frequently goes to the vault =
cut off the interest coupons of his bonds IL
it'll his own fingers, or to read the tally of his
,lden hoard in all the seClusion that this ~
One-steel vault can grant. Private papers "
immense value lie there in perfect secur q
Y. Lawyers use the little safes as deposi 70 -
ries for important papers, and the key to =.
any bitter litigation IS locked up within a.
ose walls. Many fashionable ladies keep a.
cir jewels there, take them out for an VI
enng and putting them back the nsxt ~
orning. Watchmen guard the vaults .,
thin and without, and that all-potent ."
,eut. electricity, protects them by ingenious -
stems of bells and alarms. Even should
OBJ set out to pillage and destroy the city, "
would rage in vain against these ironclad p
ructures. The companies generally guar q q
ltee the safety of goods left in their care, y
Id charge only q few dollars year for all ~
is boiling, barring and unceasing vigilance. %
small box costs $50 or $50. From that Le
cure the rental OF the boxes runs up into "a
9 hundreds but all have the same measure y
protection. -