The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1886-12-18
THE U. S. TREASURY.


A Great Structure Where Hundreds o
Mnlioas Of Bonds, Bank Notes and Col.
Are kspt-A Hard Days Work.
At New York we took the Baltimor,
q Ohio railroad, and SO one nigh
found ourselves in the depot at Wash.
ington. the capital Of our country.
While the baggage was being attended
to, we took time to look at the room
where President Garfield was shot.
There is gilt star in the marble floor,
and above it an eagle. with the state
ment that the President stood there
when he was shot But by this time
our carriage is ready. and we must 90.
am sure we are very glad to get into
more comfortable beds than the rail-
road furnishes. and sleep soundly till
morning.
As we have but short time to STAY.
our chief business must be sightseeing.
There is the Capitol, the White House,
the Treasury, the War and Navy De-
partments, the place where paper
money and stamps are printed, Wash
ington monument and many other
things. But this morning we will go
to the treasury, where all the United
States money and bonds are kept
my! what q great building it is!'
you say. And indeed it looks pretty
large and strong, with its stone walls.
and great pillars, and heavy doors.
Fortunately for us, we have = friend
who will introduce us to one of the
officers of the building. and he will
give us pass that will admit us to
many interesting places.
The first thing we notice is the inn.
possibility of the building burlington
and stone walls and floors. How MANY
clerks there are too! women running
their fingers through bills as fast as
you could draw q stick along picket
fence. Suppose one of those women
should make even q little mistake in
counting while she is going SO fastP
She would lose her position, and her
salary, am afraid. They have to be
very careful, with so much money to
attend to. Here is q little room no
bigger than good-sized clothespress,
and with just as many shelves. They
are filled with papers-U United States
bonds
How many dollars worth are there
nereP'' you ask of the man who is show.
ing us through.
about . hundred million" he saws.
Now don't open your eyes too wide,
'r you will hurt them. It is a great
amount for such q small place, isn't
tt Don't you wish you had as much
n your clothespressP
Now we win 20 into another clothes
press, OF ns0ney-press. as we might |
ay. where instead Of bonds, these are
cal bills. with figures on them show
ng the amount they are worth. These
re done up in packages of half a mill
ION dollars apiece, and as the GENTLE
nan who was showing us through put
wo OF these packages into my arms, l |
ave been millionaire, for about fif- |
cen seconds, and have experienced
'reat losses In this room there ara
nany millions of dollars. too. But we
aust 60 to the next Here there are
ags ON the floor tied up and labeled.
is where the gold is kept. Here is .
az marked ten thousand dollars, and
am going to try to lift it, but It
'eighs too much. 1 am inclined to
link no thief would carry of one Of
hose bags, Il he got chance.
Now we are in long hail, and on
thor side the walls arc of heavy iron.
hese are safes and have, many of
lem, ''time-iocks," which will open
My 30 many hours after they are set.
nee one of these locks was set good
ay ahead, and they were anxious to
pen it, so they got a man to drill
trough the iron, and it is 20 thick that
took him considerably over aday toget
trough. doing his best. So even Il
lief had the right tools. could not get
rough in q night Rdnsy