The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1889-04-20
POLICE JURY.
Poceediss of their kast.7 Rssssg.
HahnviIle, April ~, 1859.

!. The Police jury met pursuant ito
adjournment in fuli quorum.
The minutes were read and approved.
The Committee appointed TO visit
elmer, Upshur County, Texas, sub.
united the following report, which was
read and received, viz :-Ss.t: a&s: ~ J..
To the Hon. the President. and Members
ofthe Posice Jury Parish Of ST. Charles.
Gentlemen:
Your special Committee appointed
to inspect the Fire proof record vaults
|,construcnd by the Diebold Safe and
Lock Company of Canton, Ohio, In the
Stateof Texas. q,
Respectfully report. -. -
That in company with Mr. W. II.
Garretson special agent of saidcompany,
the undersigned members Of said COM
mittee repaired to the city of 'patlas and
inspected personally the tire proof vaults
erected in the North Texas National
Bank building and In the Dallas Savings
Bank, and found them In every respect
fire proof as represented.
Then repairing 10 Denton the County
seat of Denton County and in the Court
honse of said County your committee
examined the are proof record vault
Courthouse. This record vault is SINH
lar to that suggested for the Courthouse
of this Parish though smaller. In the
same Courthouse there are two other
brick vaults which not being considered
by the authorities of said County as fire
proof, the authorities concluded not to
use them as repositories for the archives
Of the County and contracted with the
Diebold Safe and Lock Company for he
erection of the vault above referred to.
I'VE will here state that some ten or
twelve years ago;S the archieves of the
County as we'll assxhe Courthouse were
destroyed by fire, which caused endless
litigation to the County and large ex-
penditures of money. Tins vault like
those seen in Dallas are absolutely tire
proof, and those qualities are attested to
by all the officers Of the County with
whom we had personal interviews
privately and out Of the presence Of Mr..
Gxrretson the agent 3
The committee then repaired to Gill
mer in Upshur County in Texas, and
although an agent and representative of
LMr. Garretson accompanied this COM
fnittee the committee took advantage of
fthe temporary absence Of said agent and
l,repaired alone TO the ruins ofthe County
court of Upshur which was destroyed by
| fire on the night of. the 25th
November 1883, less than forty-eighf
hours after the completion of the record
vault in said Courthouse, and there
standing in the midst of the debris your
committee found the record vault
| referred to standing on its own founda-
ton in q perfect state of preservation
with the exception of enc part Of the
tide Of said vault which was not pro-
tected by q brick wall and which ape
I, peafed little bulged out or warped pre-
sumsbly caused by vapors occasi0ned BY
the heat upon the moist cement or fire
proof fiiitng which had not yet sufii4
ciehtiy dried. The other evidence of
damage was the singing of the outer
! door of the vault and the melting
1nufaotusad of softer metals.
Upon arriving 1t the ruins as aforesaid,
and before said vault lad been inspectetf'
inside by the committed various citizens,
living in the immediate neighhorhood
of the Courthouse were Interviewed by
/ by this committee whose mission WAS
unknown to them and their statements
as to the origin of the fire and the perfect
preservation of the records and achieves
contained in said vault c0ncarred in
establishing beyond cayn the absolute
tre proof properties Of said vault and
the perfect state of preservation in which
the archieves were found when the
vault was opened, some forty-eight:
hours; after the fire the vault remaining
in the mean time buried III the hot
smouldering ruins Of che building. ~. y
Later In the day the District cietk Of
Upshur County having been found ac-
companied your committee and opened
said vault for its inspection and con-
CURED in the statement previously made
to us by other disinterested citizens as
to the perfect condition of the records
and the vault inside at the time it as
first opened after the fire. 1t may be
stated here that although said vault had
been completed. 1t had not vet been
turned over by the builders and ac-
ceptcd by the County authorities, and
Notwithstanding that fact, the County
accepted said vault in the condition it
was after the fire. and paidfor same,
thereby showing their. absolute conf
dence In its fire proof properties. The
foundation of q new Courthouse are
now being laid around the vault. Your
committee conclude from their personal
fAnSpfctlQu Oh tue ABOVE WOrkS OF Sal0
Diebold tSafe and Lock Company that
they are most eminently. useful and safe
| for the protection of public archieves
and your committee further strongly
recommend the erection of similar
vault in the Courthouse Of this parish.
When 1t is considered that the Court
house of this parish is not fire proof and
that IL contains records and archives
affecting the titles OF all real property in
this parish and these documents bearing
date upwards of one hundred and fifty
years ago. the preservation Of which
alone is of the highest importance, the
accommodation of the committee will be
readily appreciated by the people of the
| parish -.
Respectfully submitted,
A. Z. PICARD.
e -. :fsJs. B. MARTIN.
The undersigned AZ the special invitation
ana soticttatioh of w! II. 6arettson, Esp, nc.
cofnpanied the above committee on It's mis-.
sion and WIS present at the inspections and
iuteyviews .hsreinahpve. referred to and con-
ours in the Recommendations OF said com.
CHAR1Es a. BAQuIE,
81 srasa,ss 81 Legal ADVISER Police Jury.
| Mr.. GAsaEp, offered the following resolution
Rnnafvxsda fkaaf dem nj hfa Police