St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-06-27

u. ----~ Gov
the iron work Of this vault tcgethee
and the lattice had TO be very strong q
the silver is very heavy. Tho amount
Of silycr now in the vault weighs over
5000 tons. and you could put these soo..
100000 ON one 6de Of the scale and s..
900 men weighing each $50 pounds on
the other side, and the silver would
outweigh them. Il would take It's
freight cars to carry this silver 70 the
seacoast II America should 30 con.
quered by England and this treasury
vault looted =
The silver dollars in this vault would
carpet IN area Of more than 80 acres.
and II they were piled ono upon an
other. they would make . solid column
Of silver more than $50 miles high A
million dollars OF silver Is no small
quantity. and when you have so. .ooo..
600. your vault has to DO as strong as
stone and iron can make it And still
this is only . small part Of the coin In
this treasury, and there Is another vault
which contains $50. OK. 900 moro Of sill
yer and SEQ. OK. 900 in gold
In addition to this there are millions
In greenbacks. in silver certificates and
In bonds, and the men who could rob
the treasury would indeed possess
wealth beyond the dreams of avarice
The question as to whether the treas
ury could be robbed has often been dis
cussed There is no doubt but that
many of the vaults are far behind the
times in their safety appliances. and
there are hundreds of cracksmen in the
country who could open them
1t would. however. be q very brave
man who would attempt TO rob the
treasury. A tunnel might be dug from
near the Potomac river un-
der the treasury building. but the rob
bers would have to drill through door
of cement and chilled steel. and they
would have to have . railroad 70 carry
away the silver in order to make it pay
After they had taken few thousand
dollars the bags and boxes containing
the remainder would turn about with
such noise Is to apprise the treasury
guards of their action. and as these
guards arc on hand day and night Il
would be almost impossible TO get any
thing to speak of without discovery
There might be . combination with the
guards and . fortune in grecnbacks or
silver certificates taken. but these are
all numbered and the thieves would be
sure to be identified -
There are GO guards in the treasury
and these are divided into
different watches They have to salute
each other from time to time. and .
whistle would bring an army Of guards
to any part Of the treasury at any mo-
ment
Not long ago the treasurer attempted
70 SO down into the vaults to SEQ
the men werc on duty He sud-
denly found a barrel Of cold steel at his
head, and the guard who held the other
end of the revolver made him stand
still and hold up his hands lie said
that he was the treasurer Of the United
States. but the very polite watchmao
with the revolver said that might all be.
but he did not know the treasurer, and
be would have to wait until he called
onc Of the other guards to identify him
He then gave . whistle. The other
guards rushed up. and the treasurer
was released II is BY no means safe
hing for even the treasurer 70 60
around about the vaults at midnight
It would seem to be an easy thing 70
get away with some Of the greenbacks
,f the treasury Still with millions
,n hand and with NO apparent guards
10 speak of, Uuclc Sam seldom has
oss Il is almost incredible that year
lfter year these one and two thousand
iollar clerks 20 on handling millions
md still there Is no leaking and no
visited the cash vault OF
he treasury the other day. and saw
pile upon pile Of greenbacks al practic-
lily In charge Of one man. and there
we're millions Of dollars represented by
hem. l was shown half dozen small
packages Of bills which could have been
into . cigar boz and which
wers worth &5o0.o0o. A held them
n my hand the amount was 50 great
md the pile % small that could not
ealize' its immcnsity. was shown
;ingle notes that represented $40. .000.
md I stopped in the cash. ro0m end
alked with the fhin-faced young man
Who acts a the receiving tslloc. He
old me he took IN millions Of dollsn . |
lay in checks and cash. aud thatall the |
money in the country. in ono shape OF
mother, came to him. ~.
spent some time In the cash vault
md took . look at the reserve vault
which has something over 81, 900 In
,reenbacks. and then went on into the
'ault where the national bank securf |
les were kept and watched .. young
ouriss caressingiy handle Si.soaOoo IN
,onds. which the keeper Of this vault
howed me. This younf man kspe the
heets Of securities in b hand juss -
onQ a he could, and hS attempted 70
make conversation with his keeper In
rider that he might hold them the
onecr. He win tell when hs gets
omc how he had : million and : halt
olla-s in his hand at one time. and the
yes Of his fellow-citisens win hulgo
ut in envy. .a-r-H
In the story Of Aladdin b told how .
vicked old man made fortuno -
banging old lamps tor new. Tbe peo
lie arc doing thiswiGh Uncle i6am III
be time. Yos can get new greeabeeks
or old ones q the treasury any day,
nd there arc hundreds Of clerks WHO
0 nothing 6nt count old bills 20 thep
p into packages have them -pppehsa
nth holes showing they are not 70 be
sed again. and then cnt il tive. .wiEks
prA. of . ,uoaAex' eleAves - -t9sass !
hem perSeaAlR,Verthaesa - = -s=.fr
Before lesviAg shs tseasuf1 idsqAst