The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-04-09
COUNTING THE CASH.
GOLD AND SILVER IN GREAT BULK
TO BE TRANSFERRED


and Paper Money VIII be Handed
over to the New Treasurer-Trouble
in Guarding the Golfers of the Ma
tion-Why 1t Gould Not Pay to Rob
Them.
From The Washington Star.
The new treasurer Of the United States will
assume the guardianship Of empty Golfers. In
appearance they are full 70 overlooking. Who,
in walking around that great box Of silver coin
in the sub basement of the treasury build
ing which contains 100000 big round
dollars would imagine that Uncle sam
was we'll nigh a baukrupts 1t is a mass of pre-
cious metal 100 feet long, 60 feet wide and Il
feet high-the stuff done I'D in bags Of $1,000
each and inclosed in wooden boxes 10 keep the
damp from getting at their contents. Close by
is a vault with door like that Of a safe, in
which are stored $4,000. 900 more of silver dol
lars and S25, 100000 in shining yellow gold. How
is it possible that the owner Of all this wealth
can be poor?
Alas this giitering wealth is not the prop
eTty of the government. Nearly every penny
Of it is moTtgaged IL simply represents the
cash basis for paper promises TO pay which
Uncle sam has issued in the shape of notes and
certificates, II the holders of these documents
should all present them at once and demand
their coin the treasury w0uld be left bare. The
box of iron lattice work containing the 1913 0O0,
would be called into requisition to sweep stray
gold pieces out Of the corners Of the gold vault
to satisfy impatient creditors. The agents in
charge of the sub-treasuries in various cities
would be compelled to turn their official pockets
inside out, and even the minis would be oc-
cuped in transforming every available gold and
silver brick into pices of legal tender money.
In short, after paying its debts, the 90 vern-
ment would have almost nothing left, Uncle
Sam has been living beyond his income a the
new treasurer will find himself IN the position
Of az hot hoe fabo aoe h4 far
of a spendthrift at a low ebb His first task
will be to count the assets, to make sure that
not cent is missing The Job is no trnng one.
The gold and silver coin to be reCROned alone
amounts to 900 tons, and there are hundreds OF
millions Of dollars in paper to be thumbsd over
and computed note by note. II some accident
should fetch Mr. NebeRer out short he would
have to 60 down in his clothing for the amount.
1t is recorded that one of his predecessors IN
office had TO return cents that was missing.
In another instance Slg could not be found and
weeks elapsed before the missing coins we're
swept out OF a corner of one of the vaults.
They had got loose through hole in a money
sack.
WEIGHING TIE COINS.
A great deal OF labor ia saved by weighing the
CONS, instead of counting them piece by piece,
One taousand shtuing dollars, fresh from the
mint, re poured upon one OF pair of scales,
which are so dec ate that a mustache hair will
incline he balance. On the other side is placed
each bag Of $1,000 in silver. II tbs light the
. contents are empted out and gone over dollar
OF
metal by rubbing together in sacks and small
allowance is made for that. There are 10000
of these bags TO be examined. However, those
OF them which have their seals intact do not
have to be weighed, since this fact renders il
evident that they cannot have been meddled
with since they were last counted. Because the
gold IS so much more precious greater care is
taken IN reckoning it, every sack being put
upon the scale.
The vaults in which all this coined wealth is
Kept are oll-tashioned and OF style quite out
Of Gate In respect TO being burglar proof they
oear comp arson very poorly with the tmpreg-
nable steel-clad struc ures in which sInOteru
safe deposit companies store the valuabIes
placed in their charge. Not long ago and ex-
pert came over from New York and cracked"
one OF Unc.e sans huge money boxes ofT-lani
usilg no other tools than such as are ordinarily
employed in the repairing Of safes. The Fifty
ufsJ congress appointed committee TO find
out why the vaults were not stronger and how
they could be improved, but nothing has been
done. Meanwhile letters are addressed 10 the
department constantly, giving warning of ex-
pected attempts to loot the treasury by various
stratagems Cranks have been sending in such
messages for years, and no attention is paid TO
them.
Certainly it would hardly pay to break into
the coin vaults. The only practicable way of
doing 1t would be to tunnel under the building
from outside such an engineering feat might
be accomplished by starting to dig from the
cellar OF building. To carry the enterprise
through would require large capital Its pro
moters could not afford to touch the silver
though it lay loose ~ bus ready to be shoveled
out. The hefC' Of the metal would render its
removal out of the question. A ton Of it would
only be worth $4,000 I be same weight Of
gold would amount TO S50)O00. But to get
away secretly with such bulk OF anything
would be fairly impossible. The thieves would
have only three or four hours start Of the hue
ana cry. and would be captured to q certainty
Bank burglars constitute the highest grade of
thieves. in respect to I'M diligence They would
never think OF attempting SO Improbable q
crime as robbery Of the treasury If they did
break IN they would cOntiue their attention to
the paper money. One can perhaps imagine a
gang or three or four expert cracksmen in the
cash room at night. They have managed to
conceal themselves in the building during the
day, with the connivance of a couple of cor
rupted watchmen. Silently they steal along
from the cashiers apartment, past the emmy
WIRE cages which are occupied during office
hours by the paying tellers and other assistants
Just beyond is iron room with door like a
sale. II IS a sma affair for them to open it.
once admitted they find themselves in a big
closet with shelves on all sides The shelves
are aced with glass, behind which are millions
OF dollars.
LITERALLY LINED WITH CASH.
The little room is literally lined with cash. It
1t is easy for the visitors TO choose, because the
paper moneyis all done up in packages. each
about foot cube, wrapped in brown paper and
marked IN large red figures with the sum
which 1t contains. In each of them are 900
certificates or notes. These holding s. bills are
labeled $4,000, those C nta ming $40
in which 500 ceruhcates are
wrapped say $780, Coz on the outside Aman
can carry away fortune under his coat in that
shape. There is some satisfaction in robbery
on q Rit-edged basis Ike this On some Of the
shelves and in boxes on rollers on the floor Of
the closet are bags of com and paper roleAux
OF gold and silver pieces, such as the paving
teeTs handle In their windows But such trash
Is not worth touching when wealth SO highly
condensed and readily portable is at hand,
There are only about $2J, 600 900 in this vault
stock kept on hand for immediate use but in
the reserve vault Immediately overhead are
$3OO, 100000 more OF paper.
All OF this sort of cash has to be reckoned
when the new treasurer comes In as well as the
gold and silver. Every note and certificate must
be gone over, 10 make sure there is not a PACK
age which does not contain the full sum marked
upon II The Cubical bundles, each containing
$500 notes, are fetched to the examining room
on little trucks There the seals are broken
and the contents are recEoned over b. the dsft
fingers OF women. II is often asserted that
women have no head for figures but they
count all the paper money for the treasury
from the time when 1t Is printed at the bureau
OF engraving toll final computation. when sent
In worn out for redemption, preliminary TO IT'S
destruction by the maceratOr. II is wonderful
to observe the speed with which the notes and
certificates fly beneath the skilled touch OF
these experts, each of whom makes herself
pecunarily responsible for her accuracy by
signing her name on the outside of every pack
age she manlpulates, which ID thereupon sealed
and put away again.
Talk about riches In a little room! WHY a
package was made up in the treasury awhile
ago which, though only twelve inchea ci,be