The Portland daily press., 1893-04-15
LOCKED UP In GLOOM.
Where Moths Cannot Corrupt Nor
Thieves Steal In.
Enormous Wealth In Storage vaults-Hun-
dreds of Millions of Dollars In Rich
Jewels, Rare Paintings and Profitable
Bonds Deposited.
[speoial Correspondence.l

NEW > Ofsh. April lO.--I TOIll $OUU,VUU,-
900 to 5000, 600, 900 worth Of private prop
erty is constantly housed in few great
storage warehouses in New York. This
property includes every conceivable ar
ticle OF movable nature, from house
furniture to diamonds. The earlier stor-
age warehouses were places in which
persons temporarily vacating their homes
might store furniture that they did not
care to rent or sell. The modern storage
warehouse is not only this, but to hun
dreds it is purse, Jewel casket, treasure
house and club.
The safe deposit feature of the storage
business is picturesque development
growing directly out Of the enormous ac-
emulation of wealth in few hands. A
great trunk in the basement of one such
warehouse bears upon its face the magic
initials, &c. v" It's list, of depositors
would sound like the roll OF Ward Meal
listers Four Hundred. One house alone
is believed to contain upward of $780,
100000 worth of property. Household
furniture and paintings and the like
make up small percentage of this sum.
Down in the lowest basement are the
silver vaults, the trunk rooms and rows
upon rows of little safe deposit boxes.
A box inches square and Is inches long
may contain fortune
One man whose wealth is estimated at
$50 900 rented such box for his
wife and placed in it e100, 900 in Bank
of England notes, saying that whatever
happened to him or the United States
she was sure Of fortune. The lady
complained, however, that the sum was
insufficient to maintain her in the state
to which she was accustomed, and &C
cordingly the husband placed in the box
deeds to block of houses. Again the
lady complained, and deeds to another
block of houses were added. The box
finally contained probably three times
the value of its original 100000.
One of the most curious Developments
of the storage business is the use of these
houses by wealthy women as jewel cas-
kets. Many women in New York pos
sess jewels of such value that it is
deemed unsafe to keep them at home
Accordingly miladi rents box in the
safe deposit department Of storage
warehouse and deposits her jewels
alongside the diamonds and mortgages
of her neighbors. Some of the handsom-
est jewels that are seen on opera nights
spend their days amid the gloom of the
storage house vaults. At the storage
house but two persons possess keys to
the safe deposit vaults, and time locks
make it impossible that they enter save
during business hours. Miladi receives
two keys to her box, and she may give
by power of attorney permission of
access to whom she will. When the
jewels are needed, miladi comes herself
or sends her maid with proper creden-
tials and a list of the jewels needed They
are carried home to fash in the lights of
single entertainment and are returned
next day to the safe oblivion of the
strongbox.
A list is kept Of all persons having
right of access to any private box. One
woman Of great wealth has three such
boxes. To one she admits her husband;
to another her maid; to a third access is
denied to all save the lady herself. One
man keeps as much as $15, 900 in cash on
deposit. He makes the box his great
purse and takes from it and replenishes
it as he would a pocketbook.
Many depositors treat the storage
house as though it were club. They
have their business letters addressed
there and forwarded whithersoever they
will. They make appointments and dis
cuss business matters in the cozy little
private apartments provided for that
purpose. Each apartment is furnished
with chairs, desk, ink, pens, writing pa
per. When the deposition enters with his
box, he displays on the door of the COM
partment a painted sign, Occupied, and
locking the door on the inside is secure
from intrusion. Two maiden ladies who
had thus retired presently called an en-
ployee of the house to help them cut off
coupons. The polite man readily COM
piled, but found himself busted for three
hours in the task.
Some one at the storage house must
know by sight every one of the deposit
ors, and their number often runs up to
500. Some of them visit the house fire.
quently; some only once in two or
three years. The identiier at one of the
great storage houses finds that he can
make sure Of a persons identity if only
the face be exposed from eyebrow to tip
of nose. Sometimes depositors amuse
themselves by attempting to deceive
him. One man came after an absence of
three years and denied his own identity.
He abandoned the pretense, however.
when the identifier coolly declared his
readiness to take all risk of loss arising
from the visitors obtaining access to his
box. A lady disguised herself in the
dress of her sister, depositor, and tried
to obtain access to the sisters box, but
acknowledged the deception when the
ldentifier asked for her signature.
E. N. VALLANDIGHAM.