Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-25

USR0SSM, flowing. Who, In walk
6XS<9M INV ing around that grea
#E,A. box Of silver coin il
CTkn the endorsement Of tn
HSr treasury building which
| contains SO, O00, 900 BIZ
round dollars woulc
imagine that Uncle San
| was well nigh q bankrupt? 1t is mass of pre-
cious metal 100 feet long, 80 feet wide and 1!
feet high-the stuff done up in bags Of 81 900
| each and inclosed in wooden boxes to keep thu
damp from getting at their contents Close b,
! Is vault with q door like that Of a SAFE il
which are stored 81, OOO, 600 more Of silver dol
| lars and s26, 000. 900 in shining yellow gold
How is it possible that the owner of ali THU
! wealth can be poor?
Alas! this glittering wealth is not the property
OF the government Nearly every penny OF il
is mortgaged. 1t simply represents the cash
basis for paper promises to pay which Uncle
Sam has issued in the shape of notes and Ger.
tticates. II the holders of these documents
should all present them at once and demand
their coin the treasury would be left bare. The
box of iron lattice work containing the S93 OOO
GOO in silver would be emptied, and brooms
would be called into requsition to sweep stray
gold pieces out of the corners Of the gold
vault to satisfy impatient creditors. The agents
IN charge Of the subtreasuries in various cities
would be compelled to turn their official pock-
cts inside out, and even the minis would be
occupied in transforming every available gold
and silver brick into pieces Of legal tender
money.
In short after paying its debts, the govern
ment would have almost nothing left. Uncle
Sam has been living beyond his income and
the new treasurer will find himself in the posi-
ton OF an attorney who takes charge of the
affairs of spendthrift at low ebb. His first
task will be to count the assets, to make sure
that not cent is missing. The Job is no tri-
fling one. The gold and silver coin to be reck-
oned alone amounts to 1000 tons, and there are
hundreds of millions of dollars in paper to be
thunbed over and computed note by note. II
some accident should fetch Mr.. Nebeker out
short he would have to 60 down into his cloth
ing for the amount. 1t 10 recorded that one of
his predecessors in Office had to refund three
cents that was missing. In another instance
sls could not be found, and weeks elapsed be-
fore the missing coins were swept out Of q cor
ner Of one Of the vaults. They bad got loose
through hole in q money sack.
wKIaH1Sa TIE COINS
A great deal Of labor is saved by weighing the
coins, instead Of counting them piece by piece
One thousand shining dollars, fresh from the
mint, are poured upon one Of pair Of scales,
which are SO delicate that mustache hair will
incline the balance. On the other side is placed
each bag of 81 900 in silver. II 1t is light the
contents are emptied out and gone over dollar
by dollar. Pieces Of money lose some Of their
metal by rubbing together in sacks and small
allowance is made for that. There are $50. 900
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 it
evident that they cannot have been meddled
with since they were last counted. Because the
gold is 30 much more precious greater care is
taken in reckoning it, every sack being put
upon the scales.
The vaults in which all this coined wealth Is
kept are old-fashioned and Of style quite out
OF date. In respect to being burglar proof they
bear comparison very poorly with the impreg-
uable steel-clad structures in which modern
safe-deposit companies store the valuables
placed in their charge. Not long ago an ex-
pert came over from New York and ''cracked'
one Of Uncle Sans huge money boxes off,
hand. using no other tools than such as are
ordinarily employed in the repairing of Safes
The Fifsy-hrst 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 ad-
dressed to the department constantly. giving
warning Of expected 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 it would be to tunnel under the building
from outside. Sucn 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 in bins ready to be shoveled
out. The 'heft'' of the metal would render it's
removal out of the question. A ton of it would
only be worth S24, 600. The same weight of
gold would amount to $500, OOO But to get
away secretly with such a bulk of anything
would be fairly impossible. The thieves would
have only three or four hours start of the hue
and cry, and would be captured to a certainty
Bank burglars constitute the highest grade
OF thieves, in respect to intelligence. They
would never think Of attempting SO unprofit-
able crime as a robbery of tine treasury II
they did break in they would confne their at
tention to the paper money. One can perhaps
imagine gang of three or four expert cracks
men 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 corrupted watchmen. Silently they
steal along from the cashiers apartment. past
the empty wire cages which are occupied dur
ing office hours by the paying tellers and other
assistants. Just beyond is an iron room with q
door like a safe. 1t is a small affair for them
to open it. Once admitted they find themselves
IN big closet with shelves on all Sides The
shelves are faced with glass, behind which are
millions of dollars.
LITERALLY LINED WITH CASH.
The little room is literally lined with cash. 1t
| is easy for the visitors to choose, because the
paper money is all done up in packages, each
about foot cube, wrapped in brown paper
and marked in large red figures with the sum
which it contains. In each Of them are 1000
certificates or notes. Those holding $5 bills
are labeled $4,000 those containing $40 notes
are marked $40,00 and those in which $I00
certificates are wrapped say $500, 10000 on
the outside. A man can carry away
fortune under his coat in that
shape. There in some satisfaction in robbery
on gilt-edged basis like this. On some of
the shelves and in boxes on rollers on the floor
OF the closet ape bags Of coin and paper roleaux
OF gold and silver pieces, such as the paying
| tellers handle at their windows. But such trash
Is not worth touching when wealth SO highly
condensed and readily portable is at hand.
There are only about S25, 900 900 in this vault
o stock kept on hand for immediate use, but in
the reserve vault immediately overhead are
$500 ,000, 900 more Of paper.
All Of this sort Of cash has to be reokoned
when the new treasurer comes in, as well as the
gold and silver. Every note and certificate
must be gone over, to make sure that there ia
not q package which does not contain the full
sum marked upon it. The cubical bundles,
each containing 1000 notes, are fetched to the
examining room on little trucks. There the
seals are broken and the contents are reckoned
over BY the deft fingers Of women. It il often
asserted that women have no head for figures,
bot they count all the paper money for the
treasury. from the time when it Is printed at