Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1894-03-30
NEW VAULTS ARE NEEDED.


NO"eAo5 AsAou AoE M appropriation Tor
That Purpose.
WASHINGTON, March 21.-The appro-
prations committee of the house has
been studying burglars methods with a
view to the reconstruction Of the vaults
IN the treasury here and the vaults at
the sub-treasuries in other parts of the
country. The treasury department has
been trying for years to persuade con.
gress to make an appropriation for this
purpose. The secretary of the treasury
does not want the reconstruction done
all at once. He wants one vault at
time attended to. So, while the ulti-
mate expense will be very great, the i'm
mediate appropriation will be compare
lively small. The government com mis-.
sion which examined the treasury vaults
two years ago reported that vault No.
the principal silver vault, js of "abso-
lntely no Value as protective construc.
tion." The anne commission condemn ned
IN almost as strong terms six of the other
seven vaults, and said that vault No. 2
should simply be kept long enough to cat
the other vaults replaced or reconstructed.
The safes in the redemption bureau
which are used for the storage of small
quantities of money at night, are of the
pattern OF the last generation, and thew
Also snOulu De replaced.
1t is probable that the members of the
appropriations committee have learned
more about burglar methods through the
study OF this problem of vault construc.
ton than they ever knew before. The
secretary OF the treasury has laid all the
facts before them in detail. Usually the
authorities shroud the methods Of crimi.
nails with as much mystery as possi-
BILE, in the belief that the publication of
the details of their work may help to
educate other criminals. The commits
sion which was appointed to investigate
the vaults OF the treasury told the secre-
tary that burglar methods were so we'll
known that no publicity given to them
could be made to serve any bad purpose.
80 the commissions report, which the
house committee has been considering.
Is perfect textbook in vault burglary.
Four methods OF attack are used by the
modern vault burglar. The simplest of
these is to drill the walls or door of a
vault and obtain access to the locks or
bolts 80 that the door can be unlocked
from the inside. The second il to strip
of layer by layer the steel and iron
sheets OF which modern vaults are made.
The third is to employ an explosive
in some part easy of attack and to de- |
stroy the LOCKS, break open a door or |
break or weaken the walls of a vault. |
The fourth is to compel the officer in
charge OF the combination of a vault to
open the door.
There is no such thing as "burglar-
proof vault or safe. Experiments as
we'll as practical experience have shown
hat there is no form Of construction vet
ievised which is capable of resisting
burglars tools. The principal safeguard
against burglary is that on which the
reasury department has relied for many
'ears-the multiplicity of the guards
bout the vaults. Next to that the great
'st security is in the construction of a
'anlt whose walls will be 80 difficult of
that before the burglar can
Jet clear through he will be discovered.
,ut when set OF burglar equipped with
inely-tem pered drills has an entire NIGHT
'ndisturbed in which to get inside a
'ault there is no vault yet constructed
which is proof against them.