The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-03-07
TRANSPORTING TREASURE
COW SILVER AND GOLD ARE SEM
FROM POINT TO POINT
Single Shipments of Millions-Pre-
cautions Taken in Handling Large
Arnounts-CostO OF Transportation


Araounts-Cost OF Transportation
VYTHEN the financial strin
\ III gency began to be serl'
Y Y ously felt the receipts Of
the express company which
handles the Governments treasure in
transit fell off rapidly. Now the busl-
ness has picked up little, because the
Treasury Department is hurrying out
National bank notes to be put into
circulation so as to relieve as much as
possible the scarcity Of small bills.
This National bank currency is Gin
complete" when it leaves the Treasury
| Department, for it lacks the signatures
Of the President and Cashier Of the
bank which is to issue it. Nevertheless
it is classed with the completed cur:
rency issued by the Government, all
if the express company should lose any
IF it in transit it would have to mako
good the loss, just as though it had
lost coin or silver certificates. The
banks pay the same rate for the ship
! ment of this currency as they would
for National bank notes. AS custom
ers of Uncle Sam. though, they pay q
small rate for handling the money. In
some cases it is less than one-fifth 0!
the rate which a private customer O.:
he express company would pay.
The contract for handling the money
shipped by the Government east Of
Utah is held by the United Express
Company. E. T. Platt, who is a son
of ex-senator Patt, of New York (the
President of the company, is in charge
Of the compaty's Government service.
he has charge of it ever since the
United States Company took the con.
tract away from the Adams Express
Company more than four years ago.
The Adams Company received twenty.
five cents $1,000, while the United
States Company receives only ffteer
acents $1,000 in most of the Territory
(which it covers. This rate is for cur
lrency. That is what the Treasury De-
partment ships in the greatest quantity.
| 1.-The rate for silver and gold is much
higher.
For this fifteen cents the express
company guarantees the safe delivery
of the $1,000 at the point of destina-
tion. "Of course, on single ship.
ment of $1,000 we would lose money,
said Mr.. Platt, talking about the Gov.
ernment service few daysago. "Even
in handling large quantities Of money
there is so small q margin of profit
that single big robbery would wipe
out all that we could make under our
contract in years Up to this time we
have lost only $4,000. Part of this
went in a robbery of a part of the con-
tents of two packages out West and
the remainder in the robbery of sack
not far from Washington. In both
cases the work of the robber was SC
carefully concealed that the packages
were accepted by the Treasury De-
par tnent, which gave US a clean re-
ceipt for them in each case. Of course
we made good the loss when the pack
ages were opened and the money YVES
missed"
Small packages Of money are
shipped in bags. Large quantities o1
money going between big terminal
points are put in stationary safes,
which are bolted to the floors OF the
express cars. These safes are usually
not opened from one end of the route
to the other. No one can open them,
because the handle is taken from the
door when the car starts on its jour
nev, and with this handle goessthe
dial of the combination lock. Expert
safe robbers have means of getting
into combination locks; and Of course
it would be possible, by colusion, fo1
the messenger to learn the combina'
tion and so be able to open the safe in
transit. But locked safe, without 8
dial or handle, is puzzle which
has bafaed safe robbers up to this
lime.
Most of Uncle Sans money il
shipped in stationary safes. Nothing
has ever been lost in shipments from
the Treasury Department or any o
its branches. The losses are usually
from packages of mutilated currenc!
,ent in for redemption.
Gold cannot be handled like cu1
rency because of its great weight. Al
the time that so much gold was going
abroad couple of months ago the
Treasury Department was shipping
about a million dollars in gold every
day from Washington to New York.
This gold weighed two tons to the
pillion. One of the portable safes,
aolding abouts2O0, coo in gold, weighs,
when filed, 1900 pounds. These safes
were locked and sealed atthe Treasury
Department. The portable safes have
key locks. A strip of iron slips over
the key hole, and is fastened in place
once with a piece of string, and once
with piece OF wire. A lead seal is
used on the wire, and green Wax sea
IN the string.
To get at the key hole messenge
or q robber would have to break the
seals or cut the string and the wire.
The fact that the safe has been
tampered with would be plainly eTl'
lent to the next person handling it.
The safe, with its 5000, 900 worth Of
gold, having been sealed, is hoisteo
, with a fall and tackle into a "cage''
express wagon-that is, wagon With
wire sides. Anything that occurred
in the wagon would be plainly visible
to persons passing on the street: and