Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-11-21

shoes. put on a pair CO carpet slippers.
der to satisfy hin.s elf that the Watchmen
Were performing their duty. He hadn't
glided twenty feet from the door of his
own room before he heard a Haiti that
sounded like the swapping of loose jib.
Ten feet ahead of him a man had bead
on his heart with q gun, whose muZZle
looked bigger than that of a fifteen-inch
smoothbore. The treasurers hands went
up.
Not guilty: search me-" said he. I'm
the treasurer"
He Did His Duty.
Treasurer. your" replied the watch
man. Il don't know that Never saw the
gentleman Don't know who you may be-
But whoever you are, you're going to stand
right there IN that spot with your hands
up until l find out your name, address, oc-
cLration, and present disinterestedness."
Then he touched an electric button. The
treasurer OF the United States stood in his
undiSnified position for about half a min
ute He could not be convinced afterward
that he had not examined the foresight of
the watchman's gun for at least an hour
The lieutenant of the watch then appear
ed. identified him. and he was permitted to
enjoy the circulation Of blood in his arms
again.
Why said he the next day. that fell
low might have shot me-
Certainly" said the captain of the
watch, complaisantly.
All of winch tends to show that there
are easier things il life than to make a
haul at the Treasury Department. sup
posing a man o. acquisitive frame of mind
has meditatCd such a scheme. mon. the
old Treasury Department watchmen there
is d tradition that the lamented Jesse
James made seven distinct tours on seven
separate occasions, of the Treasury De-
pafUmeEt, with an eye to business This
legend they relate to visitors who after
having handled a package of greenbacks
said to contain $5,.Ou,UOU. are willing to
believe nythlng. As Mr.. James never held
up the treasury Department. and his emf
nent biographers emphatcally state that
ne never penetrated east of the Aueghauy
mountains, the legend probably belongs to
the cnerry tree and Ratchet type.
A Trip at Midnight.
In order to make his midnight tour of the
treasury, The Star reporter was Obliged to
procure very much signed and counter
signed pass No enc Is admitted to the
building after o'clock In the afternoon
without one of these passes If the Sec
rotary of the Treasury should present him
SELF al the main door for admittance at five
minutes past t. having left his pass in one
of the pockets of his other clothes at
home and not he recognized he would
nave 10 60 home after 1t before he
could get in This happened to Secretary
Roger on two occasions. and both times he
commended the captain of the watch for
his zeal in following orders
IN all there are seventy guardians of the
treasury under the direction of a captain
and two lieutenants of the watch Cant
r ). Talbert is the present head of the
force Nearly all of the watchmen are men
VINO We're In the war as mere boys and are
therefore now in the prime of life. They
are thoroughly trained and reliable men
Very few treasury watchmen have been
discharged for negligence since the founda-
ton of the government. The possibility of
raid upon the treasury is regarded as re-
mote. but the watch force Is disciplined to
stand by for such raid at any time.
Precautions Are Observed
To observe the fashion with which the
night watchmen cover their posts. It
might easily be thought that the secret
service is in constant receipt of information
as to contemplated treasury robberies. Yet
never a dollar has ever been taken from
the treasury by force. sneak thief once
got in his work to the extent Of $50 900 in
bills, which he expertly plucked from one
OF the tables in the redemption division
But there has never been a hold-up.
The secret service knows that many cele-
brateu cracksmen, including Little Jim
my Hope who successfully pulled off the
great Manhattan Bank robbery, have from
time to time contemplated the conversion
OF a few millions of treasury money to their
private use, but they all thought better of
II. They decided the undertaking to be of
too colossal a character
Down to the incumbency of Secretary
Folger there would, It Is claimed, have been
no great difficulty for accomplished and
Eervy cracksmen of the first rank to have
done good bit of nightwork In the big
marble cash repository of the government.
When Mr.. Folger took the reins Of the
treasury there was not an electrical alarm