The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-05-24
MODERN CAPT. KIDD.
EXTRACgDINsRY OPP0RTUNITIES
FOR Such 4 PERSON.

Might Accom- DIish-1EiiIiOBs Car
Tied Under the Decks Of the Main
| Saloons of Ocean GreyhOunds.
From the Louisville Courier-JournaL
Billions Of dollars in gold are annually
/ shipped across the Atlantic. Il is known
! TO everybody; no attempt is ever made TO
! conceal either the facJ. or the names Of
I the ships which carry the precious bur
/ den
I On the contrary. whenever a large ship
ment of gold is 10 be sent TO our English
cousins, every paper in our principal cit
/ les ascertains The exact amount day OF
/ two in advance. and publishes the news
/ to the world When a large amount of
gold is TO be shipped from san Francisco
/ 20 New York the greatest secrecy is main
/ tanned until ii has reached its destination.
| NO such sums are ever brought overland
al one une as are sent across the seas,
ana Vet men risk their own lives and de-
hberately sacrifice those OF others in hold
ing up trains supposed 10 carry this golden
treasure and there Is not treasure train
running in the country that is not more
carefully fitted up with "A view 10 disap-
pointing train robbers than the fastest
Atlantic liner afOaJ.
In fact, TO any one who has paid a visit
TO the specie rooms of any Of our modern
ocean greyhounds. and seen the insecurity
OF the same TX seems almost surprising
that there has not come out of the west
| some enterprising gentleman Of the Capt.
Kidd type who. instead of holding uD ex-
press trains for comparatively paltry sums
would equip a steam yacht with Maxim
and other rapid firing guns, and make a
business of holding up transatlantic linz
ers. After breaking open the specie room
few times. he might regale himself with
enough American gold 70 allow him 10 pose
as second Count of Monte CristO for the
remainder of his life. But this, in the
whole history Of steam navigation, has
never been done; strange as it may seem,
I "A "a ny tpl- has
| been lost from specie room on a steam
ship in transit between the eastern and
| western hemispheres, except by wreck or
collision.
There are in reality but few steamships
ahoat to-day which are provided with
! specie rooms that so much as deserve the
name of strong rooms" To say nothing
| of vaults, and among the most lamentable
! farces INDUCED in to-day are the stories
| that have been printed Of late Of the ez-
/ lraordlnary strength Of these receptacles
! for gold, and the length of time it would
/ take a professional burglar to open one
/ It would consume about five minutes of
! odd Biz. Nosburg's time, with his tTusty
/ kit of safe-craclUng tools. to get into the
strongest specie room on board of our
/ transatlantic steamers; for. i'm truth
| they are but little stronger than those
| in which the delicacies in charge of the
/ head steward are stored.
Until about a decade ago all specie
| rooms were located within the mail-rOoms
/ OF ocean steamers. These mail-rooms. al
| most without exception were located
/
/ between the nrSt and second decks, or
| just above the hold. The specie rooms
| were generally MADE of thin boiler iron
/ with door of the same material secured
| with two wrought iron cross-bars which
! were padlocked at the ends in sockets
Inc mail-rOom was as usual thing
| lined with sheet iron over timber on three
! SIDES, while the third side was generally
/ the surface of bulkhead or one of the
| solid iron partitions that separate the
| hulls of all modern steamships into water
a sol 70 of fo-
| ~. The Fuerst Bismarck of the Ham
| burg line is about the only vessel whose
! specie room is located within it's mail
/ room that can make any valid claim to Sc
/ curity, so far as this is dependent on steel
| walls and bolts and bars The mail-rOom
! on this vessel is located abaft of the af-
/ the vessel. under the Intermediate sa
| loon. The specie room is of steel and the
| door is we'll secured, while the mail-room
! itself is stronger than usual. The heavy
| steel door of the latter opens directly into
! the after hatchway, and the gold, which
| is invariably shipped in boxes fifteen
inches long by twelve inches wide and
| ten inches deep, is lowered by means of
| a block and fan, upon the end of which
/ IS a common sling, which, as it reaches
/ the door of the mail-room is quickly pull
! ed inside and emptied of its precious bur
den; then 1t returns for another box, while
| the former one is stored away within the
! strong room in shiD-shape fashion
Every one of these boxes contains from
$4,000 to $4,000 and is sealed with lead
| with without detection. Each box IS about
| as much as one brawny 'lOngshOreman
| or truckman can carry, so there's little
! or no danger Of any one man trying
| 10 run off with one. The boxes are in
! variably set up on end, so as not to mar
| the seal, and for the same reason can
| vas sack is used in lowering them into
| the mail rooms. The keys of the mail and
specie rooms are not in charge of the
/ purser, as he is only the custodian of
the valuabies belonging to the steamship
| company They are delivered 10 the cap
! tain, who has personal charge of them
| during the voyage and is responsible for
/ their safe-keeping. Some idea of the ca
paclty of the specie room on board the
| tuerst Bismarck can be CLEANED from
| the fact that in September. 1898, she car
! ried SS,5O000O in gold al one trip.
The specie and mail rooms on board
| the Lucania and Campania of the Cunard
| Line are entirely separate, the former
| being located amidshps on the lower
deck, under the grand salon. while the
| mail room is in the extreme stern of the
| vessel on the same deck. The writer, by
| special permission, recently visited the
| gold repository aboard the Lucania, which
holds the record for quick passages at
! present. The location of the entrance was
| much of a surprise.
The guide, who was one of the officers.
after procuring the keys from the cap
the bowels of the big hull where the
freight is stored, but into the grand sa
loon. with its magnificent fittings and
its stained glass skylight many feet
above. Pausing before the elaborate
side board at uhe head of the central ia
BILE, laden with it's sparkling array of
cut glassware, the officer, stopped and
seizng the corner of a costly Persian rug
gave it tug that tore it from its tenn
| porary fastenings, while a waiter did
the same TO the opposite corner. As
the rug was thrown back the bare deck
planking was disclosed; and there, d.
| rectly under the spot where the head
waiter dispenses rich wines during the
voyage, was trap-door about three feet
wide and four long, swung on stout T
| hinges, while on the other edge was a big
ring sunken into IT'S socket Fitting a
key which was no larger than one used
on an ordinary door into the keyhole,
he threw back the bolt and with the as
/ sistance of the waiter raised the trap,
which was of heavy oak, armored with
iron on the inside.
We descended by means Of a short lad
der, and the great treasure-house of one
of the finest vessels afloat was disclosed.
1t was a room about twelve by twelve
feet three sides of which were of iron,
and one of wood-deal, which in England
corresponds to our pine.
The floor and ceiling were of iron, for
both are decks. There were no combina-
ton locks-a great disappointment 70 one
who had expected to behold specie re-
ceptacles as strong as those of our new