Daily camera. [volume] (Boulder, Colo.) 1891-1928, 1897-11-02
COUNTING THE COIN.
Examining the Contents OF Uncle
Sans Strong Box.
-Four Men Have Been at Work for
Two Months A Task That
Would Take an Expert
Fifty Years.

| DOWn III une ulIul Zig uted lutSil ol VI
the treasury building four of the secre-
| tary's suborGinates are counting the
| contents of Uncle Sans treasure vaults,
| amounting to S767,7S2,216 This is al
| ways done when change occurs in the
| office of treasurer of the United States.
The gentlemen now having the matter
in charge are Messrs. E. B. Daskam,
chairman; a. T. Huntington, NJ. K.
Vance and Howard Elliot. The latter
| represents the new treasurer, Ellis ii.
Roberts, while the others act on the
| part Of the government, especially the
retiring treasurer, D. N. Morgan, who On
the completion of the count takes a re-
ceipt for the funds. So correctly kept
are the books Of this immense financial
institution that the least shortage IS
readily discovered and must be trac/i.
Notwithstanding the absolute certain
ty of discovery, the temptation to steal
is too great to be resisted by some OF
the employees, and only a few days ago
one of the negro laioorers assisting the
committee helped himself to few
deprecated silver dollars, was found
out, confessed. and is now in the dis
trict Jail awaiting trial. An occasional
theft like this is the exception that
proves the rule of honesty
The committee began its labors on
9uly /, and will probably complete the
count the latter part Of this month or
| early in October, The following are the
4 present contents of the vaults in the
II nfSn
Vault Amount s103,7330O0; de-
scription, standard silver dollars;
halves, s345,0 Vault 2-Amount, s4s,-
O17OOO; description, standard silver
dollars, Vault 2-,Amount, 100000;
description. gold coin Vault 2
Amount, 100000; description, frac-
tional silver, $522,b0O; minor coin, $s7,-
600. Vault 3-Anount, $3,500,o0O; de-
scription, national bank notes received
for REDEEM pton. Vault Amount, ST.
100000; description, mixed moneys re-
ceived daily for redemption Vault 6
Amount. S27 100000; description,
mixed moneys Tor daily use. ault''-
Amount $27O,s PIG; description, bonds
held as security for national bank cir
culation, etc Vault S-Amount, $780,
O00,oOe; description, held as reserve to
replace worn and mutilated notes unfit
for circulation Total, s767,7s2,216.
The silver vault is the largest in thu
world, being 80 feet long, 81 wide and II
feet high.
The latter section of the treasury
| chambers is the most Interesting and is
open to the general public, who view its
! interior from a dungeon-Fke corridor
/ when accompanied by messenger OF
I The department, and then only through
4 the bars OF Il securely locked steel door
| where a 'Cerebus-like conservator- eyes
| with seeming suspicion all visitors.
| The silver is packed in small sacks
/ Kidding 1000 each, and weighs IS
! pounds 4 ounces. 1t is counted by
1 xeight and the least deficiency or de.
fea3t in the bag is sufficient cause foI
1 rejection Such a sack goes to- the issue
division, where it is counted numeri
! cally byaan expert, placedson the scales
returned to the vault and agar
! weighed,
4 In theTVaults Iron lattfcework part
! tions divide the space into several com
partments. Around the outer edge ant
against the iron frame the silver coir
| is placed in boxes, and the central par
Of each chamber is then filed with the
silver in sacks. Each Of these apart
ments is secured 10y key locks, only
opened by two different keys kept by
the cashier and the vault clerk, while
the burelar-proof metal doors protect
the entrance to each vault. On these
| combination time locks are used
! Some interesting figures were fur
. nished by one of the employees who is
somewhat inclined to make compute
TONS A cu bic footcontains 4 1884 stand
ard .silverslolars; packed in sacks c1
LOCO each, S4,10O are required to fill
the same space. At the department
T LOCO, OOOrof these dollars are estimated
at 80 tons, and the contents of all the
vaults, if represented by silver'dollars
putting the amount at 767 600 900, would
weigh 23,O1O tons. This, loaded into
ordinary freight cars with a carrying
capacity of "a tons, would require fol
transportation train of 1856 cars
that would stretch along for IA dis
lance of little more than seven miles
The expertsiin the issue division are
ladiea whose ,daily task in handling
notes means the actual counting Oh
eight packages ,of 1000 bills each, the
close scrutiny of the seal, the careful
watch Of the serial numbers and, in
the case OF old money, the instant de.
: lection of counterfeit notes. Their
hours of labor are from nine O'Clock
until three, with an intermiseion 'oi
half an hoalr for luncheon. When hur.
ried some of these experts can count
10000 notes in day.
An expert counting at the rate Of TO-
900 every working day would be en-
gagged for more than 50 years and &
months counting tho above sum in dol
lar BILLS
Notes in the issue division, after pass.
ing through the hands Of the counters