The times., 1898-07-17
Nearly Three Hundred Millions
Now in New York.
HOW VAULTS ARE GUARDED
More Than Two Hundred Millions Is
in the Clearing House's Strong
Box and the Subtrensury-The
Great Treasure Chest of the Clear
ing House and Its ConteBts.


possession as New York at this time.
The amount of coined gold packed away
for safe keeping in the American city
this Summer is greater than ever before,
and is surely equal to the output of all
the mines of the world for last year. That
output was the largest in history, reach
ing the enormous value OF at least
S2o3, 900, 600. I The clearing house vaults
contain $l67,000,0 900 and the sub-treasury
SEQ, 100000 of coined gold. In addition there
is stored in the assay office about $50, 900,
600 worth of bar gold. There is certainly
enough more gold in the city TO raise the
total to S2S2, 900 even 5000, 600, 600 or one-
third more than the worlds greatest an
nual output. The worlds visible supply
of gold, both coined and uncoined.
amounts TO little more than s., coo, ,O00. 600.
The holding of so large an amount of
gold is Unprecedented and is not without
its embarrassing features According to
statement in The Sun, the greatest en-
barra3sment arises from the lack of ade-
quate storage facilities at the clearing
house. Its great strong box, or treasure
chest, was built TO hold $105 900, GOO. and
NlltIl II WAS created tnfSe years ago,
there was little thought that its capacity
would ever be tested. But though the
estimated storage limit has long been
overrun, no surplus millions are kicking
around loose on the floor of the institu-
ton. On the contrary. by crowding the
treasure chest, its capacity can be in
creased over so per cent and the unex-
pected millions are today stored quite as
safely and guarded as carefully as any
of the stock on hand.
The great strong box of the New York
clearing house is the only treasure chest
Of its kind in the world, and competent
judges say il is also by odds the best
exceeding in security the vaults of the
Government at Washington and those of
the Bank of England in London, as much
as modern burglar-proof safe exceeds
the iron key safes of our grandfathers
Situated somewhere lower than the side
walk, ii is about as large as a good-sized
private dining loom, having a frontage
of twenty-five feet and a depth of TWEEN
~ feet. Its ceiling is twelve feet high
The floor rests on a platform of steel
railroad rails Like the sides and top, ii is
six and a quarter inches thick and com
posed of layers of chrome steel plates
each plate being three and one-siXteenth
of an inch thick, so tempered as 70 be
almost diamond hardness, and all bolted
lOSeLneT III SuCU a IndlueT as 10 pIGak
joints at every point. Were there no
other safeguards the material used and
the methods of construction would form
an almos; perfect guarantee against loss
by theft, for II would take the most eX-
pert burglar using perfect tools, more
than twenty-four hours TO make a hole
through either floor top or side. As a
matter of fact the additional safeguards
! are so elaborate that the gold would be
secure even were the walls of the treas
ure chest made of wood instead of lam
| mated chrome steel.
/ In the first place. and here is the point
/ in which the clearing house strong box
! excels all others, IL is entirely tnclosed in
! large underground apartment 40 by 90
/ feet in size and twenty feet high. which
! is at all times brilliantly lighted by electric
! bulbs. Thus the walls OF the treasure
/ chest ere entirely free from contact on
| the top and sides, while on the bottom
| there is no contact save at four points
| only.
These are furnished by solid masonry
piers. set on the bedrock which forms
| Manhattan Islands foundation. These
/ piers raise the great chest feet inches
! from the main floor to the level of mar
/ row platform reaching quite round the
| apartment. but separated by quite space
/ from the box itself. BY this arrangement
1
the treasure night and day actually to
walk under it at will; indeed. ii is a part
| of their duty TO do this at regular inter
vals This arrangement also furnishes
/ absolute safeguard against robbers work
| ing from the bottom by means of a tun-
| nel and II would. of course, be impossible
in the circumstance for any one TO break
into the box at any other place. In ordi-
nary circumstances it is impossible tC
touch the chest a all, excepting at the
| bottom, since ii is separated from the
| surrounding platform exactly as a feuda
| castle is separated from the immediate
| territory by its moat, while the roof is
| feet lower than the ceiling of the in.
| closing apartment. AS an additional safe.
guard the treasure chest is surrounded by
a grating or grill of fnely-tempered 2-inct
steel bars, which reach from floor TO cell.
ing, making it impossible for anyone tC
| get nearer than or feet without un-
| locking the grill doors.
/ Entering the strong box is a matter OF
| some time, il not ceremony, even to those
| who are authorized to pass through It's
| doors and gaze upon its yellow treasure
| The doors can be opened only when repre-.
| sentatives of two sets of officials-ont
| from the clearing house itself and one
| from the associated banks, which OWL
| the gold-are present. In actual practice
| these officials are personated nowadays
| by Mr.. William Sherer manager of the
clearing house and Mr.. Frederick d
Tappan, president of the Gallatin Nation.
! al Bank, who is also chairman of the
bankers committee on gold storage. Wher
| 1t is desired either to withdraw or put
| away gold, both go to the apartment il
| which the strong box stands, but as ev.
| erything is guarded by time locks they
must, of course, do this at a certain pre-
| determined hour.
Before the box itself can be opened they
| must unlock the sliding doors of the
! grill, each official working a separate
combination. AS these doors move aside
! a little drawbridge swings into place
| Passing over this they open one of the
! treasure chests outer doors, each using a
| separate combination as before So del
| icately are these doors adjusted that
| they swing at the slightest touch, though
each is fourteen inches thick and weighs
| ten tons. But the opening of this door
| does not admit the men to the presence
of the treasure, since there are inner
| folding doors to be unlocked and passed
| and after these have been swung there
| are small steel chests which must be un-
locked before the gold is accessible.
| The internal arrangement of the great
treasure chest is admirably suited to its
| purpose. there being three rooms, eact
| entered by its own doors. These rooms
| are each six feet wide, and each one con.
| tains seventy steel chests for the storage
of gold. They are ranged along the side
| walls in tiers exactly like big pigeon.
holes. Each pigeonhole is is by "a by
| 20 inches in size; each has its own door
| and individual key and each will hold one
ton, or S500900 in gold coin of any denomi
| nation. IL is the custom TO store the coir
in strong duck bags, much like ordinar,
shot bags in material and make, ant
each large enough to hold 20 pound:
avCirdupois. or $1,000, SO that it require.
100 bags to fill each pigeonhole. o.
nll M hc- L.. !.