The Winslow mail., 1898-10-01
GUARDING THE MINT.
Not Much Show for Burglarizing
That Institution.
All Kinds of Precautions to Protect
the Millions Upon Millions Piled
Up in Uncle Sans
vaults.

! The doors of the mint are ClOSeC
every week day promptly at -four
O'Clock in the afternoon. After tha-
hour no one but mint employees EarG
| any business within the walls which
enclose so much money, and no crC
can other stay in or get in without .
special permit from the superinten
dent Needless to say, this is ditlicUl
to obtain.
Simultane ously with the closing c
the doors at four o'clock the first shif
Of the night guard goes on duty. Ths
shift IS composed Of The captain Of thC
guard ard II stalWart men. As Tho
men file out to begin their round eacl
onc is handed a big Colts revolver c
The most approved pattern and loade@
with big cartridges.
From then On till midnight seven o1
the II guards patrol without cessation
every floor Of the inside cf the Eirt
from the corridors of the gloom
vaults where, away down in the earth h
are slowed eighty-odd million dollars
in silver and almost as much geld. t
| the top floor, where there is nothing
more valuable than machinery. Placed
at frequent intervals throughout tht
corridors are electrical devices for en-
abling the captain Of the guard to kee +
tabs on his men. Each OF these it'll
machines communicates with TIE re
tunda opposite the Chestnut street e.
| trance to the mint. Here ii is thG tn
| captain is stationed all through tn
long hours Of lis shift. Every two nli1-
utes and half the central machine i.
the rotunda denotes the preseBce
some one of the guard at sonc pa.
ticular station in the building. Ii
! doesn't, then the captain knows tbs
something is wrong, and he immedi
atcly proceeds to discover what il Is.
But it has been long time since th
| little machine failed to send forth i
| announcement at the proper tim
For the mint guards are patroliirg L
and down outside the big building
carefully watching that no suspicion
| characters approach too near the vast
| treasure left in their care.
Promptly at midnight the seconc
shift of the night guard PUTS in an az
pearance to relieve the early shift. 1
is also composed of a captain and L
men, and they are split up, as the othe
squad, into inside and outside detail
| From midnight on until seven o'cloCA
in the morning they follow in the foo
| steps of the first shift, with every
faculty alert to catch an intruder.
The big revolyers are not the only
weapons upon which the guards have
| to rely. On each side Of the main cor-
ridor leading from the Chestnut stree
entrance stands walnut case
| Through the polished glass front G.
enc frown 20 Winchester rifles. I'll
other contains as many ugiy-lookinG
carbines. To grab these dispensers c;
death would be but the work Of an i.
slant for The guards, and then woe b
unto any man or men upon whom
might be found necessary t 0 turn them
For the revolvers there is kept con
stantly on hand in the mint 500 tounG
of ammunition, and for the rifles a.
carbines $500 rounds. Each Of tLe
guards is au expert in the use CT boil
the pistol and the gun, and each is e.
| dowed with a plentiful stock CT couI
age. Hence a combination capable
successfully resisting almost anythin
less than q regiment.
superintendent Boyer and Assistant
Custodian Ramsay beth talked t 0 the
Inquirer reporter about the method
| in use to, protect the mint and its COZ
tents. Both smiled significantly whe
the possibility Of one getting away
with a portion Of he vast treasure wa
suggested.
at would be folly for anyone to try
it" was the superintendent's only COM
ment To it Mr.. Ramsay nodded en-
rhatic assent.
Il have been here for a good many
years." the latter said, "and no sucl
attempt has ever been made. 1t Is
practically impossible for anyone to
break into the mint from the outside
and no one could secrete himself in he
building during the hours when it is
open to visitors and hope to avoid dis
coyery. We search every nook and
corner of the structure carefully as
soon as the doors are closed for the
day, and you may rest assured i any
one who had no business within these
walls was found he would regret the
| day he was born"
! In addition to the two shifts OF night
guards perintendent Boyer and AS
sistant Custodian Ramsay have habit
of dropping in at the mint at odd hours
Of the night to see that everything is
going on all right.
The mint is connected with the cen
trail telephone station, and should
there be trouble the captain Of the
guard could communicate with police
headquarters in brief space Of time,
When the trouble with Spain reached
crisis, however, it occurred to Mr.
Boyer that it might be we'll to be con
nected directly with the central police
station in The city hall. He communi-
Preston, and was told to go ahead.
Consequently it will not be many days
before a hurry call can be sent from
the mint to the police department
without the delay incidental to a con
nection through "hello" headquarters.
eff you come across nybody who
thinks he can get rich quickly by help
ing himself to our coin," remarked
Superintendent Boyer in parting,
Just advise him to think it over care
fully first"
In compliance with the superin-
tendent's suggestion the advice is here
by given.
And # ic pre4+v ,~oOd adv;oa 4 y fol-