The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1898-10-28
GUARDING THE MINT.
Net Much Show for Burglarizing
That Institution.
All Kinds of Precautions to Protect
the Millions Upon Millions Piled
o. in Uncle Sans
Vaults.

any business WITHIN the walls Wnlcn
enclose so much money, and 40 one
can either stay in or get in without n
special permit from the superinten-
dent. Needless to say, this is difficult
to obtain.
simultaneously with the closing of
the doors at four o'clock the first shift
of the night goes on duty. The
shift is comp Of the captain of the
guard and alwart men. As the
men file out Degin their round each
one is hande. a big Colts revolver of
the most approved pattern and loaded
with big cartridges.
From then on till midnight seven of
the II guards patrol without cessa ton
every floor of the inside of the mint,
from the corridors of the gloomy
vaults where. away down in the earth.
are slowed eighty-odd million dollars
in silver and almost as much gold, 70
the top floor, where there is nothing
more valuable than machinery. Placed
at frequent intervals throughout the
corridors are electrical devices for en-
abling the captain of the guard to keep
tabs on his men. Each of these little
machines communicates with the re-
tunda opposite the Chestnut street en-
captain is stationed all through the
long hours of his shift. Every two min
utes and a half the central machine in
the rotunda denotes the presence of
some one Of the guard at some par
ticular station in the building. If it
doesn't, then the captain knows that
something is wrong, and he immedi-
atcly proceeds to discover what it is.
But it has been a long time since thc
little machine failed to send forth its
announcement at the proper time
For the mint guards are patrolIing UP
and down outside the big building,
carefully watching that no suspicious
characters approach too near the vast
treasure left in their care.
Promptly at midnight the second
shift of the night guard puts in an ap-
pearance to relieve the early shift. It
is also composed of captain and II
men, and they are split up, as the ether
squad, into inside and outside details
From midnight on until seven o'clock
in the morning they follow in the foot
steps of the first shift, with every
faculty alert to catch an intruder.
The big revolvers are not the only
weapons upon which the guards have
~ rely. Ou each sue OF Ine main cor
ridor leading from the Chestnut street
entrance stands a walnut case.
Through the polished glass front of
one frown 20 Winchester rifles. The
other contains as many ugly-looking
carbines. To grab these dispensers OF
death would be but the work of an in
slant for the guards, and then woe be
unto any man or men upon whom it
might be found necessary I o turn them
For the revolvers there is kept con
stantly on hand in the mint 500 rounds
Of ammunition, and for the riaes AMI
'carbines $500 rounds. Each of the
guards is an expert in the use Of both
the pistol and the gun. and each is en-
dowed with plentiful stock of cOur
age. Hence & combination capable q
successfully resisting almost anything
less than regiment.
superintendent Boyer and Assistant
Custodian Ramsay both talked to the
Inquirer reporter about the methods
in use to protect the r-int and its con
tents. Both smiled significantly when
the possibility Of one getting away
with portion Of the vast treasure was
suggested.
ct would be folly for anyone to try
it, was the superintendent only com
ment. To it Mir. Ramsay nodded en-
phatic assent.
4 have been here for a good many
years the latter said, "and no such
attempt has ever been made. 1t is
practically Impossible for anyone to
break into Ike mint from the outside.
and no one could secrete himself in the
building during the hours when it is
open TO visitors and hope to avoid dis
covery. We search eTery nook and
corner Of the structure carefully as
soon as the doors are closed for the
day, and YOU may rest assured ie 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 superintendent Boyer and AS
sistant Custodian Ramsay have habit
of dropping IN at the mint a odd hours
of the night to see that everything is
going on all right.
The mint is connected with the CEN
tral 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
a crisis, however, it occurred to Mr..
Boyer that it might be well to be con-
nected directly with the central police
station in the city hall. He communi-
naTad hic -