Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-07-09
Vast Treasure Stored by the New
York Clearing House.
UNUSUALLY LARGE AMOUNT JUST NOW
In a Safe Where Thieves Cannot
Break Through.
OPENING THE BIG BOX
pecial Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

| Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
! NEW YORK, July 9. 1898.
| More coined gold. by millions and mil
| lions of dollars worth. is packed away for
| safekeeping in New York this summer tran
| has ever been gathered here before. prob
| ably more than is at this time stored in any
| ether city on earth, excepting st. Peters
| burg and Paris; certainly as much as the
| total output of all the mines in the world
| last year.
This may seem an exaggerated state
| ment, in view of the fact that the gold out
put of 1897 was the largest in history be-
| ing equal to at least SOB 200. 900, yet it is
| well within the truth, since the gold coin
| holdings here now amount to between S21D.-
| 100000 and $4,000 oo0 and are probably
rearer the larger than the smaller figure
| Moreover-and this statement is still more
surprisins-the worlds visible supply of
| goid estimated by he officials of the New
York assay Office. though now larger than
ever before. amounts only to little more
than $9Wo.o9o,0oo, both coined and I'M
coined. so that, accepting 500 900 900 as tie
measure of New York's present gold coin
| storage, 1t is quite equal to one-twenty- fifth
part of all the precious yellow metal in ex-
4 iStence.
Though all that has been said is strictly
/ true, the facts being gathered from the
manager of the New York clearing house
the assistant treasurer of the United States
| in charge of the subtreasury here ana the
superintendent of the assay office 4 would
be impossible to give exact figures as 20
the total amount of stored gold coin here
for two reasons. First. there is no way OF
securing accurate reports or bank and pri-
Vate holdings, and second the holdings of
the United States subtrcaSury and ire New
YORK clearing house fiuctuate from day 20
Gay The functions Of the clearing house
| include the storage of surplus gold for all
the banks belonging to the associa ton
hence It's vaults contain the bulk of all the
gold coin in the city save that owned by
| the government. A few days ago it's stor-
age footed up to sl67 ,000. 900 with a few
millions more in prospect. On that same
DAY The subtreasury had sG0.o00,0O0. If the
amounts of gold locked up in bank vaults
and held by private individuals could be
determined and the sum added TO the cnor-
NOUS total, the estimate here made would
undoubtedly be found below and not above
the actual holdings.
Large Figures.
In addition to the vast sums represented
by the figures quoted. there was stored IN
the assay office on this day about SO oOO.-
oO0 worth Of bar gold and this added to
the coin holdings of s22T 100000 in the
| clearing house and the subtreasury. swells
the grosS-aside from bank and private
holdings-to S2S2,o00,0 900. Uuquestionably
there Is enough more gold in New York at
thlS time to raise the grand total to Ssg0-
uoo,ooo, or one-third more than the worII's
output in the year Of greatest production
Inc presence at the nations commercial
center OF so vast an accumula ton of the
"oFid s standard money metal. due to no
government efforts at concentration is nm
precedented, and. while it is in one sense a
source OF gratifica ton, the situation is NOT
without its embarrassing features
Perhaps the greatest embarra ssment
arises from the lack of adequate storage
laciltles at the clearing house. Its great
strong box, or treasure chest was built to
mold Slo5 1000, and when ii was erected
three 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 the floor of the in
stitution On the contrary, by crowding
the treasure chest, its capacity can be in
creased over 80 per cent and the unexpect-
ed millions are today stored quite as safely
ana guarded as carefully as any of the
stock on hand.
A Wonderful Treasure Chest
The great strong box of the New York
clearing house, by the way, is the only
treasure chest of its kind in the world. and
| competent judges say it is also by all odds
the best, exceeding in security the vaults
OF the government at Washington and
those OF the Bank Of England in London al
most as much as a modern burglar-proof
sale exceeds the iron key safes of our
grandfathers
Located somewhat lower than the side
walk, 1t is about large as a good-siZed
private dining room. having E frontage of
twenty-five feet and depth of twenty feet
The ceiling is twelve feet high The floor
rests on platform of steel railroad rails
Like the sides and top. It is six and one
quarter inches thick, and composed of law
ers of chrome steel plates, each plate being
three-sixteenths of inch thick, so tenn
pered as to be of almost diamond hardness
ana all bolted together in such a manner as
to break joints at every point. Were
there no other safeguards, the material
used and the methods of construction
! NXyn1 fn-r
against loss by theft, for it would take the
most expert burglar. using perfect tools
more than twenty-four hours to make
hole through either floor. top or side AS
a matter of fact, the additional "a fepuards
are SO elaborate that the gold would be
secure even were the walls of the treasure
chrome steel.
In the first place. and here Is the pojnt
IN which the clearing house strong box ex-
ceis an others, it is entirely Enclosed in d
large underground apartment 40x5O feet in
size and twenty feet high, which is at ali
times brilliantly lighted by electric bulbs.
an.iso, ttie walls or the treasure chest are
entirely free from contact on the top and
sizes, while on the bottom there is no con-
tact save at four points only.
Snfeguarded Against Burglars.
These are furnished by solid masonry
piers, set on the bedrock which forms Man
haitian Islands foundation. These piers raise
the great chest six feet six inches from
the main floor to- the level of a narrow
platform reaching quite round the apart-
ment, but separated by quite space from
the pox itself. By this arrangement it is
possible for the watchmen who guard the
treasure night and day actually to walk
ur der 1t at will; indeed it is a part of their
duty TO do this at regular intervals. This
arrangement also furnishes absolute
safeguard against burglars working from
the bottom by means of a tunnel and it
would, of course be impossible in the cir
cumstances for any one to break into the
box at any ether point. In. ordinary
circumstances it is impossible to touch the
chest at all, excepting at the bottom, since
1t is separated from the surrounding Mat
form exactly as feudal castle is separated
from the immediate territory by its moat
while the roof is two feet lower than the
ceiling of the inclosing apartment AS an
additional safeguard the treasure chest ia
surrounded by grating grill of finely
tempered two-inch steel bars which reach
from floor to ceiling. making il imnossihle