The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-07-10

: without unlocking the grill doors. En-
tering the strong box is a matter Of
some time, If not ceremony, even tc
those who are authorized to pass
, through its doors and gaze upon its
yellow treasure.
HOW THE CHEST is OPENED.
The doors can be opened only when
representatives of two sets of officials
one from the clearing house itself and
one from the associated banks, which
own the gold-are present. In actual
practice these officials are personated
nowadays by Mr.. William Sherer, man
ager of the clearing house, and Mr..
Frederick D. Tappan, president of the
Gallatin national bank, who is also
chairman of the bankers committee on
gold storage. When it is desired either
to withdraw or put away gold, they
both go to the apartment in which the
strong box stands, but as everything is
! guarded by time locks, they must, of
course, DO this at certain predeter
mined hour
Before the box itself can be opened
/ they must unlock the sliding doors of
the grill each official working a sep
arate 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 delicately are these doors
adjusted that they swing at the slight
est touch, though each is IA inches
thick and weighs ten tons. But the
opening of this door does not admit
the men to the presence of the treas
ure, 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 unlocked
before the gold itself is accessible.
The internal arrangement of the |
great treasure chest is admirably suited !
to its purpose, there being three rooms, |
each entered by its own doors. These
rooms are each six feet wide, and each |
contains 40 steel chests for the storage |
of gold. They are ranged along the |
side walls in tiers exactly like big /
pigeonholes. 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 $500, 900, in gold coin
of any denomination. 1t is the Gus
tom to store the coin in strong duck
bags, much like ordinary shot bags in
and make, and each large
enough to hold 20 pounds avoirdupois,
or $4,000, so that it requires 100 bags
TO fill each pigeonhole. OF course all
are now filled, and besides a tier Of
extra boxes has been ranged down the
center of each room, until the total
dead weight of gold now contained in
the big chest amounts to 3S2 tons
MORE THAN 500 TONS OF GOLD.
Add the gold coin in the sub-treasury
ana the bar gold in the assay office to
his, and the gross weight of the pre-
'ious yellow metal at this time stored
n what may be termed the public
reasure chests of New York would
amount to $50 tons. Were all this gold
placed in one side Of a gigantic pair of
Gales it would heavily overbalance
en- 50-ton locomotives; and the weight
# the chest in which it is kept would
more than equal the coal carried in
heir tenders.
1t is evident from what is said above
oncerning the construction and sur
oundings of the clearing house treas
re chest that the thief who should
ucceed in robbing ii of any of it's pre- =
lous contents would be a very in
enlous and perSevering fellow, indeed.
ct the half of the safeguards have
OF been told. nor will the custodians j
the strong box explain them all. s
IS a fact, however, that even were =
70 llght-fingered gentlemen to accom-. \
ish the impossible. and secure the 81
ouble combinations, they would be ! II
orally certain they would come 70 a
Ief the moment they began to ma p
pulate the locks of the grill doors. nj
T they are fitted with electrical con-
iNdhCeS calculated 70 bring disaster ~
ION any unauthorized person, and III
erefore, unfamiliar person who II
ould touch them. At the same time, 1,
arms would be sounded in a dozen -
nerent quarters, and arrest would he II
ade before the burglars could get OUT DC
the place. So. while all concerned
Fl certain weight of responsibility Ef
= the safety of the sold in their care. bv
ey still feel reasorsbly certain that an
thing short of rea> magic, not even 81
rending power of an earthquake,