The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-07-17

me ooors can be opened only vha,,
representatives Of two sets OF ofT7cia1sH
one from the clearing house ftseIf 60
one from the associated banks wbinb
an tne gold-are present When II Ia
oe95eu either to withdraw or put awav
sUiu' lhey Doth go to the Apartment A.,
which the strong box stands hI,+ ~
eeEerytnlng is guarded by time locks
they must, of course do this az o co..
tain predetermined hour . 0ei-
BEFORE the box itself can he ora,a5
they must unlock the sliding doors -
one grin, each official working a sem
alate combination. AS these doors
IT, issue little drawbridge swings
INTO place Passing over this thew oner,
one OF the treasure chests outer doars
each using separate combina flow as
peIore. So delicately are these doo-s,
ADJUSTED that they swing at the sfieb+
est touch. though each is fourteen incbe,
tnlck ana weighs ten tons. But The
opening of this door does NOT 49,.
the men to the presence of the tra au,illc
since there are inner folding doors ~
pe unlocked and passed, and after these
nave peen swung there are small steaI
chests which must be unlocked hefora
the gold itself is accessible.
The internal ARRANGEMENT ~ 49,
great treasure chest is admirably suit-
Gu 10 its purpose, there being three
THESE rooms are each six feet wida 90
eacn contains 20 steel chests for tha
storage of gold They are ran ed aIone
the size walls in tiers exactly like hi9
piseonhoies. Each pigeonhole is IL by
"a by 20 inches in size; each has its
oW wv, 4ooT ana individual key and each
VIII mold one ton, or $500, 900 in gold
coin of any denomination. II Is tha
custom TO store the coin In strong duck
bags. much like ordinary shotbags In
material and make and each large
enough to hold twenty pounds avoirtu-
pols, or $500, so that 1t requires 100
Dags to fill each pigeonhole. OF course
all are now filled, and besides, a tier of
extra boxes have been arranged down
the center of each room, until the total
dead weight of gold now contained in
the big chest amounts to 1872 tons.
Add the gold coin in the treasury
and the bar gold in the assay office to
this and the gross weight of the pre-
cious yellow metal at this time stored
In what may be termed the public
treasure chests Of New York would
amount to 522 tons. Were all this gold
placed in one side of gigantic pair OF
scales it would heavily overbalance ten
50-ton locomotives; and the weight of
the chest in which it is kept would
more than equal the coal carried in
their tenders.
1t is evident from what is said above
concerning the construction and sur
roundngs of the clearing house treas
ure chest that the thief who should
succeed in robbing 1t of any of tts-Dra-
cious contents would be a very ingeni-
GUS and persevering fellow indeed. Yet
the half of the safeguards have NOT
been told, nor will the custodians of the
strong box explain them all. It is
fact, however, that even were two
Ight-1ngered gentlemen to accomplish
the impossible and secure the double
combinations, 1t would be moraIIv
certain they would come to grief the
moment they began to manipulate the
locks of the grill doors. For thew era
fitted with electrical contrivances CAL
culated to bring disaster upon any IN
authorized and therefore unfamiliar
person who should touch them. At the
dozen different quarters and arrest
would be made before the burglars
could get out of the place.