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

clearing house, the assistant treasurer
Oh the United States, in charge of the
suo-treasury here, and the superintend.
ent OF the assay office, it would be i'm.
possible to give exact figures as to the
totdl amount of stored gold coin here
for two reasons First there is No
way OF securing accurate reports of
Dank and private holdings and second
the holdings of the United States sub
treasury and the New York clearing
mouse fuctuate from day to day The
functions OF the clearing house include
the storage of surplus gold for all the
banks belonging to the association,
hence its vaults contain the bulk of all
the gold coin in the city save that
owned by the government. A few days
ago its storage footed up to $167 600 900
with a few millions more in prospect
On that same day the subtreasury had
$6OO00,OOO. If the amounts of gold
locked up in bank vaults and held by
private individuals could be determined
and the sum added to the enormous
total, the estimate here made would
undoubtedly be found below and not
above the actual holdings.
In addition to the vast sums repre-
sented by the figures quoted there was
stored in the assay office on this day
about S55,OOO,O00 worth of bar gold and
this added to the coin holdings OF $227,-
coo 900 in the clearing house and the
from bank and private holdings to $2S2,-
100000 Unquestionabiy there is enough
more gold in New York at this time to
raise the grand total to 100000 600, or
one-third more than the worlds out
put in the year OF greatest production
The presence at the nations COM
mercial center of so vast an accumula-
ton of the worlds standard money
metal, due to no governments TffortS
at concentration, is unprecedented, and, |
while 1t is in one sense a source OF
qualification, the situation is not with |
out its embarrassing features.
Perhaps the greatest embarrassment |
arises from the lack of adequate stor- |
age facilities at the clearing house. It's !
great strong box, or treasure chest, was /
built 10 hold $105, 600, 600, and when it /
was erected three years ago there was
little thought that it's capacity would
ever be tested. But though the esti-
mated storage limit has long been over
run, no surplus millions are Ficking
around loose on the floor of the insti-
tuition. On the contrary, by crowding
the treasure chest, its capacity can be
increased over so per cent, and the un-
expected millions are today stored quite
as safely and guarded as carefully as
any of the stock on hand.
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 al odds the best, exceeding in |
security the vaults of the government |
at Washington and those OF the bank
OF England in London almost as much 1 !
as d modern burglar-proof safe ex-
ceeds the iron key safes of our grand .
fathers. I
Located somewhat lower than the $
sidewalk, it is about as large as a good l
sized private dining room. having a .
frontage of % feet and a depth of 90 Il
feet Its ceiling is u feet high The |
floor rests on a platform of steel rail-
road rails. Like the sides and top, it is :
81 inches thick and composed of lay T.
ers OF chrome steel plates, each plate -
beng 3-l6 OF an inch thick, SO tempered =
IS to be Of almost diamond hardness. -
md all bolted together in such a man =
Ter as to break joints" at every point. I
We're there no other safeguards. the y,
used and the method of con- T.
'truction would form almost perfect -
against loss by theft. for it =,
would take the most expert burglar. r.
lslng perfect tools, more than u hours ~
0 make a hole through either floor. top .,
r side. AS a matter of fact, the adj -
itional safeguards are so elaborate -
hat the gold would be secure even -
rere the walls Of The treasure chest -,
lade of wood instead of laminated -,
hroHe steel. ~
In the first place. and here &c the 81 p,
ONT in which the clearing house a.
-rong box eXcels all others. it is en- -, ~
rely enclosed in large underground 1s
partment 4Ox50 feet in size and % e.,
set high, which is at all times bril- 70,
antly lighted BY electric bulbs. Thus IN.
re walls or the treasure ci-=st are en- NO
rely free from contact on the top - RI,