The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1898-09-10
HANDLES MILLIONS.
Tho Man Who Ships the Gold Of
the Cove
Peter Shay, of Washington, Packs
the Precious Metal in Kegs-He
Has Been In the Business
Thirty Years. :,

A sturdy old man whose Office is in
dingy little building down town is
an important factor i'll the gold ship
ments that are made from this coun-
try. James Shay is the mans name,
and he supervises the handling of near
ly all the gold coin and bullion that is
shipped abroad. Shay is q cooper by
trade, and at his little shop at 18
Fletcher street are made nearly all
the kegs and boxes in which the pre-
cious yellow metal is shipped.
1t is needless to say that the cooper
of Fletcher street has been a very busy
man these last few years, and conserv-
ative estimates of the gold which he
and his assistants have handled during
the last l2 months would be $780,
100000. When 1T is added that Mr..
Shay has been in the business over so
years, the enormous fortunes which
have passed through his hands without
the loss of single dollar can best be
appreciated.
When banker or some large export
ing house finds it necessary to make
a shipment to Europe, about the first
thing that is done is to send for Mr..
Shay, who has virtual monopoly of
this part of the business. Gold for
shipment abroad is packed in kegs
and boxes, just as the fancy of the
shipper may dictate. For amounts ex-
ceeding s5OO,OoO kegs are generally
used, as they are easier to handle, and
contain $5O,OOO each. The empty kegs
are made of well-seasoned oak, and
banded with hoops of steel. When
packed and sealed each keg weighs
nearly 200 pounds. The boxes used by
the cooper are made of Eastwood or
oak, neatly dovetailed. These are also
bound with strips of steel. When
Cooper Shay receives an order from a
banker to pack quantity of gold, the
boxes or kegs are sent from his shop to
the bank. There, with the help of a
few trusted assistants. the packing is
done in room used for that purpose.
After the gold has been put in stout
canvas bags, containing $4,000 to $1O,-
900 each, and carefully sealed, they are
put in the boxes or kegs, which, in
turn, are sealed with tape ard wax in
three or four places. They are then
placed on truck and conveyed to the
steamship pier. Not once has anyone
ever tried to mclest the truckman, but
this may be through ignorance of the
precious load ne is driving. Another
reason, too, is that the truck is always
guarded by several armed men.
It is no exasgeration 10 say that the
amount handled by Mr.. Shay, if con-
verted into double eagles, would make
a pathway 100 feet wide around the
globe. Certain it is that if the money
were all his, Mr.. Shay's wealth would
be greater than that of the Rothschilds,
Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Goulds and
Astors put together.
"Are you not sometimes possessed
of strong desire to run away with a
portion OF the many millions which
you handler" asked the reporter.
Never said the cooper, with a
smile. s'The metal weighs too much,
and don't think could carry it very
far before I got caught myself" :"
The old cooper has been engaged
at his trade for. upward of 35
years. He has amassed a modest
competence, and lives with his family
of grown-up children in neat little
house in Brooklyn. When he goes
home at night he forgets all about the
fortunes which pass through his hands,
end is probably more contented than
any of the mlllionairs OF Wall street.
Washington Star.