The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-01-04

transfer a considerable sum of money 20
the Bank of England and it is thanks to
this prccaution alone that his consort, EN-
press Eugene, remains to-day one Of the
wealthicst Of royal widows. South Ameri-
can dictators, such as Gen. Guzman Blan~
CO. OF Venezuela, ana others of the same
stripe, follow this general rule, and there
is probably no banking institution in the
world that has on its book 50 many GUS
toners of royal rank and so many rulers,
past and present as the Old Lady OF
Threadneedle street CURIOSITY enough, al
most the only sovereign who does not bank
there is Queen Victoria herself, who keeps
her money at Coutts' Bank.
The resources Of the Bang of Eng
land are practically unlimited, as IL may
he said to have behind IL the financial
backing of the entire British Empire,
upon which. like that Of Emperor Charles
". the sun never SETS Six hundred mill
lion of dollars Is the average amount
of coin and securities usually held by
the bank. which covers a space Of less
than four acres. and it may be doubted
if there is anywhere else in the world a
place where such an aggregation OF
actual and potential wealth Is gathered
together within so small an area. Per-
haps it Is on this account that the Bank
of England alone, among kindred insutu-
lions is provided by the government with
a strong military guard, the soldiers as
signed TO this service being company
Of The same regiment Of fOolguards that
furnishes the sentries of buckingham
nalace ST. James palace and Marlpof-
ouph house The company on duty at
the bank is under command OF supal-
lern and is relieved early every morning
and evening. the so-called bank company
beina The only force Of the regular army
mat has the right to march through the
etr.cts If the city Of London without OBJ
tanning previous permission from the
I ord MAYOR aud corporation Of the Guy.
t,rlr Of England duty is by no means
dislil<ed by officers and men OF the pli-
gade of guards, for the subaitern on duty
receives from the bank a gratuity Oh
a,,iooa for his Twelve hours duty, in adj
'3itiao "a which the bank furnishes a most
elaborate luncheon in the middle OF me
dov and an equally elaborate dinner at
q,cIock in the evening, with first class
wine Each soldier of the guard receives
in the same way a shilling gratuity ior
his twelve hours duty, and square meal
with a pint of ale, the miniature ouSier
being obliged to content himself WIN FIX
pence and a half pint
This military guard for the Bank OF
tonoIand dates back to The early part OF
tba last century, when The old Lady OF
rbreadnecdle street was threatened by
the fierce and savage mob which spread
such havoc and devastation on every SIDE
that even to tnis day the mention Of the
terrible Gordon riots eXci-es a shudder ~
The breast Of the worthy citizens OF tne
r}ritish METROPOLIS. The rifles Of the sol
diery are loaded with bah cartridges, but
! have never known the Tommies to have
any occasion to use their firearms, al
though or1y ten days ago the services of
their bayonets were invoked 20 reduce to
s6biection a maniac who was threatening
ia destroy the bank. OF course, there are,
besides the military guard, attachments
of fremen private detectives and watch
men. as well as q squad Of city policemen
assigned 10 the duty of protecting the
bank But they are all supposed to be un-
der the orders of the young subaltern OF
tbe guards. to whom is intrusted che re-
sDonsibnjty of safeguarding the Bank Of
England with ali iis savings OF foreign
royalty.