Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1899-01-12
GUARDING THE MINT.
HOW TIE PHILADELPHIA lNSTiTu-
TON is PROTECTED.

latte Chance For Any 0ne 70 Get lita
6uickly by Helping Himself to Uncle
sam's Trcasure-Patrols, rsevolvers sEd
Winchesters In Plenty.
Probably not one person out q 9 hur
dred who pass by the Philadelphia mina
that grim looking edidce at Chestnut
and Juniper streets, after nightfan re
ICES what is going on inside Ihara
nothing mean about Uncle Sam, be- he
is determined that any i WAC
his money shall get it honestly and by
process dolly laid down. Therefore
has taken all kinds of precautions To-
properly protect, especially ~ mis-
the millions upon millions piled nQ It
the vaults.
The doors Of the rlint arc closed
cry weekday promptly ar q o'clock ~
the afternoon. After chat hour np ona
but mint employees have any be
within the walls which inclose % ra
money. and ITO eae can either
O get in withcat q special permit lr1
the superintendent. Needless to s
this II difficult 70 obtain.
simultaneously with the closing 81
the doors at A o'clock the first shift u
the night guard goes on duty. heshlft
lis composed Of the captain Of the guard
and IL stalwart men. AS the men tile
out to begin their round each n il
handed a big Colts revolver of the mcst
approved pattern and loaded with biz
cartridges.
From then on till midnight sever OF
the IL guards patrol without cessation
every floor of the inside of the mint, from
the corridors of the gloomy vaults
where, away down in the earth, are
slowed eighty odd million dollars IL
silver and almost AS much gold, to the
top floor, where there is nothing more
valuable than machinery. Placed at fire.
Quent intervals throughout the corridors
ara electrical devices for enabling the
captain Of the guard to keep tabs ON his
men. Each of these little machines com
municates with the rotunda opposite
the Chestnut street entrance to thu
mint. Here It is that the captain is sta
ticned all through tho long hours q
his shift. Every two minutes and
half the central machine in the rotund,
dauotes the presence Of some one Of tn,
Guard at some particular station In tn,
building. II IL doesn't, then the cap
tain knows that something IL wrong
and he im~mediately proceeds 10 discov
e what il il.
But Il has been q long time since tin
little machine failed to send forthrl ~
announcemsnt ut the proper tins 10
the mint guards are patrolling up ant
down outside the big buildipg, careful
y watching thas no Suspicious charac
tern approach too near the vast TREASURY
left in their care.
Promptly Ut midnight the secont
shift Of the night guard puts in M ap
pearancs to rslieve the early shift. |
i, also composed of . captain and /
men, and they are split up, as the othe
squad, into inside and outside details
From midnight on until 2 o'clock il
the morning they follow in the foot
steps Of the first shift, with every fac
ulty alert to catch an intruder.
The big revolvers are not the onl.
weapons upon which the guards hav
to rely. On each side of the main cor
ridor leading from the Chestnut stree
entrance stands a walnut case. Through
the polished glass front of n frowl
20 Winchester rifles. The other con
tains as many ugly looking carbines
To grab these dispensers Of death woul'
be but the work Of an instant Tor til
guards, and then wee be unto any ma
or men upon whom IL might be foun
necessary to turn them.
For the revolvers there il kent cor
stantly on hand in the mint 900 round
of ammunition, and for the riaes an
carbines $500 rounds. Each Of til
guards is an expert in the use Of bot
the pistol and the pl.u and each is en-
dowed with a plentiful stock of coul
age; hence "a c'yhlinstion capable