Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1899-08-24
MOVING MILLIONS OF GOLD.

More Than q Kings Ransom HauIe&
About I'm Commonplace Tracks.
Bigger heaps OF gold than ever were
buried by Captain Kidd or carried by
rakish craft in the palmy days Of the
Spanish Main, are week In and week
out hauled around New York City, to
and from banks and steamship
wharves, in commonplace truck.
The business of moving the gold
used in the settlement of commercial
balances is always active in New
York, for the credits and debts be-
tween the local banks. and, in wider
sense, between the United States and
foreign countries, are daily shifting
and must constantly be met. OF
course growing share of the ex-
changes between banks is made by
the check system and the clearing
house, so that after the associated
banks, by their representatives, have.
met together in the morning OF each
business day and exchanged the
checks on each other taken i'm the.
previous days transactions, only the
differences have to be paid in actual
money.
Thus it happens that the actual ex-
change of cash is generally less than
ten per cent of the total clearings. or
exchanges of checks. For example,
one day recently, when the New YORK
banks had the largest clearings ever
recorded-more than 1852, ,OOO-alI
that immense sum was paid and re-
ceived by the use of only $4,000, 600
of actual money. Ordinarily, this
money would have been in the form
of greenbacks, but for some months
bills have been very scarce, and clear
inghouse balances have uniformly
been paid in gold, as are foreign bal
ances.
Although foreign shipments OF spe-
Gle are almost constant in one direc-
ton or the other, the operation is al
ways attended by danger and ex-
pense. so exchange bankers must see
a substantial profit in il before ship
ment This is possible only when the
exchange rates in the debtor country
rise high enough to pay for insurance.
commissions and interest on the gold
in transit.
When the balance of trade demands
actual shipments, New York bankers
or foreign exchange houses call i'm the
services Of Mr.. Barley, a rotund-
truckman well known to everybody
in Wall street. He has monopoly of
81 cro16 AENnrns all the
bankers know and trust him, as they
did his father for more than forty
years. Barley has a slate hanging,
in doorway near the Stock Exchange
and his trucks stand near by when
not busy. The bankers send clerk
or messenger for Barley when they
want any carting done.
Gold in transit is packed into small
rouleaux, wrapped carefully in little
canvas bags The small bags are en-.
cased in bigger and heavier ones. The
whole thing is then put into a small
key and the interstices are filled with
sawdust This is to prevent abrasion,
for gold that is much worn by rolling.
around loses considerably in value.
Some gold stays in it's wrappings
for months and years together. 1T
may in that time have travelled a.
dozen or twenty times across the
ocean, or it may have lain untouched
in bank vault or clearing house. When
moved about on the trucks, it might
be supposed that a big guard OF men
would be necessary to watch lest
some agile thief get away with one of
the little kegs. But the little kegs
are their own protection; the $4,000
they contain make troublesome lifting
for two men, and only SandOw Of a
thief yould have any chance to get
away in safety
All gold shipments of any magni-
tude go only by the fastest ships,
which are built with special CON-
partments for gold down on the keel
son, and far in the bows.
When Barley or bis European con-
1reres bring consignment aboard, 1t
is carefully stored in the ships vault
and the purser takes sole charge OF
the keys The first officer Of the YES
sci sees that the vault is covered faith
oms deep with the solidest kind OF
freight. If any robberies have Oc'
cured they have never been record
ed-Saturdav Evening Post,