Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1900-11-14

yellow metal being held in New
York and at the mint III Philadel-
phia. If one wants to see crude
gold in masses he should visit the
mint in the Quaker City, where he
will find it stacked up in heaps of
bricks-tons on tons of it-all ready
for conversion into coin. At the
present moment there is $4,000, 1000
worth of gold bullion at tpis mint,
with s37, 100000 in gold coin, not to
mention $150,O0O,OO0 in silver bull
lion and coin.
Notwithstanding the fact that the
Treasury vaults compare so poorly
with the impregnable steel-clad
structure now used by great private
concerns that have valuables to pro-
tect the government feels fairly Sc
cure as to the safety of it's stored
wealth. The best safeguard for coin
is its weight. Just to illustrate this
point, it may be mentioned that the
strong rooms OF the treasury weighs
nearly 5000 tons. A million dollars
in gold coin weighs about two tons,
and it would take very strong man
to carry off $4,000 worth of the yell
low stuff. Though a gold brick the
shape and size of an ordinary build.
ing brick represents $4,000, its
"heft" is something astonishing.
Suggestions have been made that it
might be practicable to burrow be.
meath the Treasury by tunnel, and
thus pillage Uncle Sans Golfers by
a sort Of rat hole method, but even if
this were accomplished it is difficult
to imagine how it would be practi-
cable to remove much of the coin.
There was quite scare few
years ago, when Gilfillan was Treas
urcr, because the vault in the cash
room whore the ready money is kept
refused to open. 1t is always set for
$50 A. NJ, with time clock, but on
this occasion something seemed to be
wrong with the mechanism, and the
steel doors remained obstinately
closed. Nine o'clock arrived, and
still the money was locked up. For
once Uncle Sans bank was obliged
to suspend payments. Experts were
sent for and came with their tools to
break open the vaults, but before they
got there the big safe had opened of
its own accord. 1t turned out that
the timclock had been set by an ac-
cident for $50.
In this vault was not only gold
and silver but many millions in paper
money are always kept. If thieves
could obtain access to it th,y might
easily walk away with an enormous
sum, the notes and certificates be-
ing done up in packages and neatly
labelled with the sums they contain
i'll large rcd figures. Each parcel
holds 1000 notes, and is in size Just
about foot cube. If the dcnomina-
ton is $500, single such package
represents $2,0O0,000. However if
anybody did succeed in getting away
with cash in this shcpc he could
hardly fail to be caught, inasmuch
as the numbers Of the bills would be
advertised Immediately, and every
bank III the country would be on the
lookout for them.
Burglars may be practically cx-
cludcd, but the Treasury does not
claim to be thcft-proof. On an un-
lucky day in 1870 visitor came into
the Trcasurer's room with q large
Panama hat in his hand. The
Trcasurer's attention was distracted
by some other people who were try
ing to talk to him, and the man
dropped his hat carclessy over a
package which contained 1000 ten.
dollar notes, lying on the desk. 1t
was one OF the several such packages,
and the loss of it was not noticed
until some hours later. OF course
the notes were advertised, and soon
aftcrward part of them were de-
posted in New York bank. The
depositor was arrested, but nobody
was punished for the crime.
a singular immunity from punish
mcnt seems to have attended thieves
who have robbed the treasury in such
ways. In 1875 clerk named Ben
iamin IIallock passed package of
5000 notes, representing $4,000,
out of Il window in the cash room to
a saloon keeper named Ortman. For
some time the robbery remained a
mystery, but later on one Theodore
Brown was caught betting on races
at Saratoga with one of the missing
$500 notes. He was arrested am,
implicated Ottman and lIallock, but
Brown was never tried and the other
two were not finally convicted Of
the stolen money $4,000 was re-
covered.
1t is said that no trust company
would accept the responsibility Of
the Treasurer Of the United States
for the $4,000 year salary which
he gets. lie is responsible for all
moneys that may be stolen, and on
more than one occasion Congress has
had to relieve by formal act an Off
cial in tho position who would other
wise have been liable for the pay
mcnt of large losses. On one occa-
sion two men named Mardcn and
Johnson, the latter an assistant pay
ing teller, took $4,000 by colIusion.
The Government got back $4,000 Of
this money, and the offenders escaped
with a year of prison for each. There
have been good many thcfts in the
redemption division, where tcmpta-
tons are exceptionally great, the
most famous Of them being that per-
pctratcd by woman who invented a
method for making nine notes out of
eight, incidentally to Che process Of
IN, 10, 1