The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-10-06
GUARDING BANK TREASURE.
Eyes Watching the Vaults and One
Another

Eyes Watching the Vaults and One
| Another.
| Modern banks are relying more and
more upon men instead of metal for
their protection remarked an official
in one of the big financial institutions
of New Orleans. In former days" he
continued, they depended almost alto
gether upon massive walls, enormous
| doors and ponderous locks. 1t Is true
there was always a so-called night
Waterman, but In nine cases out of
| ten he was some superannuated en-
ploye, half blind and deaf, who was
given the job in lieu of a pension, and
who slept placidly from dark to dawn
In the easiest office chair he could find,
1t seems Incredible but twenty-five
years ago that was the only kind of
guard employed by the majority Of the
biggest and best banks In the United
states. The vault was everything
then, and directors went on the theory
that the way to keep burglars from
getting their money was to surround 1t
by immense masses Of cold steel.
Needless to say" the banker went
pretty frequently. There Is an axiom
that whatever one man can make an
other man can break and the burglars
proved 1t over and over again. 1t was
always the same story-the doddering
old Waterman bound and gagged, the
'burglar-proof' door wide open and the
safe empty. That gradually brought
about an entire change In method and
led to the development of the American
multiple Waterman system, which Is
undoubtedly the most perfect ON earth.
Briefly explained, it's system of
guards, watching the bank and watch
Ing each other, and leaving a continual
record Of their movements on time de-
tectors' that can't be tampeyed with.
Their rounds are 50 arranged that no
man Is ever free from surveillance for
more than ten or fifteen minutes at a
stretch, so that If he was held up or
killed, or fell asleep or dropped dead,
or anything else happened to put him
out Of action, the fact would be known
before any serious conse quences could
ensue The day has gone by when
gang of crooks can crack watchman
over the head and then take their time
"pcbt iolNlHB llit NuNlt
THE modern system of watching and
auxiliary watching has put an end to
great bank robberles," added the hnan-
cier THE only hauls now made by
crooks In that line Of business are in
country towns and remote rural dis
tricts, where old methods still prevail
That isn't because they are any less
cunning or desperate than they used to
be, but simply because they recognize
the folly Of attempting to break
through the Gordon Of human eyes 1t
is an interesting fact, by the way, that |
Uncle Sam was the pioneer in that sys-
tenn of protection, and the banks might !
well have taken q leaf out of his book |
years ago, The treasury vaults at |
are a good Joke as far as |
intrinsic security 10 concerned They
are built like forts, and the massive |
of their walls Is full of cam
non balls, which are supposed to be
able to turn drill; but as a matter of
fact, any expert cracksman could 20
through like mouse tunneling a Still
ton cheese Yet no attempt has ever
been made on the untold millions of
cold cash behind the riekety old doors,
~ti'N' |
The safest in the world for the simply
reason that It is never left unguarded.
Files of soldiers, frequently changed,
patrol all the corridors and approaches,
and it would be physically impossible
or robbers to make a descent without
getting caught The bank Of England
its vaults under six feet of
water every day after business hours,
yet / consider it good deal less Sc
'ure than our own antlquated treasure
house You must not infer from any
ming | have said that up-to-date
american banks have abandoned bolts
md bars. On the contrary, the mod
'rn vault is a wonderful piece of me-
'hanism and is as nearly perfect as
human ingenuity can make it; but the
hief reliance is pinned to the living
'uard, who beats cold steel all to
pieces. l admit that the system looks,
N the surface, like reversal to print
i've principles, but really it is only an
duplication of common sense New
orleans Times-Democrat