The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-01-10
LOCKED IN THE VAULT.
DEPOsIToR'S PLIGHT IN A NEW
YORK CITY BANK,

tiOns to Angry Patron behind the
Ttme-locked Doors of the Vault.
Vibration Theory Utilized to Make
the Molecules Hump Themselves.
From the New York Sun.
John r. Van Wormer secretary of
the Lincoln Safe Deposit Company, in
East Forty-second street, returned 10
his office after luncheon on Saturday.
instead of indulging himself with the
half holiday. His self-denial was
! lucky thing for one small depositor,
who had fingered too long over the
treasure in his box.
Mr. Van Wormers desk Is near the
great steel double vault doors on which
the time lock is. He got back there a
little after / o'clock. Twenty minutes
before those vault doors had been
locked and the time mechanism adj
justed so that they could not be open
ed without dynamite until o'clock on
Monday morning.
Presently Mr.. Van Wormer heard a
faint, far-away moan, which startled
| him into dropping a pen. There was o
! repetition of the moan, and then the
banker thought he heard a faint cry
| for help.
Just another subway explosion" he
said to himself>as he sank back into
his chair, and he sent a boy out to get
brief summary of the dead and
! wounded and to find out what partic-
ular hotel had caught it this time.
Il didn't notice the explosion" said
Mr.. Van Wormer to the boy, "prob-
amy because we are so used to II, but
l near the groans down in the earth,
Peter. Harki"
Creepy Moan.
Peter listened, heard the same creepy
moan. that had startled his EMPLOYER.
and rushed out to get the news from
the subway. But he returned with
out any.
That's queer" said Mr.. Van Wor-
mer, why that moan is getting louder
and louder"
But Peter. who was leaning with his
back against the steel door to the
vault, heard just q suggestion of MANY
quick taps such as might be made by
the toe of a boot against wall OF
steel
Its in the vault" he said.
MT Van Wormer pressed his ear
against the barricade of steel that was
locked for forty-four hours and told
Peter he had guessed right the very
first time. Hes praying now" whis-
pered Mr.. Van Wormer. "No, he's
cussing. He's running his shoes kick
ing at the bolts"
There was no real cause for alarm.
for beside the door with the time lock
there are opening into the vaults three
other doors, which may be opened at
any time providing there is somebody
inside to work in conjunction with
each of these doors there is steel dog,
or clutch, which holds all the bolts in
place by falling against a steel bar.
The man inside the vault must lift up
the dog while somebody else outside
works the lock. The problem was to
explain to the stranger through sever
al inches of steel what a dog was and
how to manage it.
AS preliminary. Mr.. Van Wormer IL
Illuminated the vaults by turning on the
electric light switch outside. Peter.
who had his ear at the door when the
lights were turned on. said that he
heard somebody about four miles away
exclaim
Thank God! I'll read the mortgages
once more. anyhow"
Then Mr.. Van Wormer and Peter
and two clerks who had stayed over
time began to pound on one of the
doors without a time lock to attract
the captive's attention and get him
away from the door that couldn't be
opened till Monday morning. Soon the
yells from inside came nearer, and the
four men outside heard a responsive
kick at the door on which they were
hammering.
Lift up the dog" yelled Mr.. Van
Wormer, but evidently he wasn't heard.
Peter yelled the same thing a little
louder, but there was no response.
Dog Didn't Move.
Now, then, all together when I
count three" said Mr.. Van Wormer.
"One. two, three-Lift up the dog!'"
And the four men, standing shoulder
to shoulder, with the mouths close to
the steel, cut loose on the charm. But
the dog wasn't lifted
Peter, who hopes to be an inventor
some day instead of a bank porter, is
doing outside reading In physics and
has just got to the chapter on vibra-
| tons. He explained that repeated
yells at the steel. given in perfect
time, would make the molecules in
the steel hump themselves and carry
the sound waves through the door by
vibration. Mr.. Van Wormer accepted
the theory and arranged this little
emergency yell, and the four men re-
hearsed 1t at the door, with Pier wav-
ing his hand to get the rhythm:
The dog, the dog. dog. dog. dog;
Lift the dog, lift the dog, dog. dog
dog.
He hears u.s." said the happy Pc
ter, proud of his invention. but he
doesn't understand. can just barely
hear him whistling. lie thinks he's
calling dog. Listen to that will
nj. -. tt-..-a - .G.. 4.