The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1904-11-03
SAFES on Sleeping Cars.

sefrs on Sleeping Cars.
Philadelphia Record.
The sleeping car passenger has almost
Invariably more or less around his person
lin the shape Of valuable papers or jewelry
and yet with all the improvements that
nave been made in .hese palatiai coaches
for the comfort and convenience of pas
sengers, nothing seems to have been done
to grant him safety for his valuable per-
sonal belongings. When he goes to bed at
night he puts his pocketbook under his pill
low right within arms reach or any one
passing along the corridor of the car. Inc
sleeping car as arranged today offers no
other means OF dlsposing OF dur
ing the trip. A woman with a package of
jewelry has no other alternative but to
carry 1t constantly In her hand, and the
,unceasing care she Is bound to give it de-
stroys all pleasure she might otherwise
derive from the trip.
A plan to grant relief to passengers in
this respect has been devised by isaac
Freed OF Harrisburg, Pa, whose many
tranS-cont.netal business tours have Tor
chilly pointed out TO him tho necessity or
some such protection for the travelling
pubic. His idea requires the addition or
no weighty or cumbersome mechanism to
the cars construction, or no sacrifice OF
space, and yet gives every passenger the
facilities of a safe deposit vault lie is
given q fire and burglar proof safe which
Is, not only under his own constant sur
VIGILANCE. but also that OF the railroad en-
ploye who happens to be in charge of the
car.
Mr.. Freed's scheme c~ontemplates the
utilization of that space which Is gener-
ally our between the two windows of
each section of the sleeper. In the present
construction this space is generally occu-
ped by a long. narrow piece of plate glass
mirror. This is to be replaced by a square
hole to receive a safe made OF solid metal.
which viii! be bolted to the frame of the
car in such a name that it cannot be re-
moved by any ordinary means. The inter-
for of the box Is arranged to accommodate
q watch and various other pieces Of Jew
elry and Is also large enough to receive a
pocketbcok or bunch of papers. Each of
these safes is supplied with an alarm,
which rings vigorously as soon as any but
the proper key is introduced into the lock
or If any attempt is made to open the safe
door by any other means. Besides this. an
alarm Is also given in the conductors end
of the car and the a~nunciator shows at
once shows which particular safe is being
tempered with.
In case of any accident the property of
The passenger using one of the berth boxes
would be absolutely safe, and need In no
event Civ the latter any concern at all.
No matter what happens to the car these
iron boxes could not be damaged in the
least The vehicle could be twisted out of
all shape or burned to cinders, but should
the passenger be fortunate enoughto es-
cape he VII have the satisfaction of know
ing that his ~valuab.es are protected from
th.every, as well as from flames. Mr..
Freed's scheme is also ap licabie TO steam
ships, where every one will have his per-
sonal property Immediately under his own
care instead OF being compelled to place 1t
IN the sometimes unsatisfactory charge
OF the ships purser.
These receptac.es are not at all obtrus-
I've. They fit into the woodwork OF the car,
the front coming flush with the surface.
a looking glass or bit of carved wood may
be placed over the door In such a manner
as to hide 1t almost entirely.
Mr.. Freed has further adapted his idea
to the railroad express business for the
prevention Of robberies of So fes while In
transit either by armed thieves or through
any conspiracy OF the employees Of the
company who might be in possession Of
safe combinations or other secrets giving
them access to the strong boxes.
For this purpose it is proposed to build
several moderate sized safes in the frame
work Of the car. so that they VIII be a part
of the coach and their removal viii be eb-
soiutely impossible. AT the eginn:ng OF
the journey the cash and valuable for each
city along the route will be placed in q
separate vault and the combination door
c-osed. No one on the train knows or has
any means OF ascerta.ning the comb,na-
TONS OF these boxes. but the information
is teiegraphed by cipher. If necessary. to
the agent located In cities at which the
BOXES are to he opened. Any attempt to
force any OF these safes will result IN
alarming the passengers In every coach.
Thieves. in order to get at the valuables of
this car. would be compelled to steal the
whole coach and take It away to some
pace where they could burn 1t. Having
done this they would be also forced TO
open the several safes, one at & time. be-
fore they could get at the plunder. In the
present system a single safe Is used which
must be opened at every station for which
there is a consignment. This safe Is fast
eneo to the car by q chain w. CHI could he
cut IN a few minutes with an ordinary
metal saw. and the iron box %raa,5Jlv
thrown from the car as the train sneeds
aIong, as 1t has often been zone by train
robbers. N"'t