The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1904-11-04


T1i-f711el.1Th RECORD.
The sleeping car passenger has almost
invariably moro or less around his person
lin the shape OF valnabl papers or jewelry
and yet with all the improvements that
have been made in these .s.!: la! coaches
for the comfort and convenience of pas
sengers. nothing sccEis 10 ilavc been done
to grant him safety for his valuable per-
sonal belongings. When no goes to bed at
night he puts his pocketbook under his pill
low right within arms reach of any one
passing along the corridor of tho car. The
sleeping car as arranged today offers no
other means OF disposing of %valuab.es dur
Ing the trip. "A woman with a package of
jewelry has no other alternative but to
carry 1t constantly In her hand. and tho
.unceasing care she Is bound to give 1t de-
stroys all pleasure she might otherwise
derive from the trip.
y 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 nave for
chilly pointed out to him tho necessity of
some such protection for the travelling
pubic. His idea requires the addition OF
no weiShty or cumbersome mechanism to
the cars construction. or no sacrifice of
space. and yet gives every passenger the
facilities OF a safe deposit vault. He is
given a 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 contemplates the
utilization OF that space which Is gener-
ally found between the two windows Of
each section of the sleeper. In the present
construction this space is generally occu-
pied by n long. narrow piece Of plate glass
mirror. T>hf1 tS RI ha ron1acoH hv n co,iare
hole to receive a safe made OF solid metal,
which will. be bolted to the frame of the
car In such q manner that 1t cannot be re-
moved by any ordinary means. The inter-
Tor of the box is arranged to accommodate
a watch and various other pieces Of Jew
elry and is also large enough to receive n
pocketbook 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 anunciator 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 give the latter any concern at all.
NO matter what happens to the car these
iron X 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 VIII have the satisfaction Of know
ing that his valuab.es are protected from
thtevery, as well as from flames. Mr..
Freed's scheme is also ap l!cablc 10 steam
ships. where every one will nave 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 ut all obtrus-
i've. They fit into the woodwork of the car,
the front coming lush 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.
MIR. Freed has further adapted his idea
to the railroad express business for the
prevention Of robberies of safes 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
tof the coach and their removal will be eb-
solutely impossible. AT the eginn.ng of
the journey the cash and valuable for each
city along the route will be placed in a
vault and the combination door
Closed. No one on the train knows or has
any means Of ascerta.ning the comb.na-
tons of these boxes, but the information
is telegraphed 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 tho
whole coach and take 1t away to some
pace where they could burn 1t. Having
done this they would be also forced to
open the several safes. one at a time, be-
fore they could get at the plumber. In the
present system a single safe is used which
must must be opened at every station for which
ened. to the car BY a chain w...ch could be 4
cut in a few minutes with an ordinary
metal saw. and the iron box readily
thrown from the car as the train speeds
as 1t has often been zone by train
robbers.
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