Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-26
MEN MOST EFFECTIVE
FAITHFUL WATCHMAN BETTER
THAN TIMELoCKS.
Mice and Reaches Sometimes Set the
ing-Armed Sentinels.

men would have an easy time getting to
| the money but for the watchmen who guard
the immense treasure through the long
hours of the night. In the day time the
| watchfulness is exercised by regular clerks
of the big financial establishment that
| Uncle Sam operates.
| The treasury watch force consists of sew
enty-nine men, including two lieutenants.
Capt. H. A. Cobaugh, the captain of the
force, makes a total of eighty. The force
is divided into two reliefs. The day relief,
from s o'clock in the morning until 4
o'clock in the afternoon consists of just
| fifteen men besides the captain. The du
| ties of the men in the day are chiefly as
| doorkeepers. They have no responsibility
| in connection with the 81, 1T6, 500, 600 of cash
| and United States bonds that on de-
post in the vaults. At all of the doors and
| entrances they are stationed to keep watch
over the hundreds of visitors, to preserve
dlers and ticket sellers. The rules of the
| Treasury prevent ticket selling and any
form of canvassing or other molestation
that will take up the time Of employees.
Has Not Haunted Cobaugh.
At o'clock in the afternoon, half an
hour before the busy thousands leave their
desks for their homes, another relief comes
on duty and remains until midnight. This
relief consists of thirty-two men, includ-
ing one lieutenant. The midnight relief
consists of exactly the same number of
men, headed by lieutenant, while at any
hour of the night Captain Cobaugh is liable
to drop in to ascertain how things are
| going, and to receive reports. Shortly
after 4:30 O'Clock every door in the big de-
partment is closed except the main one,
| fronting on 18th street. The doors are
| fastened with the immense locks that
| have been upon them for so many years,
| and between these doors and the outside
| q ha
| locked. There is not much attempt made
to fasten the windows, as there would be
! some difficulty in getting to them except by
| climbing over the iron fences surrounding
| the treasury grounds. Such a perform
| ance would attract attention on the streets.
| With all the doors closed except one
| doorkeeperS are not needed, and the entire
| force of each relief, with the exception of
| a reserve of four or five men on duty near
| the main door, is stationed in the north
| part of the building, where all the money
vaults are situated. Armed with the latest
| pattern 3s-caiiber army pistol and within
| quick reach of krag-Jorgensen rifles, the
| watch force over millions keeps silent vigil.
| There is no chance to go to sleep, as each
| wa lehman must signal his presence at his
| post every fifteen minutes during the night,
and the lieutenant duty keeps a record
| of these signals. If a man should go
! long as five minutes beyond the time for
| turning in his signal, some of the reserve
men would start at once for his post and
| quickly make an investigation. 1t is seldom
! tflat TINS occurs. \ ears ago the missing sig
nal did not come over the electric wires to
| the lieutenant from a certain spot. He
went to investigate. His man was missing
| from the post. A quick search revealed
him stretched out in the dark recesses of
| a big underground coal bin, stone dead.
His army pistol lay near him and half his
head was blown off. He had committed
suicide. He left a note on piece of brown
wrapping paper, in which he said that he
was sorry the captain of the watch had
not come that way, he wanted TO kill
| him first. He had fancied that his chief
| had it in" for him, but his grievance was
not correct. Large rats were running over
| the dead Waterman, who said in his note
| that he would haunt the captain of the
watch the rest of his life. So far Captain
| Cobaugh has not been pestered by any
apparition resembling the Waterman.
Electric Alarm System.
| Before the several hundred clerks and re-
| sponsible officials connected with the office
| of Treasurer Roberts leave their post at
4:3O o'clock, they report to the captain of
| the watch that all the vaults-sixteen in
number-have been securely locked and that
the responsibility Is with him until the
next morning at o'clock. The last thing
| these employees do Is to set the time locks
which prevent any human being getting
| into the vaults until the hour fixed for
| opening next morning. Treasurer Roberts
| himself, the man who is responsible for the
millions of securities and money, could not
|
called 'the electric protection is set upon
| each door. This is nothing but a wooden
! door that is attached to the entrance of
| every vault. 1t is so full of electrical de-
vices that single touch upon 1t will set
| the automatic burglar alarm to ringing
! in the registers at the main door and in
the office of the company furnishing the
| system The whole device is sensitive
| that in the dead of the night there is likely
| to be an alarm when no one has touched
a part of the machinery. One night not
4 l1v,r thn,.n oIn
which were promptly investigated, but no
| one could be found who had set the>wires
| to buzzing their messages of warnings.
| The doors of the vaults are not the only
parts that are filled with these delicate but
| wonderfully sensitive electric wires The
| nsideS of the vaults are covered and a
touch anywhere would tell just what part
| of vault was being handled. The officials
cannot explain the false alarms. II is be-
| lieved that mice or cockroaches or the
| heavy jar of watchman's step starts the
| alarm. The alarm gives the location, so
| that time is lost in getting to the place.
| The Waterman situated near the spot
| knows nothing of what has happened. He
! has seen nothing, heard nothing to start
| the clang of the alarm in the center of the
| floor above.
Expert Cracks a Safe.
| But even with all this protection the opin-
ion is strong that an expert would know
how to dispose of the electric wires and
get into most of the vaults in quick time,
but for the watchmen. The majority of
| the vaults are old affairs, having been put
| in when the north part of the building was
| completed in 1869. 1t is stated that when
! j. N. Huston was treasurer-from May,
| 1889, to April 1S91-he grew nervous about
| the vaults and sent for vault expert. This
man looked at the masses of iron, with
| their locks, cranks and different safety ap-
| pliances and remarked that he could go
| into one of them in fifteen minutes He
asked the treasurer to select a safe and
| he would make his word good. In fourteen
minutes from the time he took the first
vault in hand he inside the safe. That
| was not very reassuring to the treasurer
| but he doubled the watch force in that
| part of the building, and put up such a
doleful plea to Congress as to induce that
! body to make a good appropriation for
| further protection.
| In the last few years some new vaults,
modern in every way, have been installed
| in the treasury, but Uncle@Sam never puts
| his faith in the statement of any vault
manufacturer that he has a sure thing.
These modern vaults are surrounded
| through the night by faithful watchmen