Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-15
HAS ESCAPED THE WRITERS.
Treasury "Horse- Block" Where the
Money is Unloaded.

See that building?" asked a Washington
correspondent Of visiting friend to whom
he was showing the sights of the capital.
They were standing on the east side of 18th
street near F.
Yes replied the visitor, land it is the
treasury building"
The untold millions of dollars In notes,
gold and silver, which the granite walls of
that structure has hidden would make
Rockefeller's pile look like 80 cents
Very true; | know that" rejoined the
visitor.
And that building and its money and
its associations, and everything else con-
nected with 1t, have been written up about
a million times and In million different
ways" added the Washingtonian
II know that. too replied his friend
Nevertheless there is one thing or OBJ
ject connected with that historic pile or
stone which has thus far escaped fame"
''Impossible!" exclaimed the tourist In
credulously. Il thought that Washington
was annually raked with fne-tooth comb
by writer's"
1T is" acquiesced the respondent
land then It is reraked by still others. Yet
there is one object, which we will low make
famous which. as l have said, has scaped
Do you observe that low block, or platform,
of heavy iron-joined beams of wood close
to the curb opposite the basement entrance
on the 18th street side, almost directly oppo-
size from where we are standing?"
+.
That block is the one thing in town
that hasn't been written up, from the
President to the frescoes In the Congress
sional Library. For quarter of a CEN
fury those heavy wooden planks have had
the distinction OF receiving every cent of
the hundreds of billions of bold coin, SILL
yer coin. gold bullion, silver bullion and
gold and silver certificates, treasury and
bank notes which have entered and have
afterward been dispatched from the treas
ury building. The grand total of this
wealth is scarcely susceptible of estimation;
1t is simply fabulous. Do you note that
drawn by three big white horses? 1t is
filed with government notes which await
only the seal OF the government to make
them legal tenders. AS such they will after
ward leave the treasury for distribution
when that load is ernptied another vehi-
Gle will back up to the block, perhaps
an express wagon, from which will be
dumped million dollars In coin or bull
lion. Then more millions done up In se-
curely sealed packages of notes will be
carried out Of the building, deposited upon
the block and thrown into still another
wagon. covered van or wire-netted express
wagon. And thus the continuous perform
ance of handling the wealth of the nation
In the public streets of the capital goes
on day by day, year after year, unnoticed
by the public at large. And II all, from
tfcally without limit as to amount, as well
as all of the bullion. lands at one time
or another upon that old wooden block. :"
IT should think some enterprising thief
might try to make a raid some day. sug-
gested the visitor.
That's what the men whose duty 1t is
to handle all this great wealth think, too,
SO they are at all times prepared to well
come any gentleman whose enterprise
might prompt such action" replied the
correspondent. And the funny part Of Il
Is this: All this great accumulation Of
money which passes over that block at
intervals during the day Is handled by
poor men who work for moderate wages.
perhaps not over s7h month This would
seem to prove that a man hasn't got to be
rich TO handle big money after ALL