Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-08
BANK OF ENGLAND A
ST0REH0USE OF GOLD
Greatest Financial Institution in the
World Started HumbIy by
Scotchman-How 1t is
Managed


last few days, as a result of the mon
etary stringency, many millions of dol
lars were shipped here from Great
Britain. All that the average Amer
lean reader learned as to the source
from whence this was drawn was the
bare announcement that it came from
the Bank of England, sometimes known
as the Little Old Lady of Thread
needle Street" So serious did the eng
hshmen regard this great outflow of the
yellow metal that the rate of exchange
vas raised - per cent, a figure that
celdom has been exacted.
Ihe history of the Bank of England.
the greatest monetary institution in
me universe, Is an interesting one.
says the Brooklyn Eagle. It wos
founded in the year 1894 by a Scotch
man named William Paterson, :
In its early days some fifty-etd Eer-
sons, including the directors, comprised
the entire staff, and one room sufficed
to conduct It's business Today the
bank, with its London and provincial
branches, employs some HOO men and
Few score OF women, and its name
Is synonymous with stability and Sc
curity throughout the entire world.
The gray stone building, darkened
by the smoke of London, is low and
rnpretentious; the long. blank walls.
broken only by one entrance on each
street, give it the gloomy appearance
of a fortress or jail
The governor and company of the
Bank of England consists of about
twenty-five wealthy city men, who
nave generally invested fairly heavy in
bank stock, the $500 shares Of which
have nearly trebled in value.
Board Meets Weekly
These men constitute the board of
directors. THIS body meets every
Thursday in the court room to consider
whether any change is necessary in
the bank rate and to transact any
other business of moment
The directo- draws $500 a year. The
governor and deputy governor, the lat
fer invariably attending daily, receive
respectively. $4,000 and $500 annually
Each of the directors has in his gift
two nominations annually, which are
eagerly sought after. Though 1t APP
pears almost unthinkable, there wss a
time when so great was the dearth of
clerical labor that the bank was COM
PEELED to adver tise publicly on the
walls for forty assistants, and even
then it had difficulty In obtaining them.
1t is said for some years after that
period certain of the directors handed
nominations OH to their buffers to dis
pose of.
The nominees, who must be between
The ages of Is and % years previously
to last year 1t was Is to rs years),
must pass ar examination IN such SUBJ
iects as arithmetic, geography, dicta-
ton, etc. A certain number of marks
must be obtained, and, failing to secure
these, the candidate is rejected, to be
given one more chance six months la
ter, at he next election.
1t is necessary also that the FORUM
ate recipients Of the directors nominal
lions should lass the banks medical
officer. and find surety for $4,000.
The annual payroll of the bank
smounts to about $1,000,000, the salar-
ies ranging flcm $500 to the newly
elected members to $17,500 a year to
the chief cashier.
All clerks must retire at the age of
Sc years, when they receive as pension
two-thirds of their income. Those who.
through il. health or other causes, are
compelled to resign before that age,
are generally de alt with fairly literally
by the directors, who are also generous
in the matter CT sick leave.
Turns Out Bank Notes
On the upper floor of the bank are
the PRINT i. rooms, where five presses
turn out bank notes at the rate of sew
eral thousand day. The rupee notes
for the Indian government are also
printed there, and the postal notes for
the government are there run out to
the number Of half a million daily.
The mos. interesting machines are
the automati- scales for testing sover-
eigns. The coins are fed at about the
rate of one q second through a long
trough. Oh. to a small inclined plate
that shoots the full weights out In
front and throws the light weights out
at the side.
About q hundred thousand sover-
eigns are taken in and weighed daily,
of which about two per cent are found
deficient In weight. These are clipped
and returned 10 the mint. If. in paying
the money into the bank, the shortage
in weight of gold amounts to over three
grains per sovereign, the owner must
make good that loss.
The gold is stored in vaults In the
basement, from which 1t is hoisted to
the issue depaI tments by lifts. In the
tullion yard. approached from 10th
bury, gold is taken in or loaded out
from the bank. Here, too, the clerks
of the different banks who come for
roa o,,antitiec of gold are accOmmO-