The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-11-29

sure of this before the sack reached the
factory
Here again we were baffled AS a
last resort. went to the president and
asked him to direct me TO clean out the
big chrome steel vault where the cash
reserve of the company was stored.
had previously examined the last state
ment of the banks condition and the
daily cash slips. which showed the
amounts of coins and currency and
sight-exchange on hand. but these rec
ords had showed little that was vaiu
able further than that there was some
thing more than $4,000 of money in
the vault. of which more than $4,000
was in gold coin. II was this gold that
| wanted to get at.
THE cashier, a man named Powell,
and the teller both kept close watch
upon me while ] worked in the big
vault as was their duty. and this gave
me scant opportunity to investigate the
sacks of gold piled away in a preten-
tious row on a low shelf. In moving
them, l thought that some seemed
lighter in weight than others, and as
this would be valuable information if
true. hit upon what I thought was a
rather ingenious way of determining II
my surmise was correct.
'Concealing my -pen-knife in the hol-
low of my hand, with the blade open,
selected one of the sacks of ten-dollar
coins which seemed to be lighter than
some of it's mates. and, as / moved it
from the shelf. / cut the cord which
fastened the mouth of it while the at
tention of the 1nquisitive cashier and
teller was directed elsewhere.
Having shaken the mouth of the
sack open and frayed the ends of the
cord so that my ruse would not be
detected. I purposely stumbled and fell
as I crossed the vault. The coins
poured out upon the steel floor of the
big vault in a bright yellow stream,
rolling hither and yon, while I sat de-
jectedly in the midst of the golden food
and rubbed my knee and cursed.
THE two bank officials showed lively
concern at my stupid accident. end
both set about gathering up the coins.
| assisted them as much as possible
but my pulse was beating too fast for
my help to amount 10 much. Ny ruse
had fully served my purpose. The ing
of the coins upon the steel floor Of the
vault had not been true. They had
rung dull and heavy. and I knew them
at once for their real false chara cter.
The verification of this fact came when
them to the sack whence they had
come. There was no mistaking the
feeling of them. They were greasy and
slick: that Shiny touch which dlscloses
the spurious coin in the lark as well
as in the light. Every one l touched
had that slippery, soapstone surface
which counterfeiters cannot overcome
except by the use of metal of the same
fineness as that of the genuine coin
LAS I replaced the sacks. after Clean
ing the shelf. ] was careful to weigh
each of them i'm my hand. There were
fifteen sacks, each containing thou
sand dollars in half eagles. which were
light in weight.
Il now felt sure of my ground, but
il was still necessary that we secure
proof against the teller. 1 had not
suspected the cashier. until this evil
dent trepidation when I spilled the
sack of gold. but after that incident I
decided to have an investigation of him
made at once.
1.-The mystery was now more complex
and interesting than ever. While
had discovered the big reserve of the
counterfeiters. 1 had no evidence
against anyone. and was still afraid to
make arrests. ] wanted the makers of
the coin and their machinery. and