The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-01-18

AlaAe FnAal rI- all-E4 p AEAL rA-E- pas
and about the entire vault i Tie three
E foot protection Of concrete. within TIE
vault itself are the separate compaTI-
Z msnts. each locked These compart-
ments are examined shortly after tss
ED q the fiscal year, ana are tHeu
! sealed by the examiner. 50 that auy
i entrance 10 them would b impOssiuy-
without the breakage Of the seals. II
each compartment devoted 70 the sto1-
age Of gold there is 10000 600 Of the
[ yellow metal Il IL storeS first in bags.
which contain s.. 900 each in half eagles.
eagles CT double eagles, and then these
bags are arranged twenty on e shelf.
Eacn shelf has thus $1ooc 900 on Il. me
. shelves are arranged II rows down
ward. ten from TOD To bottom OF the
compartment. each row having thus
e, 000, 900 Ia gold IN IL There are forty
% these rows altogether, 50 that ss7.-
/ 099 90 Is sccommoda ted. Occasionally
II is desired 70 place more than thus
sum in one compartment. and then
more bags are squeezed into = shelf
Electrical Danger Alarm.
Electricity lights the entire section Of
each vsuit. and the electric current Il
50 arranged that II IL were possible for
the vaults TO De tempered with the cleo
{ trlciry would Immediately give notice
outside that something vas wrong
A Ceta chUent 5f guards every night
/ is stationed at the entrance to the stair
ways leading 10 the corridor, which
gives access 70 the vaults themselves.
| Their orders are 10 shoot down any one
attempting 70 enter
As explained. however. By Cashier
Murphy, although the precautions here
are the same a. those at the national
T 20 as ~E-a
acter Of the treasures AT the mint pro-
teet themselves No man living could
make Of with z quarter Of q million IN
gold Fifty thousand dollars would be
huge load for any one. Even the
5000 bags are not the most comfort
able things in the world 10 carry. The
same remarks apply 70 the silver. with
almost exactly thirty times more DO
tency. as gold is nov worth about thir-
y times the same weight as silver. The
same thing IS true Of the bullion
IN a crowded city like Philadelphia
said Mr. Murphy. 1T would be iTnpessi-
bic for theft 10 occur even on an ex-
press wagon bringing the bullion to the
mint from the stations OF piers. De
HveTies TO the mint are never made ex-
eept in broad daylight Hence il follows
that II there we're any loss it would
have 10 be the work Of a sneak thief
and one. moreover who was an ex-
trsOrdinarily rapid worker The wsK-
ons are IN charge Of two men. and even
II z thief managed for a moment to
elude the Wig lance Of the two. his shrift
would De short. tt is no easy task To
rEn away with bullion Try for your
self continued the cashier. pointing 10
pile Of yellow bars. hold that bar in
your arms for FIVE minutes"
Bullion Too Bulky to Steal.
It did not take more than half that
time 10 prove the correctness Of the as
sertion.
Wouldn't be pleasant would it, ne
continued. TO Tun down the street
hanging on 10 that piece Of gold aud
with q mob al the back % you and sew
eral policemen showing Up In front?
Every imaginable precaution. as you
have seen. is taken here. but there are
some strange stories abroad OF the way
things are done. Al old tale. which II
still alive in far-away districts. is that
every visitor to the Philadelphia mint
is stripped before leaving and searched
al over So many people have Wis ted
the new mint from oct Of town how
ever. that the myth seems 70 be pretty
dead now
Another story vas that Ne Sere 20
al El4A 1U1ut any EolQ lllsN went ID 10
the refining furnaces that We sent
armed sTeepeTs over the roofs Of the
buildings IN the usighborhOod every
night TO collect the precious dust which
had foated up the chimneys. Strange.
isn't IL people think Of the most i'm
probable and useless matters. and the
really important precautions amaze
them when they come To learn OF
them o.
For the protection Of the mint from
fire a well drilled fire brigade has charge
OF the extinEuishinE apparatus There
are thirty-one fire stations located in
the corridors and rooms throughout the
building The pressure on the fire
pumps can be run up to $50 pounds.
This force vii throw z stream Of water
over the building
At night every fifteen minutes thirty
one vatehmen ring a signal notifying
the watch IN the telephone room that
al IS well All these men carry re-
volvers during the night watch. II the
signal from any Waterman vas not
heard at the right time an instant
alarm would be sounded.