Carson City daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1907-1930, 1909-07-28
a Big Insurance Company
Guards Its Cash and Securities

business day In the year. walk
through the landmark at 100 Broad
way. New York, without as much as
a suspicion hat directly Over them, ,
and SO slose that "a very tall man
might touch II with a long walking
stick. Is n of the greatest ~treasur,
houses In the world. From BROAD
way. Nassau. Pine and Cedar streets.
on the four sides of It, and from
Wall street u short block below, come
the surging crowds that hurry
through the busiest arcade In the
city. They are more interested in
the little stores on both sides of
them than In the ray steel wall
which can he seen by tae few h
are familiar with the location.
through the lattice work above the
themselves are more concerned in
the small change they are taking IN
than In the multitudinOus millions
that are packed away just over their
htiuSs " u, ny oiu 'i'
bottom Of the giant steel box should
fall out, they would be literally bur
led under wealth far beyond the
widest dreams of their most imagin-
alive N and the corridor would be
piled high with blocks of bonds and
other securities representing more
than half the national deb al
most equal to three-quarters OF the
national bank notes outstanding. For
this Is the vault of tie Equitable Life
which, while not as large as Il very
few that have been built within re-
cent years, Is still one of the great
est strong houses on earth. II is
proof against fire and burglars alike.
and even against earthquake. so firm
are It's foundations and - stout IFS
construction.
This vault, under which 100000
people pass every day, represents the
perfection of the protective art. II
holds more than $4OO. OO0. goo of trust
funds. In tae shapt of mortgages and
high grade bonds. whose market val
ne Is considerably in excess OF their
par value. so there is need for care.
IL Is supported by heavy steer beams
which span the main corridor. with
their ends resting on granite walls
that are four feet thick. II stands In
"a large room, known as the "secur.
G-. L... - .nI,l %. .-n. ... t,,,.
feet wide all around and above il.
The vault itself Is "a feet long. ]?
feet wide, nearly II feet high, and
has walls Is incles thick II is en-
tered through great double doors,
each Of which weigh over 3 tons.
The combinations on these doors are
SO arranged that 1t requires three
men, one OF whom must be an eX-
ecutive officer of the Society, to open
them. M one man, not even the
President, Is allowed to enter the
vault alone: there must always be
three, and one of them must be an
officer. Nc securities Ear be taken
from tae vault. ever To be counted
ON one of the quarterly examinations
or for the routine process OI coubon
clipping, except on an order signed
by one of the executive officers and
their removal and restoration must
he Witnessed by another officer.
The bonds are kept in separate
safes. with which the interior OF the
vault Is lined. and these can be OPP
ened only by IN officer. When the
bonds are taken out for The clipping
Of coupons they are deposited ON long
tables directly In front of the vault.
where the sections waIch call for the
quarterly or semi-annual interest are
cut of. In return for these little
bits of papers the Equitable received
more than $4,000. 900 last year. The
greater part of the interest Is paid in
January and July but there are some
coupons falling due every month. In
b old days the coupons were clip
ped just In advance Of the payment
date but under the new management
all the coupons that fall due during
The year are cut of as O as the
January rush Is over. The bonds
and coupons are then locked up sep
arately u the boxes are sealed,
The bonds are not touched again un-
Ill the next year. AS The coupons
fall due they are withdrawn from
the safes and placed with a trust
company for collection.
Notwithstanding their great weight
the vault doors can be swung open
or shut by a child. They are equip
ped with time ~locks-three clocks be-
ing used SO that II one or two slould