Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1909-01-08
LYDEFENSE PLAN
Steam Blasts Protect New
FORKS National City Bank.
COULD STOP AN INVASION.

saperheatsd Wager In . Few Min.
utss - System Installed a. Crest
Vaults Protection In New Home.
i Blasts Of steam, superheated and
kept under such pressure as to food
the entire building I'm q few minutes,
will be the main scheme IN a deadly
system Of defense that the National
City bank Of New York, the largest
financial institution In America, relies
upon 90 make its new home In Wall
street the most impregnabIe financial
fortress in the world ana into which II
recently moved.
Wall street for years has fortified
itself against possible invasion by a
mob or concentrated attack from
hundreds Of burglars, and all Its strong
rooms and safes have been built Of the
most thief proof material at hand, but
tho National City bank ID the first to
adopt steam as a method OF defense.
says the New York Herald. Around
the banks great safe. which Il Of the
usual burglar proof construction tons
o. armored steel. REINFORCED concrete.
iron rails and meahes OF sensitive
alarm wtres-is a system OF steam
pipes that. should al other means fan
% Illustrate robbers. would snufE out
the lives Of scores Of burglars should
they continue 70 work near the safe or
would stand or hundreds OF men for
IN indednite length Of time IL It did
not suif0cate them before they could
escape from the building.
The great safe. or strong room, which
weighs 300 tons. 10 twenty feet high.
twenty-four feet long and about ff-
teen feet deep. II Is built in two sto.
fies, the upper section rising from the
center Of the main floor and the lower
section extending into the basement.
whore It rests on wide marble legs like
some gloomy Harcophagus. These legs
are about i've feet high and allow
from the basement at all times a full
view under the safe.
Looming up from the center OF a
great square Of bronze rallied cages
and small rooms the safe. Hnished ID
dull gray, looks like a section Of a
warship In battle paint among q fieet
Of brass rallied and brass trimmed
yachts, and entering one Of its doors
gives the impression OF stepping into
Q turTet OF one Of the great battle
ships. q huge steel hinge much like a
miniature crane swinging the sixteen
ton doors inatead OF an ammunition
hoist Highly polished steel crossbars
on the outside Of the circular doors
make them look like the brooches OF |
thirteen inch guns.
The armament Of the vault Ia about |
; foot and q half thick, first q half
Inch plate Of steel then half an inch
q wire mesh made up Of sensitive
wires that stretch or in q score Of dif.
Ierent directions 70 alarm stations
After the wire mesh there Il a half
nch plate Of steel. then eight inches
= railroad iron and concrete and last
i've inches OF aFmOr plate.
Running around the middle Of the
Fauit directly under the bank floor,
whlch IL provided with a grating to
lllow OF q perfect draft from under
Aeath. h the system Of steam pipes
which the bank ofiicials depend upon
Q DO nnal execution should all other
'rotection fail. These pipes are four
aches In diameter. perforated with
ride valves at intervals OF about
welvo inches, and are connected with
mains that lead to the boilers. should
burglar or any number Of Thorn pen
trate the first layer Of steel and then
10 wire mesh without giving an alarm
u the valves can be opened by a sin.
10 turn Of wheel in any OF dozen
laces throughout the building, send
ag out fiood Of steam that WIN com.
latoly envelop the safe In less than
Af minute.
should a sudden invasion from an
Underground passage be made simuIta.
equally with the entry from the street
hundreds Of men. all the valves
Iould be kept wide open until the
dhing, burning vapor filled the entire .
asement and the banking chamber
lear TO the top Of It's seventy-two foot ,
pine. killing all those unable to make !
heir escape.