Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-04-29
WELL GUARDED CASH.
The Millions Piled Up In the Mint at
PhiIadeIphia,

The Millions Piled Up In the Mint at
Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia mint always con-
tains coin and bullion which fuctuates
in value each day between half and
three quarters Of a billion dollars. One
| hundred millions of dollars of this
amount is in silver dollars stored for
several years in a room by itself 100
| by 55 feet in area. About $300,000,000
| Is in gold coin, ready to be put in cir
culation or to be stored in the national
treasury at Washington against the is
sue of a corresponding number of gold
certificates. A million or two is in
| bronze and nickel coins. Finally an
amount of bullion varying from small
quantity to several hundred millions Of
dollars worth occupies the four mas
sive vaults designed for the uncOined
metal.
Now, how is this vast hoard pro-
| tected?
First Of all, the whole mint is en-
| bedded in a solid concrete foundation
about three feet deep. Concrete, as
every one knows, is one Of the strong
est Of all known substances and the
most impervious to drilling or wear
Then on the Interior where the vaults
are placed, within this concrete protec-
ton, comes a solid armor Of battleship
steel six inches thick, so strong that
an expert working on it week could
scarcely make an impression, much
less penetrate it by hand tools.
The vaults themselves are sunken
deeply below the ground. Descending
several flights Of stairs and passing
by doors guarded by a fearsome ar
ray OF rifles for use by the night
guards, a long, fairly wide corridor Of
solid concrete masonry shows the en-
| trance to the six vaults, one for the
silver already referred to, one for all
kinds of coinage, but mostly for gold,
and the remaining four for the gold,
silver and nickel bullion. The bronze
/ bullion lies in another room by itself,
but as a few dollars worth of this sub
|
load it is not thought necessary to sur
round it with the minute safeguards
used in the case of the precious metals.
| The vaults themselves have double
combination. That to the outer door Is
known by the cashier only and that to
the inner door by the custodian Of the
vaults only. To enter a vault both
men have to be together, and it is a
rule of the department that botn shall
stay together till the inspection or 9TH
er objects for which the huge safe is
opened Is accomplished.
Entering one Of these great cages af-
ter five minutes working at the combi-
nation, one finds himself in a huge
room partitioned off in fifteen COM
partments by steel gratings of the
strongest kind. straight passage six
| feet wide and the height of the cham
Der goes down the length of the room
stored the bronze coins, the cents,
about $4,000 worth of them, but the
amount varies from day to day. Next
come the more precious nickel coins
of which the value usually totals about
| 100000.
| Beyond these storage places a steel
grated door in the passage itself has
to be opened and then still another to
get completely 70 the end of the room.
All along the length of this passageway,
from the entrance to the vault to the
end, are the compartments for the
| coins, separated from the pasSageway
by exactly the same kind Of gratings as
those which divide the way itself into
sections.
The bottom, the sides and the top of
this vault are lined with steel plates,
and about the entire vault is the three
foot protection of concrete. Within the
vault itself are the separate cOmpart-
ments, each locked. These compart-
ments are examined shortly after the
end of the fiscal year and are tnen
sealed by the examiners, so that any
entrance. to them would be impossible
without the breakage of the seals. In
|
age of gold the coin is stored first in
bags which contain $4,000 each in half
eagles, eagles or double eagles, and
then these bags are arranged twenty on
a shelf. Each shelf mas thus 100000
on it. The shelves are arranged in
rows downward, ten from top to bottom
of the compartment, each row having
thus $1,OOO.OOO in gold in it.
Electricity lights the entire section
of each vault and the electric current
is so arranged that if it were possible
for the vaults to be tampered with the
electricity would Immediately give no
tice outside that something was wrong.
A detachment of guards every night
is stationed at the entrance To the
stairways leading to the corridor. which
gives access to the vaults themselves.
Their orders are to shoot down any one
attempting an entry.
For the protection of the mint from
fire well drilled fire brigade has
charge of the extinguisning apparatus.
There are thirty-One fire alarm sta
tions located in the corridors and
rooms throughout the building.
At night every fifteen minutes thirty
one watchmen ring signal notifying
the watch in the telephone room that
all is well. All these men carry re-
volvers during the night watch. If the
signal from any watchman was not
heard at the right time an instant
alarm would be sOunded.-Philadelpn
| Record