The Colorado statesman., 1911-04-01

cranks will ever succeed In accom-
plishing a hold-up. seven heavily
armed guards ride to and fro with the
treasure of millions.
The van is made of hardened steel
with heavy locks and bars. Four OF
the guards occupy seats on the rear
of the wagon, two sit on the seat with
the driver, while another follows on
horseback The guards are all former
members of the United States army.
All this extra precaution, says
Popular Mechanics. is due to the
change in the system OF making mon
ey. Until recently the money was
printed at the bureau OF engraving
and printing but sent to the treasury
minus the seal and the number so
that IL was not real money Until
handled in the treasury.
Now one machine does all the work,
including the stamping OF the seal
and number. These figures, the round
seal to the right and the number to
the left of the face of a paper bill,
stamped in blue, are what make the
bills legal tender. Hence when the
money passes through the wonderful
cutting and stamping machine. which
also counts the bills out in lots OF
100, 1t is ready to spend, and any one
who got hold of 1t would have the
real thing.
The van now carries daily to the
treasury s7,OOO,000 in bank notes,
certificates and stamps. or this
t. y, fl
Gates, 100000 in national bank
notes, s1,5O0,000 in postage stamps
and 100000 in internal revenue
stamps. Returning to the bureau
from the treasury the van carries
blank paper for the notes and stamps.
Last year $4,000, 100000 in stamps
and $4,000, ,00O, 900 in certificates were
transported from the bureau to the
treasury without the loss of one
stamp or certificate.
This is remarkable record
said Director Ralph, "but there is no
telling when the unforeseen may hap
pen. This guard should have been
organized years ago"
The United States government Is
now in possession of the largest and
finest safe in the world. 1t is located
deep underground below the United
States treasury building at Washing
ton, and in this huge strong box 1t is
the intention to keep in storage at all
times not less than $5OO,OOO,OOO In
currency. OF course this new govern
mental depository Of wealth is not
safe in the ordinary Interpretation or
the word, but rather vault nearly
"a feet in length, close to 20 feet
wide and about 16 feet in height.
This new vault, which cost the gov
ernment more than $4,000, was made
necessary by the passage by congress
a few years ago of what Is known as
the emergency currency act. which
provides that in order to have the
means at hand to Illustrate future
panics the comptroller of the currency
must henceforth keep on hand at all
times bank notes or paper money to
the value of half Of the capital stock
of all the United States national
banks in existence. This meant the
creation of a new reserve reservoir
of $500, 100000, and since the govern
ment vaults were already taxed to
their capacity to provide for the keep
ing of the funds on hand 1t was neces-
sary to provite new treasury house.
The new vault in the sub-basement
of the treasury building is two sto-
ries high, and in order to provide
storage facilities in the form desired
the entire interior is given over to
a series of huge double file cases of
toned into pigeonholes-more than 15,-
600 of them in all-each just large
enough to accommodate the standard
size package containing $1,000 sheets
of money, each sheet being made up
of four bills. Thus each pigeonhole
that is filled with one-dollar notes
holds $4,000, whereas If the denomina-
ton be $40 the contents Of the pigeon
hole will total $4,000.
The exterior walls of the new vault
are of the heaviest steel construction
and the door and the portfolios pro-
vided for ventilation are closed by
heavy steel doors fitted with the lat
est approved locks of the heaviest and
most intricate construction. but the
main safeguard for this subterranean
wealth lies in an electric protective
system that cost $4,000, and which en-
meshes the entire vault In a close
drawn network Of electric wires
more than II miles of wire in the ag-
gregate-which sounds alarms at any
interference. This system Is tested
every fifteen minutes day and night
The only means Of reaching the new
vault is by a secret elevator guarded