Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-04-18
WELL GUARDED CASH.
The Millions Piled Up In the Mint at
PhiIadelphia.

Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia mint always con-
tains coin and bullion which fluctuate
in value each day between a half and
three-quarters Of a billion dollars.
One hundred millions Of dollars of
this amount Is in silver dollars stor-
ed for several years in a room by itself
100 by SIS feet In area. About $780,
000. 900 is in gold coin, ready to be
put in circulation or to be stored in
the national treasury at Washington
against the issue Of corresponding
number of gold certificates. A million
or two Is in bronze and nickel coins.
Finally an amount Of bullion varying
from a small quantity to several hun
dred millions of dollars worth occupies
the four massive 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 plate Of bat
tleship steel six inches thick, so strong
that an expert working on 1t a week
could scarcely make an impression.
much less penetrate 1t 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
ent lnces 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
bronze bullion lies in another room by
itself, but as a few dollars worth of
this substance makes an uncomforta-
bly, heavy load it Is not thought nee
essary to surround 1t with the minute
safeguards used in the case of the
precious metals.
The vaults themselves have a 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 vault both
men have to be together, and it Is a
rule Of the department that both shall
.fo hn tnc nj
other object for which the huge safe
is opened is accomplished.
Entering one Of these great cages
after five minutes working at the
combination, one finds himself In a
huge room partitioned off in fifteen
compartments by steel gratings Of the
strongest kind. A straight passage
six feet wide and the height Of the
chamber goes down the length Of the
room from the door. At the entrance
are 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
5000, 900.
Beyond these storage places a steel
grated door in the passage itself has
to be opened and then still another to
get completely to the end Of the room.
All along the length Of this passage
way, from the entrance to the vault
To the end, are the compartments Tor
the coins, separated from the passage
way by exactly the same kind Of graf
ings as those which divide the way it.
self 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 COM
partments, each locked. These COM
Dartments are examined shortly after
the end of the fiscal year and are then
sealed by the examiners, so that any
entrance to them would be Impossible
without the breakage Of the seals. In
each compartment devoted to the stor-
age of gold the coin Is stored frst IN
bags which contain $4,000 each In hali
eagles, eagles or double eagles, and
then these bags are arranged twenty
on a shelf. Each shelf has thus $780,
900 on It, The shelves are arranged In
rows downward, ten from top to bot
tom of the compartment. each row
having thus $1,000,000 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 them
selves. 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 extinguishing 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 we'll All these men carry re-
volyers during the night watch. If the
signal from any watchman was not