Rock Island Argus., 1912-11-07
A BIC BANK VAULT
How Its Doors Were Opened by
a Message From the Sea.

To the ordinary layman, too busy or
too Indifferent to bother his head with
scientific matters. wireless telegraphy
is somewhat of a mystery. In a gen
eral way he knows that by 1t messages
are flashed through the air over oceans
and mountains, but he does not realize
to what an extent and in what varied
roles the aerial magic plays its parts
in daily life. In The Wireless Man"
the author, Francis A Collins. mar
rates an instance in which aerograms
averted a possible financial mishap.
He writes:
"A secret, even a very big one, may
be intrusted to the wireless man and
flung halfway across the Atlantic
with complete safety. There was the
case. for instance, of the president OF
a great New York bank who sailed for
Europe without leaving the combina-
ton of the locks OF the vaults. AS a
rule, the combination is a single word.
and the secret is known only to two or
three. In this case, by an oversight,
there was no one left ashore who knew
the key. The money and securities OF
the bank were very safely locked away,
and hours of work would be required
to force the locks of the safe deposit
vaults.
The bank presidents steamer had
sailed at o'clock of a summers morn
ing to catch a favorable tide. and
when the banks officials tried to open
the vaults at about o'clock the
steamer carrying the secret was up
ward Of two hours at sea. A hasty
examination showed that there was
but one way to open the vaults. short
OF breaking into them, and that was
by getting the code from the presi-
dent, serenely unconscious Of the trou-
bles ashore. To delay opening the
vaults would, of course, be a very seri-
Gus matter. If the piles OF money were
not ready behind the barred windows
promptly at 10, the fact would be
known within few minutes through
out the financial section. A serious run
on a bank has been started for less
cause
In the old days, before the cable, the
secret could not have been gained in
less than two or three weeks at best,
president by mail and returned across
the Atlantic. The cable alone would
have cut the delay in two by catching
the traveller on his arrival on the other
| side Meanwhile the bank officials,
| hastily summoned to a conference, had
! acted quickly The wireless stations
had been notified. and a message ex-
| planning the situation was flashed from
| the top Of a high building in New York
| and from the Sea Gate and Nantucket
: stations All this was the work Of less
| than ten minutes.
Now the combination word used to
| lock up these millions In gold. currency
and securities is, of course. not piece
of information 10 be flashed broadcast
along the Atlantic coast. 1t would be
known to scores of people. even II the
stations receiving guarded the secret
with the utmost care. The officials
therefore impressed upon the president
the Importance of sending his message
in the private code used by the banl; in
its important cables. AS the hour for
opening the bank approached the Off
cials waited with an impatlenCe which
may be imagined.
The wireless message was handed
to the bank president as he sat AZ
breakfast we'll out to sea. 1t was now
exactly 9:16. There was a sudden va
cancy at that particular table After
. one glance at the aerogram the presi
dent. realizing the situation to the last
, detail. rushed madly for his stateroom
to search for his code book. 4 few mo
! ments later a dignified elderly gentle
man rushed into the wireless booth. de
manding at any cost that his message
, be given the right Of way. He got IT,
An aerogran expressed In an unin
: teIiigible cipher was soon being flashed
T with the full power Of the apparatus
The wireless stations along the cOas
: had been ordered to expedite the mes
sage in every way and were waitn.
. anxiously for IT, II was read by tw'
: stations on the Long Island coast anC
repeated hurriedly to New York. few
minutes later the clerk at the telephone
: in the bank was carefully writing on
the strange tumble Of letters and trans
: Iating them into intelligibe English
!, The clock pointed 10 twenty minute
to 10. the banks opening hour. whel
the great steel door swung noiselessl!
: open on its hinges and the day wa
saved"