The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-10-12

tiers of the world. looks like a bank.
floor in which the ready money is
kept and We passed through these on
our way to the little elevator not
more than four feet square, which
dropped us down into the cave of Alad-
din Major Quaiffc went with us.
The major has been one OF the Treas
ury watch dogs for almost fifty years.
lie was appointed by Treasurer Spin
ner at the close OF the civil War. and
since then he has been one OF the con
fidential clerks in charge OF Uncle
Sans treasures. He carries one of the
keys to the vaults, and he alone knows
the combination. Cashier Scmple car
rics another TO a different lock and
the two have to work together In
order to open any one OF the doors
The first vault ] looked at contained
ISlll,0Oo,O0O. enough to give every man.
woman and child in the United States
u silver dollar and leave ten or twenty
millions TO spare. The door TO it
! weighs six tons hut II is so carefully
balanced that a boy could swing 1t
back when the combinations are prop
! crly made, and Major Quaiffe threw it
open with one hand. The vault itself
/ is about as large as a good sized gar
den patch. II covers one fourth of an
acre and from floor 10 top is just
/
steel bars riveted together with red
hot rivets, which. were pounded to
place. The bars cross like a lattice
work. with hundreds OF diamond
shaped eyeholes, through which you
can look and see the vast treasures
stored within. IL bulges out ut the
sides. and at first thought this
had come from the weight of tho
| silver against the walls. Cashier
Semple tells me this is not SO.
The money is carefully piled that 1t
would remain in place il there were
no walls to hold it. The inner walls
OF the vault arc backed with boxes
not much larger than that used by a
bootblack when he shines your shoes.
There are two rows Of these boxes
rising from the floor almost to the roof
and running clear around the inside OF
the vault Each box contains two bags
of silver dollars. just like the thou
sands OF bags which lie within. The
money is all stored in bags of white
canvas. Each bag will hold about n
peek, and 1t contains Just 1000 silver
dollars. The bags are about as large
MS those with which boys go chestnut
ting. and as they lie there in the vault
they look for all the world like SO
many little bags of wheat. Each bag
has Il seal upon it, and it would DO i'm
possible to get at the money without
breaking the seal.
AS 1 looked, asked MS TO the weight
and was told that tho bags weighed
about sixty pounds each, and that the
total weight in the vault was $500 oil
3.40o tons We began to figure on the
amount of space the whole would cover
II all were spread out upon n fiat sur
race, and as remember 1t was thirty
or forty acres. Then we piled them
one on top of another. and they made
T. solid column OF silver more than 15C
miles high.
As | looked at the figures 1 was re-
minded of corner lot which for gen.
crations stood vacant within n block
of where the Treasury Building stands
II is now occupied by the Wyatt build
ing. where the Offices OF the Western
Union Telegraph Company are. Tha,
lot belonged to old Joe Willard, who
let II lie idle until the day OF his death
1t was some time before that that one
OF our multimillionaires wanted to blu,
, 1T. lie sent his confidential agent Il
Mr.. willard saying that IL the latte,
would sell he would give him enough
! silver dollars to cover the ground. It,
this old Joe Willard replied: II Will
, accept the proposition, but you mus
stand the dollars on end" Tho 10,
was a big one. The man did not stoI
: 10 figure. but. like the young man IL
the Scriptures who nad many posses