The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-10-07
McAdoo's Money Vaults

lJdnlc1 MdHnlHS dI1d WhiNh N ~
rotary Window in the pride OF his
strength grappled with it laid him
low. 1t did the same with Charles
w. Foster, the lusty under
Benjamin Harrison. and it has just
succeeded in sucking out What little
juice Franklin MacVeagh had in his
bones.
! SILVER when / think of the job.
When Mr.. McAd0o first came. Treas
urer Burke, Uncle Sans new watch
dog who lies at the doors of the vaults
and takes charge Of the n
wrote out a receipt for the sums then
on hand. That receipt gives some
idea Of the responsibilities of Score |
tary McAdoO. 1t represents the larg-
est sum ever taken over by mortal
man at one single time. 1t represents
almost on. thousand five hundred
million dollars, and its actual figures
were 1,426,422,O51.48 2-3. Yes, two
thirds. The money was figured out
to the thirds of a cent and Secretary
McAdoo has to make the accounts
come ever to the smallest fraction.
Do you Wonde hat such work prey
ed upon the minds OF his predeces-
sors?
Have you any idea how much fif-
teen hundred million dollars means?
1t represents more than One-tenth OF
all the money value of all the gold
taken out Of all the mines of the
earth since the discovery Of America,
and of the vast amount thus receipt
ed for, the greater part was in gold.
Much Of the gold is not stored away
here at the Treasury Department. 1t
is kept at New York, Denver or San
Francisco, where it lies in the vaults
Of the subtreasuries and in those Of
the minis in tons of golden bricks
ready for coinage at a moments no.
tioo Tho cold in tho TroocypYU nron-
er is not in bullion. 1t is only a
, bagatelle Of a few million dollars, and
! these millions are mostly in the shape
of eagles and double eagles. l saw
= a little box of them in the cash
vault this afternoon. 1t was made of
+ steel, and seemed to be only for show.
\ 1t was not bigger than a cigar box,
' and still it contained five hundred
f double eagles. l took both hands
: and raised it from the table. 1t
e weighed thirty-eight pounds, and you
could have put it's contents into a
one-Quart measure. Still, it's value
was ten thousand dollars. That will
# show you how heavy the precious
metal is l can hold a thousand dol
lars in loose gold coins in one hand
a and that amount Of money weights
IS just about four pounds. At the same
time I lifted notes, each of which
Il was lighter than the smallest feather
q Oh d pigeon ) tdI, WlOSC uCUOIIllIId
# ton was ten thousand dollars, an(
held up a bundle of them, no thicker
than a euchre deck, and SO small
I. that you could put it in an oficia
is envelope, which was worth a million
n dollars, and which would pass 70
that in almost in any bank upon thi
big round earth.
a. But l want to take you down int
s. the catacombs. To get there I wa
,e passed from the office of Secretar
Ks McAdoo to that Of the treasurer o
he the United State, Mr.. o. Burke
I'd and from him to the cashier, MI
lis James A. Semple, who has charg
it of the cash Uncle Sam keeps on han(
us He is now carrying a balance Of owe
re $165, 900, 900, and and millions go i
nv n out every day. He has charg
Ist Of the vaults as we'll as the cash, an
tie his office, which is lined with marbl
ed from the four quarters of the work
it looks like a bank. There are gres
tn vaults on the same floor in Whic
as the ready money is kept, and "
re- passed through these on our way I
the little elevator, not more than fol-
feet square. which dropped us dow
into the cave Of Aladdin. Ma
by Quaiffe went with us. The major h.
been one of the Treasury watch dos
mt for almost fifty years. He was al
of pointed by Treasurer Spinner at tt
tes close Of the civil war. and since the
he has been one of the CONFIDENT
ter clerks in charge Of Uncle Sam
treasures. He carries one Of IL
on kays to the vaults, and he alol
he knows the comDlnatlOn. CaSni
~, Semple carries anotner 10 a dlHere
yes lock, and n two nave TO Work l
gh gether in order to open any one
ley the doors.
The first vault I looked at cOntai
the ed s111,00 600, enough TO give eve
are man, woman and child in the Unit
he States a silver dollar and leave t
lite or twenty millions TO spare. 7
ors door to it weighs six tons, but it
so carefully balanced that a b
be could swing il back when the comb
kes nations are properly made, and Nj
a Quaiffe threw it open with one har
ors The vault itself is about as large
the a good sized garden patch. 1t cove
eels o~ne-fourth of an acre and from flC
H.