The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1915-09-28
MONEY IN TRANSIT
How Millions Are Moved In Safety
From City to City.
STRONG ROOMS IN BIG BANKS
Tho Modern Manganese Steel Vault,
With Its Electric Skin, Can Defy the
Most Daring and Glover Burglar
Equipped With the Finest Tools.

Most Daring and Clever Burglar
Eouippod With the Finest Tools.
Millions and billions In real cash,
gold and bills, are vague things to
most of us, and few people have any
idea where this immensely wealthy ma
ton keeps its real money or how 1t is
guarded on Its travels.
1t Is with the greatest reluctance that |
its owners or trustees ever move 1t; |
they prefer to exchange the checks. |
notes, drafts or securities that repre-
sent 1t. But there are times when the |
real money must go, and then its jour-
ney is very interesting thing
Every bank and trust company is re-
quired by the banking laws to keep a |
certain amount Of money on hand, the
amount being in proportion to the size
Of the institution, and in addition the
current business of the house requires
that SO many millions more be availa
BILE for use Mt the paying teller's win
dow. To safeguard these large sums
Is the business of safe and vault build
ing experts, and so far advanced is
this science that 1t is practically i'm
possible for the best equipped crooks
to extract 81 from any big bank vault.
Bank robbing these days is practiced
on small country banks or is achieved
by dishonest bankers.
The manganese steel vault, with its
lection. The vault designer selects a
spot in the institution, in any place
from the cellar to the roof, where the
vault can be isolated and cannot be
reached easily by tunnelers, and there
the big steel house is built. Its walls
are so thick that they will resist fire.
earthquake and heavy explosives, and
the whole is protected by an electric
skin. This is usually of soft foil of
alloy, and If even a pin is thrust
through it at any point short circuit
is made and alarm bells set ringing in
the building, in police headquarters, in
the offices Of private protective agen-
GERS Of the bank. The burglar, with
torch that would burn a hole through
the steel in few minutes or tools that
would cut out door in an hour, has
not a chance, even after he has tun.
neled to the vault and overcome the
watchmen.
Messengers are never employed in
carrying very large amounts of money.
1t is a familiar sight in the financial
district in New York city to see two
sturdy young men, each holding to the
handle of a heavy leather bag. with
one or more guards walking behind.
But the chances are ninety-nine in a
hundred that the bag contains not
more than few thousands at most,
though there may be millions in bends
or other securities.
When millions in cash are taken from
the vaults a picked corps of guarded
clerks check it out in steel casks of
the kind known as express strong
boxes, and these are placed in wagons
in which the carrying compartments
are wholly Of steel screens. Each wag-
on has its set Of guards, usually two
on the front seat, one driving, one lock-
ed in with the money and one riding
on the rear.
For transit from city to city the big
banks follow the system of the Ma
tional City Bank of New York. which
is the largest handler of real money in
this country, not even excepting the
United States mint. They utilize the
express companies. Each big company
has spent large amounts of money in
picking its employees, and in elaborat-
| ing systems for tracing stolen parcels.
Every professional thief would rather
steal from a police captain than steal
| from an express company. us all Of
them are allied together to form
| perfect network through which thieves
and plunder can scarcely hope to as
| cape
The money Is checked out of the
vaults into the hands Of express com
pany employees. who cart 1t to their
express cars in the railroad yards, and
it travels to its destination in as sim.
+ pie and transformations Nanner as
| If it We're so many crates OF eggs The
express company employees never
know what Is in the strong boxes =
they merely know that they have so
many of them In given numbers to re-
ceive and to deliver. and that is all
! there IS to it.
An additional safeguard is the very
weight of any given quantity of gold
and the serial numbering of large bills.
; These latter are kept in the same pack
cts In which they leave the banks If
possible. and the groups of numbers
make them as individual and as easily
identifiabe as one man from another.
! If a thief extracted n million in $40,
600 bills he could not cash a single one
Of Washington Star