Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1917-09-27

the countries Of Europe during the Mid
die Ages and down into the last century
Puzzle locks were one of the developments
of early days.
When banking started in Florence in the
thirteenth century and large sums OF
money began to be accumulated by ths
money lenders safeguarding Of valuables
became more imperative. Necessity begat
and gradually, through the CEN
turtles, progress has been made towards
safe locking devices and veritable strong
holds in which to keep gold. silver and All
valuables. Yet at the beginning OF the
nineteenth century strong boxes were not
much more secure than those of several
centuries before, though they looked more
formidable with spikes and iron bands.
No serious attempt had been made to Sc
cure freproofing. but the increase In paper
money, bonds and stocks and other EVIL
dences Of Indebtedness written on paper
made progress in fireproofing essential.
The first attempt to secure real freproof
safes took place in France. where they
were made with double walls, the space
between being filled with n~on-conducting
materials.
THE FIRST SAFE DEPOSIT VAULTS
Successful burglaries and great confa-
grations gave impetus to making safes
stronger and brought about the first safe.
deposit vaults. II was a battle royal be-
tween burglars and safe and vault makers
for years, but now the latter seem to have
completely overcome the burglars.
The highest skill of the safe makers 10
now devoted to making strong rooms or
safe deposit vaults for banks, says the
pamphlet. The early vaults were merely
rooms of brick or masonry fitted with a
safe door of large dimensions. The next
step was to line these rooms with metal.
Such vaults were possessed by many
banks. The first public safe deposit vaults
in the United States were built In 1865
for Colonel Francis H. jerks and were To-
Gated at 1902 Broadway, New York. h
lowest rental charged for these vaults was
$50 a year. Two years later Colonel Henry
Lee built the Union Safe Deposit Vaults.
the first of their kind in Boston. at 40
State street. In 1871 there were six safe
deposit companies in the country.
AT first only a small part of the public
appreciated its need for the protection Of
fered by these ireproof vaults. But the
great Boston fire Of 1872 proved an inn
pressive object lesson. Guarded by troops,
the Union Safe Deposit Vaults were a cen.
tire of excitement. Frantic box-holders.
alarmed by the humiliation of property
on every side, had to be forcibly restraint
ed from taking possession of their valu.
ables. After the fire was over 1t was
found that properly constructed vaults
preserved their contents unframed, while
safes Of the very best make could offer
no efectual resistance to the fire. This
conclusion has been confirmed by every
fire, notably the fires of Baltimore and
San Francisco.
The structural strength Of safe deposit
vaults has been gradually increased to q
point exceeding all possible demands up-
on II. A vault made of solid plates OF
manganese several inches thick and nine
feet square, so hard that it cannot be
machined once 1t Is cast. is encased in
a concrete wall two feet thick. The vault
rests upon a foundation especially pre-
pared for it and is Usually so constructed
as to be entirely separate from the walls.
floor and ceiling Of the building In which
it stands, SO that it may be patrolled OF
all sides by watchmen who are on duty
day and night. The structure Of steel has
thick double doors with complicated locks
of which only one person knows the secret
or the secret may be divided between two
or more persons, no one having the en-
tire combination. The inner door Is pro-
vided with a lock set on different com.
bination from the outer and known only
to another person or set of persons, and
this will work only upon the running
loOWu vi d ClOChW OTh mCCnhnlSm al -
certain prearranged time. Thus at least
two responsible persons are required to
open the vault. and they cannot do IL
between time of closing and that set for
opening.
The time lock obviates the possibility Of
a person being compelled by burglars to
open the vault, and it's construction also
prevents the insertion Of al explosive.
Fire protection is secured not only by the
| fhtrk nnnNrafa uya1l0 htt hy thA location
of the vault in the basement of a fre-
proof building built and equipped for the
purpose.
During the business hours these heavy
double doors stand open. and an inner
door or gate Of light grilled construction
is used. The inside walls of the vault are
lined with steel compartments of var
ious sizes. To gain access to one of the
boxes kept in these compartments two
keys are needed. The custodian has a
key which must be turned in the lock be-
fore the key of the tenant will open 1t.
The key to each compartment Is different,
and no tenant can open any box but his
own, nor even that without the assistance
of the person in charge. No tenan can
enter the vault or gain access to his own
rented compartment without being &C.
companied by the custodian. In addition
to these safeguards, efficient burglar
alarms are provided which give immediate
notice Of any tampering with the vault.
These mammoth structures Of armor plate
steel are costly. 1t takes as much money
to construct and equip a good safe de-
post vault as to build a village of a
dozen comfortable little houses. So safe
a place for the keeping of valuables Is
of course beyond the reach Of any single
individual. Fore even were 1t practical
to invest money enough to build such q
structure for the protection Of one mans
property It would not be practical to have
the protection of guards.
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