New Britain herald., 1927-07-09
TOWN OF BERLIN
 HAS ANCIENT SAFE
Built in 1S42, Its Usefulness
 Is Passing

Down in Berlin. in the vault con-
 nected with the office of Town Clerk
 Arthur L. Woodruff, is a safe. By its
 very appearance the observer could
 aeduce that it is an old one, but 1t
 is only after inspecting 1t carefully.
 that it's true age can be ascertained.
 It was constructed in 1S42.
 It's history is the history of town
 affairs since Berlin was separated
 from New Britain. for it was then
 that 1t was first brought into service
 for the town. Deacon Alfred North,
 Berlin's first town clerk and
 treasurer, made use of the old safe.
 storing in it valuable documents
 which have since become of historl-
 cal value.
 Deacon North was town clerk
 from 1850 until 1885, a period of
 35 years. When he went out of office, William Bulkeley took over the job and he served until 1906. Then came Francis H. Shaw, who acted as town clerk until 1916. Arthur L. Wood-
 ruff, the Hncumbent has held the position since that time,
 The old safe is of the Salamander make and, compared with those of the present day. it is an awkward and makeshift affair. It depends for it's strength on it's weight and its series of locks, having no combin- ation to protect it from proving marauders. In color it is green and black, but much of the paint has worn off and there is considerable rust here and there on the outside.
 Two heavy doors open outward holes and shelves upon which rec ords of the town of Berlin have been placed since 1850. The lists of those drafted for service during the Civil War were doubtless kept in the safe as well as other documents of value.
 On each door of the safe is a pie ture in relief, portraying a tall in- dividual in frock coat, Lincolnian "stove-p pipe" hat and extremely long hair, perusing what is presumably a ledger. while in back of him the broken walls of building and the countless Wicked-appearing flames attest to the fact that there has been a fire. Doubtless the safe was one of the first of the fire proof varieties. e" A huge key is used to lock the safe. Iron bars in the doors respond to the pressure of the key against the lock and when these bars are thrown, the doors are locked. In addition, to provide extra safety, an iron bar is attached to the outside of are locked, the bar is placed across them and locked. a paddock holding it in place. The bar covers the key hole and the idea was probably con- sidered quite crafty in the old days. /, The safe has been moved often since it was first purchased. Before . town hall was bought, the town clerks kept the safe in their homes or at their places of business. It is believed that Deacon North kept it in the back room of the store at the corner of Pennington avenue and Berlin street. which building burn ed down a short time ago and is now being razed by the state.
 When MT. Bulkeley assumed office the safe was moved from Deacon North's place to MT. Bulkeley's home, where it remained for a period. In 1905 the town purchased Brandegee hall for use as town hall and it has been so employed since that time. Shortly after the purchase of 1 the building, vault was built, this being attached to the south side of the building. . The old safe was placed in the vault and it now serves to hold rec ords. But it's days of usefulness are past and there is some talk of get ting rid of it because it takes up too much room. It is seldom locked | because there is never anything of 1 great value in it in the way of 1 money. The vault in which it stands , is fireproof and burglar proof and | the town has such a great number of important books and papers that the old safe would overflow if an at tempt were made to lodge them in . It. | % Its day is done and it is now a ! curiosity of oldtime manufacture. It could not resist the efforts of pres ent-day safe blowers to break into It.
 But it served the town we'll in it's day.