Evening star., 1936-09-05

death in the form Of steel -jacketed
bullets upon the head of any person
will be movement as though he were
going to board this moving arsenal
of the rails. Though the Dillingers. the
Nelson's, the Hamiltons and Barkers
are gone, Uncle Sam still takes no
chances on the road.
Yet, strange as it may seem, the
Government does not so much fear
robbery of the gold as it moves out
Of the great Eastern cities on its long
inland journey as 1t does something
else-something perhaps you would
not even think of.
That something is wreck of his gold
en- caravan Of the rails.
If thieves should hold up one of
the gold specials-an almost incon-
ceivable thing-they can be caught
The long hand of the G-men would
tend to that. For a while the robbers
might enjoy their "swag," but even
tually they would fall, as have all who
have come within the Federal purview
of crime. Scattered gold across the
country would soon reveal their where
abouts.
But cranks-they are something else.
A crank or half-wit has no motive
back of his action. He likes to see
things done on "just general princi-
pies" He may have some real or
fancied grievance against the Govern
ment. He may want to see the treas
ure train derailed lust for the embar-
rassment" it would cause the Federal
Government.
1T Is this fellow that Uncle Sam is
concerned about. 1t is like the old
fable of the elephant and the mouse.
The latter can do not harm, but the
thought that he can cause incon-
venience, trouble and possibly death
through some impulse strange and
queer makes Uncle Sam extra cautious
when 1t comes to moving treasure.
For this reason few will know when
Uncle Sam will move this vast gold
hoard. 1t will be carried in armored
motor cars to the waiting armored
and guarded trains within few short
hours of the time the train is sched-
uled to depart. And nobody but Fed
eral officers will know when this Is
The cache was finished in July, SO, it
is presumed, some time soon we will all
wake up some morning and read:
Night. Millions IN Gold Go From City
Depositories to Great Inland Vault"
And that will be all there is to it.
In this way no chances will be taken
Of train wrecks or robbery attempts.
When the gold specials pull out on
their long journey into midcontinent
they will each be preceded by pilot
train, and this pilot train, In turn.
will be preceded by a minute track
inspection Of every inch of railway
between the city of origin and the city
Of destination.
Track walkers will 60 over every inch
Of rail between the two cities to see
that no bolts fastening together the
rails have been loosened, no rails been
removed or switches tampered with.
Then, q few minutes before the richly
laden special comes laundering along
In the night. there will 60 roaring
through the inky stiffness the pilot
train, taking, II necessary, any wreck
intended for the special If perchance
some crank should get in his devilish
work Of tampering with the rails after
the track inspectors have passed.
THE monolithic vault, which will
house Americas national gold
treasure at Fort Knox, is suspended
like q huge stone block in q chamber
In the center Of great square build
ing, the walls, roof and fioor Of which
are granite Z feet n thickness. The