Year: 1875

Ihe hre-prOof vault In our court house,


i'm which are kept the books and records


and all the public documents, is a vault


the like of which is to be seen nowhere


else in the world. 1t was planned and


built by ex-COunty Commissioner An


drew Fraser. Mr.. Fraser was the lead


ing spirit in the late able Board of


County Commissioners in planning and


perfecting the many Improvements that


have been made in all the country


buildings during the past year. He is


chief engineer of the Gould & Curry Min


ing Company, and is most skillful ma


chinist and ingenious mechanic. The


county was sadly in need of large fire.


proof vault in which to keep the books,


the almost priceless mining records and


the many very valuable documents of all


kinds. Mr.. Fraser's mind began to run


on vaults, and after studying all of the


vaults that had ever been built or in


vented, he hit upon. vault unlike any


ever seen or heard ola new invention,


in fact, for which he has secured a patent.


His vault consists of two or three parts


which travel about, which are sometimes
separated and sometimes united. At


night all the parts get together, and 60
off to bed away down in the basement of


the courthouse. The principal parts are


the vault proper, which is down in the


basement-we might say down in the
ground. This is a massive brick struc-


ture, the only entrance to which re-
sembles the top of very large chimney.
Then We have the bookcase, in which
are placed the books and documents, a
case which not only holds all of the books
and documents at present in the keeping
of the county, but which is large enough
to hold all that will be accumulated for
many years to come. Next we have the
cover of the vault, that part which
covers the chimney-like opening at the
top. At night the book case is down in
the vault, where it is shut i'm by the
cover, q massive structure made of two
thicknesses of heavy boiler iron with
eight inches of cement between. This
cover, which is in the shape of scew
turned bottom up, is heavily riveted in
all directions, and is ponderous affair.
1t was manufactured in Cincinnati, Ohio,
after drawings furnished by Mr.. Fraser.
In the morning the janitOr of the build
ing takes hold of crank and begins
turning it. This arouses the bookcase.
1t gets up, and taking its big iron cover
upon its head, as though it was hat, it
leaves the vault and the basement of the
building, going to its post on the second
floor. There it stands all day, with one
face in the Office of County Clerk and the
other in the Office of the County Re-
corder, holding out all the books and
documents ready to the hands of the
clerks. All day it stands in this position,
with its big iron hat, the vault cover, on
its head. Alright the janitOr again turns
the crank, and the bookcase knows it is
bedtime. 1t starts at once for the base.
ment. Down, down it goes to the vault,
into the depths of which it disappears,
leaving its big hat to cover the hole by
which it entered, and there it roosts all
night in its hole down in the ground. BY
a very simple arrangement of clOck-wOrk
this book case could be made to open up
shop itself-getting up at the proper
hour in the morning and going up to the
offices with its tons of books and docu-
ments, remaining on duty all day, and
then at certain hour in the evening
suddenly making its bow and descending
to the basement, there to shut itself up
in its hole. All this it might be easily
made to do, so that no man need ever
look after it or think of it. All that
would be required would be small pipe
from one of the water-mains, and
simple bit of clock-work to keep the time
and let on and shut of the water. This
additional mechanism has been thought
of by Mr.. Fraser, and is included in his
patent, but for economical reasons was
not put in here, the County Commits
sioners thinking it quite as well for the
janitor to run the apparatus by means of
a crank. Even as it stands, the vault is
really wonderful invention, yet is sim
plicity ITSELF Virginia { Ner.) Enterprise