Show france s gold Is carefully guarded ingenious traps protect bullion underground paris this Is the story of a ride by trolley through streets paved with gold 15 fathoms under paris carls a greater fortune than croesus everda ever dreamed amed of it was no dazzling sight not half so brilliant as the decoration of a modern palace devoted to the speaking films yet within an arms reach of the trackless trolley stood piled most of the nearly francs franco which represents ep resents the bullion stores of the bank of france the bars most of them with bank of england seals do not glitter nor do they shine but stand in neat steel cases like so many books in a library this great supply of gold second largest in all the worlds history Is more carefully guarded by ingenious mechanical protections than Is any reigning king A regiment of safe blowers could never hope to steal a single bar of gold from these vaults into which 2000 guards of the bank of france could retire and keep house in case of attack or war I 1 visitors reputation scanned the bank of france outwardly looks like any other bank except that it Is larger than most others in europe the thrill comes only in penetrating the gold vaults flanked by an oft lelal who has previously instructed detectives to look up your reputation alongside and bringing up the rear Is a platoon of uniformed guards each In trusted with opening some portion of the great underground labyrinth if one man Is bising it Is impossible to penetrate the vaults all the keys are arc useless if one Is missing the entrance to the gold vault Is by one of a series ot shafts most of which are dummies leading nowhere the shaft for the descent lina haq walls 15 feet thick of steel and concrete waterproofed and ventilated this shaft Is sunk through solid rock over which not far below the surface runs an underground cree creek k this creek Is really mud and sand in motion it Is rill allowed owed to run freely over the gold vault another krotec crotee against penetration tion great doors interment Int ervent at various levels on the way down it Is necessary to leave one shaft for another passing through great steel and concrete doors some of them are revolving others tire are pushed in and out like corks these are the roost most ingenious barriers at first approach the wall app appears ars to 96 solid but an electric trolley runs up attaches itself to a ring and backs away pulling from neek neck this great 15 ton cork of steel and con crete the same trolley pushed the cork aito place there are ten such impregnable doors of all sorts each more ingenious in conception than another before the gold la Is reached SO 80 feet below there CO 10 feet under paris are the streets of gold bullion Is constantly arriving the minute anything goes wrong underground der ground warning bells clang all the way up to the surface and at pollee police headquarters on nearby near by streets overhead a special signal rings if the thief tries to run special traps will open flooding compartments and shafts with water or trapdoors tin in the ceilings are sprung and tons of sand crush everything beneath secret pipes carry gases and steam walls an and d doors are sanded so smooth that it Is impossible to take hold and flooded moats from which rise sl slippery sanded steel valls make capture certain |