Show WEIGHING GOLD COffi Secrets of the Bank of England Laid Bare A VISIT EOT AN EASY MATTER A Machine That Seems to Possess Human Qualities Most Wonderful Bank Vaults in the World What visions of untold wealth are conjured con-jured up by the very name of the Bank of England When I made up my mind to visit the bank and its celebrated vaults I found that the matter was not s o easy a some may imagine Since the dynamite scares in London it is I exceedingly difficult to enter the portals of I the bank But accompanied by my banker friend whose name is world famous and whose doings and sayings influence the exchanges ex-changes of two continents the locked up treasures were opened to my wondering gazeWhenever the open sesame of the bankers name is whispered the well balanced bal-anced doors hungrily swing open swallow me and my guide and snap almost noise lesslv behind u Inexorable lookintr nor ters v cold eyed guardians and austere managers man-agers bow a they hear the name or catch a glimpse of my doyen The doorway opens into the bullion office of-fice where all the gold and silver that enters en-ters or leaves the bank passes through to be checked On the right is the gold on the left the silver The frt impression is that of being in the order department of a wholesale trading establishment But a figure in ji white apron quickly dispels the illusion This personage in the apron is attired in a lilac vest plum colored col-ored coat and buttons of two shilling hat is black velvet pieces His a peculiar blak affair and is a compromise between a beefeaters beef-eaters and a smoking cap A MARVELLOUS INSTRUMENT A suave gentleman approaches the banker and in a few hurried words the latter informs the manager for such he is that he wishes to show me everything to be seen We are therefore first introduced to the scales or a it i termed the grand balance This murvdous instrument is a ponderous ponder-ous and peculiarly built weighing machine ma-chine standing about seven feet high and weighing about two tons The whole is j under a huge glass case access being gained thereto by a sliding panel The scale is worked by hydraulic power and is the most sensitive weighing machine in existence The foundation which is of c atiol I solid concrete 1 suns to a ucptn ot sixteen 1 I feet so that not a jar can affect the cleau j balance Tho manager sets the hydraulic power in motion by means of a small wheel and then touches an ivory button at the side Immediately the entire scale weighing hundreds of pounds sinks seven inches and is ready for weighing We will first weigh a postage stamp observes the suave gentleman On each i side the scales are fitted with weights j I amounting to 400 ounces When gold is to j be weighed the smaller weights on the balance bal-ance are withdrawn and the gold placed on one of the two ledges The gold is made up in 400 ounce bars and the difference differ-ence of onethousandth part of an ounce can be detected The stamp being added to the 400 ounce weights another ivory button is touched and the index jumps a distance of six inches Think of it six inches on the index I in-dex for a postage stamp But the most wonderful incident was yet in store for me ALMOST IIUMAX MECHANISM Supposing a bar contains more than this scale is made to weigh explains the manager any other scale would go to this limit and give no sign Not this one however To prove this he adds one ruar ter of an ounce more than the maximum weight when instead of the index moving there is a nause of some few seconds and then an electric bell commences ringing I There is something terribly human about this mechanism which declines to execute a task of which it is incapable This is the only balance of its kind in the world The I maker has never constructed a duplicate This triumph of mechanical art cost exactly exact-ly 2CCO The silver scale is of course not so finely balanced and the two are respectively respec-tively christened The Lord Chief Justice and The Lord High Chancellor The manager then moves away from the I scale and turning a handle in the wall suddenly illuminates a long vault with finely groined arches which would otherwise other-wise pass unnoticed Throwing the gate open we pass in followed by one of the body guards in a chocolate brown suit We arrive at a door which admits u to an inclosure almost entirely of glass in which visitors stand and gaze upon tho wonder within However the bodyguard throws open the door and stepping up to the chief whispers a word in his ear He approaches us with a warm welcome and bids me walk up to one of the gold weighing weigh-ing machines of which there are some thirty here This is the Toom where sovereigns sov-ereigns and half sovereigns are weighed when sent in by banker and others Here again hydraulic power is used A COMPLICATED MACHINE A machine consisting of a complicated system of counter weights looks not unlike un-like a sewing machine a to its lower half This is completely inclosed in glass Along A-long feeder like a tube cut in half down its length and made of brass is set at an angle of 45 degs and is filled with a long roll of sovereigns These turn a they slip down on to a circular movable plate slightly larger than u sovereign For a moment the plate seems t be deciding de-ciding upon the merits of that particular I coin Then a if it has made up it mind I conclusively it deftly turns the coin to the right and it slips down a metal tube into a till below But if the coin proves to be lighter than the standard weight the delicate machine turns it to the left and condemns it to the guillotine Again one is impressed with the human idea of a hand weighing the sovereigns sov-ereigns One can almost fancy that a hidden hid-den person i feeling the weight There is more than a mere mechanical look about the momentary indecision of the scale I plate animaL it is really rather that of an intelligent These macmnes weign coins at tne rate of twentysix per minute and a days weighing amounts to about 100000 sterling I ster-ling The light coins are taken t the guillotine lotine another hydraulic triumph and dropped down a long tube As they slip through a sharp knife clips the coin neatly down the center and allows it to fall out at the slot at the side and to carry out the guillotine notion they fall into a small basket They are not cut in two but the cut is more than half way through and this prevents pre-vents the banker who has paid them In from again circulating them although ho can take them away after they are clipped This he never does but takes the weighs value of the sold London Herald |