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Show NEW TRUST TO KEEP EMERGENCY CURRENCY AN ADDITIONAL ADDI-TIONAL CARlf ON UNCLE 8AM. Five Hundred Million Dollars' Worth of Bank Notes Now Being Print-, ed Will Be Stored In New Treasury Building. The bill passed by tho last congress providing for tho Issuing of emergency emergen-cy currency to prevent a stringency In the money market such as troubled tho sountry last fall, has entailed new ) work and additional responsibility upon Undo Sam, who not only lias to print tho $500,000,000 of bank notes but Is obliged to store nnd guard them until wanted by tho banks throughout tho country. To do this a brand new strong room of tho most modorn typo Is being built In tho basement of tho treasury building build-ing at Washington. It will possess overy lmnglnahlo up-to-date Improvement Improve-ment and will bo provided with electric elec-tric alarms. This Is In effect a novel departuro, for up to tho present time tho treasury has had no vaults for tho storage of Its Immense accumulations of metal and paper money that wore, properly speaking, burglar-proof. As far back as 1892 4 congressional commltteo mndo an oxamlnntlon of tho entire plant, and reported that tho strong rooms, containing moro than half a billion dollars In cold cash, wero absurdly ab-surdly Inadequate, but It appeared that at least $1,000,000 would bo required re-quired to put them Into propor shape, and that was tho last heard of the matter. To describe tho old vaults as obsolete ob-solete Is to uso a mild expression. They coirparo with strong rooms of up-to-dato pattern much as might a wooden war vessel of 40 years ago with a modern battleship. Most of thera aro built of brick, lined with sheets of rolled Iron. Think of' It! If It be said that they are ratproof, It Is about as much as can bo claimed. Any Intelligent burglar would regard tbem with derision and contempt. In some-cases some-cases the doors are not of steel, but of Iron. There are nine money vaults la the t Treasury building. Ono of theso Is tho great silver vault, which-was built In tho early eighties. It Is 89 feet long, CI feet wldo and 12 feet high, and contains con-tains 105,000,000 standard silver dollars, dol-lars, packed In wooden boxes, each holding two bags of $1,000 each, Tho stack of boxes Is protected by an Iron lattice, and around It runs a narrow paBsago, Inside tho strong room, through which curious visitors aro permitted per-mitted to pass. Tho now steel vault In tho bnso-mont bnso-mont of tho trensury at Washington will havo a similar electrical arrangement. arrange-ment. It will contain, ns already ox-plained, ox-plained, half a billion dollars' worth of now paper money, all of which will be done up In paper packages most convenient con-venient for burglars to carry off. Furthermore, Fur-thermore, each parcel, containing 4,-000 4,-000 notes nnd about a foot cubo In slzo, will bo labeled on tho outsldo with Ita valuo In big led figures. For example. If tho ilgurcs aro C00, thoy will Indicate Indi-cate that tho package holds $2,000,000 a most satisfactory bundle- for a robber to carry off under his arm. Thero aro at tho present time twe kind of safes which aro really burg lar proof. Ono of thorn has a acrow door. Qlvo It a quarter turn and no body can get Into tho box. Tho other Is of manganese steel and Is cast In ono piece, It has tho shape of n ball, Tho company that manufactures It has a standing offer of $5,000 to anybody who can open It. Hut these aro safes and not vaults. They havo not much room In thorn nnd aro Intended merely for tho storage stor-age of things of highly concentrated valuo, such as diamonds. When It comes to vaults, tho scientific burglar run nncn any of them. If ho has time. Tho modern system, however, renders his efforts fruitless by depriving him of tho requisite tlmo allownnce. Watchmen aro constantly on duty, and their vlgllanco, whero banks and safo deposit companies aro concerned, Is supplemented by electric alarms Installed In-stalled by people who mako It tholr business to safeguard proporty. Tho vaults of tho treasury may bo obsolcto ond hardly moro than rat proof, eo far ns tho older ones aro concerned, but they aro made reasonably reason-ably safo by a system of guards, 18 of whom are on duty day and night for tho protection of Undo Sam's congested con-gested coffers. |