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Show -uu A GREAT STOREHOUSE OF MONEY "In 190S tho Cltv Bank moved into its now ?G,000,000 "banking-house, Just across Wall street from Its location of the preceding century. The old Custom-house formerly the Merchants' Exchange in which sixty years ago tho Wall street stock market occupied a email corner for less than two hours a day was remade into a building covering ono of the Irregular blocks of the old city. Twc-thlrds of this is occupied by tho baujc itself, and in the heart of It, 188 feet long. 124 feet wide, and ccrupying a height of four ordinary stories, is the magnificent main banking-room the great central temple of American money. "l et It is not as a piece of architecture architec-ture that the new bank Is most Interesting, Inter-esting, but as a wonderfully equipped plant for handling money and securities. secur-ities. In the center of It is the two-storied two-storied steel vault, about tbo size of a worlringman's cottaie. In this there is generally at least 5n00,000,000 in cash and actual securities. The cash ranges from $50,000,000 to $75.f00.000. There are from $150,00,000 to $200,-000.000 $200,-000.000 wirth of securities held as collateral against loans, and $250,000.-000 $250,000.-000 or $300,000,000 American sccnii-ties sccnii-ties held as aqent for forolgn owners largely financial or brokerage houses. An olaborate system of nro-tection nro-tection surrounds tho vault Should It ' be attneked bv a mob there is tin np- , r-aratus by which llvo steam could be thrown out, onveloplng o whole vault, and scalding to death nnv one apnroaching It. "Around the vault is a high marble Inclosure, behind which, In a score of bronze capos, the various clerks and tellers do their business with tho public. pub-lic. At the JA pie vice-presidents and cashiers sit behind a low railing. At tho rear Is the office of the president, presi-dent, Frank A. Vandorlip Every arrangement ar-rangement is mado to promote tho accessibility ac-cessibility of those men to anybody who has legitimate business with them. Upstairs, above the offlco of tho president, Is James Stlllrann now chairman of tho directors out of Immediate Im-mediate contact with the public, a silent, swarthy, melancholy-eyod man, planning, In the retirement of a big, , isolated room, the policies of his bank. Much of his time he spends In Paris; but he is never out of touch with his bank." McClure's for May |