| Show EVEN AIR CANNOT ESCAPE FR FROM OM MINT MINI electric devices protect sar san francisco fortress san francisco calif within the th next few months the federal govern merit ment expects to occupy ocl apy its new mint here guaranteed by its designers and constructors to be the most burglarproof and foolproof fool construction ot of its kind ever erected it will replace the famous old mint that has been one of the curiosities of san francisco for half a century it will take the center of minting interests out of the downtown section of tile the ci city ty to the top of a rocky summit st where natural surroundings have contributed con tributes tri buted with the latest architectural genius in making the mint safe the new mint will be virtually automatically defensive against a burglar or a raiding party it is so I 1 equipped that def defenders enders will be able to call out not only the san francisco fire and police departments but the army stationed at the presidio besides sides being burglarproof burglar it is declared to be virtually inaccessible even tor for a fly windows bulletproof among a few of the safety gadgets that are being installed are bulletproof let proof windows thick as a mans thumb but with openings just large enough to let machine guns protrude then there is the automatic tear gas machinery for flooding the entire establishment tunneling into such a building is believed to have been circumvented not only by the architectural precautions taken in its foundations but by the fact that it is located on top of a hillock of solid rock that could hardly be tunneled short of constant dynamiting the vast burglar alarm system is declared to be the most extensive protective measure of its kind ever installed in a mint there will be only two entrances to the building one in the front and one in the rear and each will be protected by a barred guard room the bronze doors will be operated electrically according to mint officials if any untoward incident should occur the mint department will act in the following manner alarms will be flashed automatically throughout the building A short wave radio station will call the san francisco police department part ment and mobilize the united states troops stationed at the presidio tear gas automatically will spout from a dozen sources if the attack is at night flood lights will illuminate not only the interior but the exterior as well sound detectors installed all nine of the huge vaults will be equipped with sound detectors so delicate that they can distinguish the difference between the ring of a genuine coin and a counterfeit precautions even have been taken to keep the air from stealing any of uncle sams gold from the new sanctuary on the top floor is being installed a giant lung or ventilating system which will suck all of the air of the entire mint into one room experience peri ence in the old mint has demonstrated that air has the bad habit of lapping up particles of gold dust and carrying them away particles that in the long run amount to large sums so in the new mint even the air air wont be allowed to escape with gold it will be gently conducted by the mints lung into a single room where the e dust will be allowed to settle then the dust will be put through a sifting operation and the gold recovered |
