Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 229, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1911 — Bank of England Is Sinking [ARTICLE]

Bank of England Is Sinking

Financially a Gibraltar of Money, but a Little Too Heavy for Earth—; Repairs Begin at Once. London. —The phrase “As safe as the Bank of England” is rather shaken in its meaning by news of a subsidence of the foundations of the famous old building In the city. The clerks In the private drawing ofljce—which is situated at the Process street corner of the Bank of England and communcates with the Mil office —were startled recently by a loud report coming apparently from the roof of the building. Careful examination by experts failed to disclose any defect in the roof, and the authorities, therefore, decided thoroughly to Inspect the foundations of the bill offloe. It was then found that an undoubted subsidence had taken place. The foundations have sank away from the main structure to such an extent that a rod can easily be swept through the intervening space. Repairs were at once begun, and the wosk now in hand involves the underpinning of the Princess street corner of the bank. This necessitates the cutting away of the original wooden piles upon which the hank —which covers an area of between four and five acres —has stood for nearly *OO years, and the putting in of a solid raft of concrete, six feet la depth, beneath the outer walls. In spite of the years that they have lain burled, the piles brought to the surface are

Daring the necessary excavations many Interesting curios In the form of Roman pottery ware, tusks of boars and fossilized remains of other -animals have been unearthed. The work now in progress does not interfere with the daily routine of the bank’s business. The vaults containing the millions of pounds’ worth of unclaimed gold and silver plate and securities remain intact In addition to the work at the Princess street oorner an enlarged stock office is In course of construction at the Bartholomew lane end of the bank, and three floors have been added to the library.