Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 245, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 October 1917 — Where Croesus Cashed. His Checks [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Where Croesus Cashed. His Checks

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Nowadays, when everyone is adjured to every spare dollar for the rainy day, it is interesting to know how rich and poor of ancient times conducted their banks and banking

fVER since man began to collect gold and jewels he.has been engaged in designing and building strong boxes In which to keep them safely. Designing persons are always trying to secure what does not rightfully belong to them and there never has been a relaxation from the efforts to keep valuables from the reach of such unscrupulous persons. The result of the thousands of years of such efforts Is the modern safe deposit vaults. The history of man’s efforts to retain possession of the gold and jewels he had accumulated is romantic and fascinating, from the time when he used to bury them to the present day. A local trust company has issued an attractively Illustrated account of these efforts, which was gotten up for it and copyrighted by a Boston printing company. By their courtesy the following has been prepared: That burying treasure was once the ordinary method of concealment is indicated by such references as. appear In the thirteenth chapter of St. Matthew: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” Syria and other eastern countries are said to be full of treasure burled before battles and never dug up. No one can estimate the world’s burled treasure. As soon as America was discovered It was overrun with Spanish adventurers attracted by stories of the burled treasure of the South American Indians. The aborigines of Columbia, the Chibchas, built mounds in memory of their dead and filled them with sacrificial stores of gold and jewels. The invaders secured Immense booty from these mounds, and It Is said that one chief gave up treasure worth SIB,OOO, another $20,000 worth in gold strips and still another $05,000 worth of emeralds and gold. But It was the booty from thd sacred lake of Guatavita that the Spaniards most desired. At the great religious festivals on this lake It is said that offerings of gold, silver and gems were thrown Into the water to appease the serpent reputed to dwell at the bottom. Although various efforts were made by Spaniards to drain the lake and secure the gold and gems it was not until seventeen years ago that an English company secured leased rights from Colombia and succeeded in draining off the water. It has been estimated that there are on tire bottom of the lake 120.000,000 pounds of gold, however correct that may. be. Many thousand dollars’ worth already have been recovered. Odd Hiding Places. Stories are told of other treasures hidden and never recovered. Including the $15,000,000 national treasure of Peru, then it Is pointed out that gradually man became aware that better protection ifiust be afforded. The Egyptians concealed much in the soft walls and floors of their houses, probably to outwit the tax gatherers, who called not Infrequently. The Egyptians had wooden chests for clothing and family treasures, but they used them little for keeping gold and jewels. In Egypt the church and state were Identical, and the crown jewels and public revenue, as well as the sacrificial offerings, were kept in the wellbuilt treasure houses within the temples, the only buildings in the country erected with durable materials. The earliest public treasury of which there.. Is public record belonged to Rameses ILL wJio is reputed to have reigned &■ It’ large stone affmr and treasure was kept In clay vases with covers In the form of human heads. Among the temples with secret crypts was the one of granite, at Edfu. Keys recently found In the ruins at Thebes with straight shanks five Inches long and a bar at right angles with three teeth prove that the Egyptians were familiar with certain principles of lock-making until lately supposed to be modern Ideas; it is evident that they used tumblers to hold the bolt fast until moved by the key. Keys were first designed only to move the bolt and were not removable. The first mention of a key to be taken from a lock occurs In Judges, 3:23-25; used to fasten the summer parlor of Eglon, king of Moab. . , Treasuries of Greek temples still stand. The oldest and tne one best preserved is at the oracle of Delphi,

built in 655 8.. C. It guarded the gifts brought to the shrine. The state treasury of Athens was in the Oplsthodomos. a chamber in the back part of the Parthenon, separated from the rest of the temple by heavy bronze doors. Once in four years inventories were taken of the contents of the treasure house. In 431 B. C. Pericles said that there were 6000 tons of coined money on the Acropolis. Savings in “Thrift” Boxes. Arrangements for guarding the treasure In the sanctuary of Apollo at Delos were absurdly inadequate in the earliest days. The Greek word for thief, toikorukos, means one who digs through the wall, suggests that - premeditated burglary was not uncommon. Chests were the depositaries for valuables among the Greeks. Often they were very elaborate. The Romans evidently made considerable progress towards security, their locks being more efficient than any known to the Greeks. The Roman strong boxes excavated at Pompeii show that they were often of wood. Iron bound, and fastened to a block of granite by rods. In Rome, as In Egypt and in Greece, the public funds were placed in temples for safe keeping. The state treasury of Rome, the Aeararium, was in the temple of Saturn. From Roman days to the present century the poor kept their savings in small “thrift” boxes — receptacles of pottery holding from a pint to a quart with only one opening, a small slot. Savings could not be removed without breaking the receptacle. These pottery receptacles often took on odd shapes, pigs, cats, fish, etc. Modifications of the Roman strong box were used as treasure chests in all the countries of Europe during the middle ages and down into the last oorp'iry. Puzzle locks were one of the developments of early days. When banking started in Florence in the thirteenth century and large sums of money began to be accumulated by the money lenders safeguarding of valuables became more Imperative. Necessity began invention and gradually, through the centuries, progress has been made toward safe-locking devices and veritable strongholds in which to keep gold, silver and all valuables. Yet at the beginning of the nineteenth century strong boxes were not much more secure than those of several centuries before, though they looked mpre formidable with spikesJind iron-bamis. serious attempt had been made to secure fireproofing, but the Increase In paper money, bonds and stocks and other evidences of Indebtedness written on paper made progress In fireproofing essential. The first attempt to secure real fireproof safes took place in France, where they were made with double walls, the space between being filled with non-conducting materials? The First Safe Deposit Vaults. Successful burglaries and great conflagrations gave impetus t<T making safes stronger and brought about the first safe deposit vaults. It was a battle royal between burglars and safe and vault makers for years, but now the latter seem to have completely overcome the burglars. The highest skill of the safe maker Is now devoted to making strong rooms or safe deposit vaults for banks, says the pamphlet. The early? vaults were merely rooms of brick Or masonry fitted with a safe door of large dimensions. The next step was to line these rooms with metal. Such

vaults were possessed by many banks. The first public safe deposit vaults in the United States were built in 1865 for Col. Francis H. and were located at 140-2 Broadway, New York. The lowest rental charged for these vaults was S2O a year. Two years later Col. Henry Lee built the Union safe deposit vaults, the first of their kind in Boston, at 40 J> State street. In 1871 there were six* safe deposit companies in the country. At first only a small part of the public appreciated its need for the protection offered by these fireproof vaults. , But the great Boston fire of 1872 proved an impressive object lesson. Guarded by troops, the Union safe deposit vaults 5 were a center of excitement. Frantic box-hohlers. alarmed by the annihilation of property on every side, had to be forcibly restrained from taking possession of their valuables. After the fire was over it was found that properly constructed vaults preserved their contents unharmed, while safes of the very best make could offer no effectual resistance to the fire. This conclusion has been confirmed by every great fire, notably the fires of Baltimore and San Francisco. The structural strength of safe deposit vaults has been gradually increased to a point exceeding all possible demands upon it. A vault made of solid plates of manganese several inches thick and nine feet square, so hard that it cannot be once it is cast, is encased in a concrete wall two feet thick. The vault rests Upon a foundation especially prepared for it and is usually so constructed as to be entirely separate from the walls, floor and ceiling of the building In which it stands, so that it may be patrolled on all sides by watchmen who are on duty day and night. The structure of steel has thick double doors with complicated locks of which only one person knows the secret, or the secret may be divided between two or more persons, no one having the entire combination. The inner door is provided with a lock set on different combination from the outer and known only to another person or set of persons, and this will work only upon the running down of a clockwork mechanism at a certain prearranged time. Thus at least two responsible persons are required to open the vault, and they cannot do It between time of closing and that set for opening. The time lock obviates the possibility of a person being compelled by burglars to open the vault, and its construction also prevents the insertion of an explosive. During business hours these heavy double doors stand open, and an inner door or gate of light grilled construction is used. The inside walls of the vault are lined with steel compartments of various |Jzes. To gain access to one of the boxes kept in thesb compartments two keys are needed. The custodian has a key which must be turned' in the lock before key of the tenant will open it. The key to each compartment is different, Thul no tenant can open any box but his own, nor even that without the assistance of the person in charge. No tenant can enter the vaults or gain access to his own rented compartment- without being accompanied "by the custodian. In addition to these safeguards, efficient bufglar alarms are provided which give Immediate notice of any tampering with the vault.