Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 January 1884 — SAFETY-DESPOSIT VAULTS. [ARTICLE]

SAFETY-DESPOSIT VAULTS.

Careless Habits of I>epo»lU»r»—Origin and Growth of the System. “Yap indeed, carelessness in handling weir .valuables and securities have lost many men their fortunes,” remarked a manager of one of the safety-de-posit vaults. “It was only this morning that one of our depositors left a note for $3,000 lying 'upon a desk in one of the retiring-rooms, but we were fortunate enough to find the valuable paper and restore it to the owner before loss resulted. It would surprise you to see how thoughtless people are in leaving valuables lying around.” “What kind of valuables are usually left by depositors ?” “Well, all kinds; stocks and securities most frequently. Men come' in here, take their bonds to a retiringroom, and cut off their interest coupons. Not unfreqnently they leave some of the bonds lying on the desk or floor. Men, as a rule, are more careless than ladies. If I should tell you the largest amount of bonds left in that way, the customer would be very mad. It would surprise you, too, for it ran away up in the thousands.” “What class of people usually patronize deposit vaults ?” “All classes—bankers, professional men, and all others having valuables do not care to keep them at home. Ladies are patronizing them largely now. Many of them keep their jewelry in the vault. They are becoming our best customers, for one lady who is pleased with the system tells her friends about it, and then they come around. This is a good experience for them. It teaches them business habits. A great many poor people now keep their savings in deposit vaults. Some of them have had unpleasant experiences with sayings banks, and not caring to resort to the dangerous primitive method of keeping their hoardings between the bed-ticks, they rent places at deposit vaults. Young men are also using the vaults as a means of saving money. I know a young man who began saving in that way. The first year found him S3OO ahead, instead of behind, as usual. He acquired business habits in that way that have obtained him a position worth $5,000 a year.” Safety-deposit vaults are of modern growth. Originally, valuables were kept at some secret place about the house, and it was not' infreqent for persons to conceal large sums of money or valuable papers in their beds. This led to frequent losses by fire, robbery, and other causes, to say nothing of those. occasioned by the carelessness of the owners. It then became customary for persons desiring greater security for their valuables to deposit tin boxes with their bankers, and soon bank vaults became overcrowded with them. This demand for depositories finally led to the establishment of safety-deposit vaults. The first one constructed in this country was at New York about a quarter of a century ago. They are being organized all over the country, and are constructed with a special view to preventing loss by fire. The demand for them has materially increased since bankers began refusing to take such deposits, even bank presidents and diretors making use of them. In some of them large quantities of coin and idle bank funds are kept. When people who are known to have valuables in their houses take to making use of them, burglaries aud murders by housebreakers may become less frequent, for the fact is well established that many crimes of this character are committed because the persons burglariously visited are believed to have articles of value concealed on their premises.— Ch icago News.