THE CROWN JEWELS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 161, 9 July 1910, Page 16

THE CROWN JEWELS.

•BtTEGLAiE-PKOaP .ROOM AT fTHB I TOTTEE. S HIDDEN EIDEOERIC ALAEIL ) —:— •If all the scientific burglars in the world combined forces to steal the Crown jewels , of England they would find their united i efforts foiled by the new strong iroom trailt 1 in the 'Watefield Tower of 'the Tower of London, <the work upon which is nearly c completed. i TV&en the Jewel Ttoom is reopened, It will 3 be fonnd that a great change in the structure and internal fitting lias been made f since It was closed at the beginning of April. ' A fresh stone flooring .hue been set, stone 3 additions have teen made to the walls, and I a new steel grid has been ibnilt (to enclose 5 the plate-glass regalia showcase. The bars - of this grid are made of the finest tempered steel, placed closer together than was T the case with the old cage. Tiie ends of the toais are embedded in the solid masonry 1 of the-roof and flooring. 3 A hidden electric alarm of the latest type ) has i>een connected "with the new grid, so - that if a faar 'be -wrenched, even slightly, a gong sounds its .warning through the Tower. ■ Every lock throughout the room toas been . Improved and made more complicated, so i ifhat various keys have to ibe used in the i opening. The . iron-Hned. doors (have been 1 strengthened, and additional electric lights i have 'been installed. ' AUTOMATICALLY CLOSING -CASES. . In fntnre the jewels "will be kept in automatically closing steel cases, aijsolutely burglar-proof, and it is owing to come little delay in the arrival of these cases that the \ Jewel Boom ihas remained closed so long. When everything iwithin the room is completed ifche jewels .will tie brought, under f guard, from the Government strong room, ' where they now are, track <co their permanent home, and mounted far public exhibition in their mew cases behind the grid. '* A scheme for constructing a trap in the stone flooring of the Jewel Room, through * <which the regalia and precious stones could if necessary be lowered into .the dungeon beneath TCakefield Tower, <was found to foe 8 Impracticable, owing to the condition of the underground cell itself. This dungeon is c beneath the level of the river, and is very damp. Nothing has .been housed in it since *■• the tMiddle Ages, when prisoners languished c in the Tower.