SAFE DEPOSITS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 103, 1 April 1929, Page 8

SAFE DEPOSITS.

JEWELS AND DOCUMENTS. FALSE TEETH AND SHOES. "The recent opening of the safe deposit in the new Government Savings Bank in Sydney recalls that many strange things have been found-in safe deposits when, years after the death or disappearance of a renter, boxes have been opened, states the Sydney Sun. It is recorded that one box contained a set of false teeth. What could have induced the owner to keep'them in a strong room? No one can ever hope to learn. In another case, after nothing had been heard of a man for years, the box which he had rented for six months was opened. In it was a map of the- Pacific Ocean with a little speck of an uninhabited island marked with a cross in red ink. What might that mean? Buried treasure? Who can tell? In the United States, where failure to pay the rent of a box often leads to the bank officials opening it and selling the contents, it has been found that articles of no intrinsic* value whatever are sometimes stored for safe keeping. Often there is clearly a tragedy behind the contents of a box—a pair of baby’s shoes;", a photograph, a lock of hair, a bundle of letters, a wedding ring, a medal or»certificate of merit. The safe deposit in'the basement of the Government Savings Bank is now being used by business and private people for the storage of deeds, documents, wills, securities, jewels. Goodness knows what else may be tucked away in its keeping, for the bank officials never see the inside of a box, although there is .provision in the Act for a box to be cut open in the event ofa renter disappearing and not being heard of for a long time. Many of the Sydney bank’s clients have a box largely for safekeeping their jewellery, others are less concerned about possible theft from their homes than about the chances of fire. From all these perils the Government Savings Bank safe deposit may be considered immune. It is closed by a door of steel over 2ft. thick and weighing 30 tons. The door is circular and fits into the wall like a great plug. Twenty-four heavy bolts hold it in position and these are controlled by four time locks and a series of combinations which give a burglas less than one chance in four million of guessing the right numbers. The slightest sound in the vault is carried

by electric microphones to watchmen outside. But in business hours the big door is rolled back and although various precautions are taken, these do not obtrude on the clients of the safe deposit.