BRINGING GOLD TO THE BANK.

Northland Age, Volume IV, Issue 47, 13 July 1908, Page 8

BRINGING GOLD TO THE BANK.

The precautions which arc taken to guard gold dispatched from the mines of Australia, America, or South Africa to the Bank of England—which for years past has acted as the distributing agency for all purchasers in England—are quite si/nple, yet thoroughly safe. Everything is dene quietly, although in no way secretly, and without the slightest fuss. Detectives watch the shipment of the gold, and also the unloading at the docks ; but the idea that two or three of them take it in turns to watch the precious cargo during the voyage is. quite an erroneous one.

In rqugh bars, ranging usually between 200 oz. and 1,000 oz., the gold is packed in strong bullion boxes, which have the appearance of solid blocks of wood bound with irqn, placed in the strongroom which every vessel of importance possesses, and which is usually under the saloon, fully insured, and sent across the sea unattended. The man who is responsible for the gold while it is on the vessel is the captain, who signs for the same and holds the key of the specie-room. It is a stringent rule, however, that the captain must not visit the room except in the presence qf a witness.

There is also another rule rigidly enforced. When the %fcssel reaches the docks the gold must not be unloaded unless it can be taken direct to the Bank qf England. Suppose, for instance, a ship with bullion on board arrives at Tilbury Docks on Saturday night. The vessel would be considered en voyage until the Monday morning, and no leave would be granted. The captain sleeps on board as long as the specie is there, and the same strict watch is kept as if on the ocean. If the Monday was a Bank Holiday it would be just the same, the gold being landed on Tuesday morning. The London office of the company to which the vessel belongs having been duly informed of the arrival of the vessel at the docks, a clerk is sent, whose duty it is to be present whenever gold comes in. Two or three detectives are also at handin all about half-a-dozen officials. The boxes are counted as they are brought from the strong-room, packed on trolleys, and, closely guarded, are hurried away to the bullion truck in waiting, to be conveyed to the station.

A bullion truck is about 14ft. long, lined with iron, and looks very much like a miniature barge on wheels. It is about 3ft. high, has double locks, and is always placed between the engine and the guard's van, so that both the guardian of the train and the custodian of the engine may keep an eye on it. Such a truck costs anything between £l5O and £2OO to build.

After the gold is entrained the clerk sends a telegram to the head office, informing the owners what time the train left the station, and the hour it may be expected to ar-

arrive in London, where a van is ready to receive it. The gates of the Lothbury entrance to the Bank welcome all such deposits of gold and silver, which enter qnly to be hidden away for a time in the wonderful vaults below. Several iron barricades have to be passed and many questions put by the gorgeously attired beadles of the Bank to be answered before the van with its treasure comes to a standstill at the entrance to the vaultSj The gentleman who superintends the packing of the .gold in the vaults furnished the writer with some interesting particulars.

“We have all sorts and all sizes of boxes come in," he said, “many of them holding £IO,OOO, while others will be hardly an inch square, and contain but an ounce of gold. The charge for storage per packet is just the same, be the parcel small or great, an ounce or an hundredweight

—that is, Is. 9d. a box or naked bar of gold arui silver per month, and after the first month it is reduced tq a shilling. We never see the contents of the boxes,, unless, perhaps when the Customs officer opens two or three out of a consignment and runs his fingers through the golden pieces to see if there is anything countraband hidden beneath." -“Tit-Bits."