DEVICES IN AMERICA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 158, 6 July 1934, Page 3

DEVICES IN AMERICA

DEATH FOR BURGLARS. Manufacturers of burglary alarm systems and protective devices for banks and safety deposit vaults report that their trade—always important in the United States —is boomir/g toward unexampled prosperity. Vaults large enough to hold all the monetary gold and silver stock in the country are- now being completed in Washington at a cost of £BO.OOO. Death by poison ga.s lurks in the huge »teel doors, should they be penetrated half-way through by burglars’ tools. The walls are built of concrete and matted steel, 27 inches thick. The Federal Reserve vaults in New York City, arc surrounded by a wail of water so contrived that any sappers trying to bore in, would surely drown. There is not a bank or security company in America to-day without an armed force for its protection The newest electrical burglar alarms and time clocks arc part of the equipment. In Chicago, where crime is highlyorganised, there are several financial institutions with machine-gun nests, camouflaged by an ornamental gallery, with expert marksmen always on duty. Country banks, which have suffered most at the hands of bandits, are now protected as well as their means will permit. One was seen recently, where the cashier, by stepping upon a pushbutton in the flnor of his cage, can immediately release mechanism which closes every door automatically, and sounds the alarm at the local police station. By touching another button clouds of tear-gas are instantaneouslyreleased.