How Gold is Guarded at Sea.

Woodville Examiner, Volume XX, Issue 37220, 16 September 1904, Page 2 (Supplement)

How Gold is Guarded at Sea.

I A PEEP INTO THE SPECIE-ROOM 1 OF AN ATLANTIC LINER. The enormous amount of gold which li;ih recently been shipped from A me riea . to I,ho Coiuinciit in payment of the Panama. Canal and the Uussian and Japanese loans has attracted so much attention that a, few days ago the writer visit ed the North German Lloyd's famous Kaiser Wilhelm 11. in order lo lind out exactly in what manner spec o is stored and what plans are adopted to insure its .safe transit. With a special letter from the manager of tho company to tho purser. Mr. Tieibaar, tho winter boarded the big liner shortly after she had discharged a consignment of gold ba.rs valued at two millions sterling. Having read the letter Mr Tieibaar shook hands with much heartiness and declared m very good English that it would give him considerable pleawnre to show mo the strong-rooms on hoard the vessel. “The .smaller of tho two." 1m said, “is in close proximity to my office,’’ and taking a couple of massive keys Irom his safe he led me lo the door oi a compartment/ which had probably hold enough gold to pay lor tho Kaiser M ilhclm 11. ten times over, 'the locks, which were double, were rendered additionally strong by being furnished with steel hasps which covered tho keyholes and were secured with massive padlocks. When the door was thrown open and tho electric light switched on the I'oom appeared to resemble the dark cells used to coniine unruly prisoners. The walls, roof and ceiling were lined with *2in. steel plate, and tho room contained nothing but a couple of wooden .shelves. “There is a general impression,'’ said Mr Tieibaar. “that whenever there is a cargo of gold on board wo have a guard of at least six men armed with carbines, revolvers and cutlasses, who keep sleepless vigil over tho precious metal night and day. until it is safely in the hands of the consignees. This is not tho case. When once tho gold is stored away and the vessel is well out to sea, we do not keep any armed guard on duty at all, for. the strong-rooms being placed in the most frequented part of the ship, people are constantly passing thein all hours of the day and night, and this is the best safeguard one could have. There are only two sets ol keys to the rooms one 1 keep, while the oilier is in the custody of the captain. Now. if you will come below 1 will show you the second and larger specie-room, which is situated next to the provision department. We descended the loner deck, and Mr Tieibaar unlocked the. door ol another strong-room, similar to the one we had Just left. It was, however, almost twice as large, being about Tilt long by -1 ft wide, 'in reply to a question as t o whether the two rooms were overr filled to capacity, Air Telbaar <loci a-red that tin's was often the case. “Onr last consignment.'' he said, “consisted of over 10,- ■■ OOO.OOOdols.' worth of gold liars, which 1 were packed in .small kegs about a. loot - high anil hound with steel hoops. J "Each keg contained gold to the value 1 of oO.OOOdnls, and weighs altogKhcr s .'thout 2001 L. Tho gold is generally j brought up to (he ship i he day before we ' sail, and Nall stored away before the t passengers embark. It arrives at the 1 dock in ordinary trucks and under Hie guard of two armed men and the driver. “The last, occasion on which we had a gold consignment the specie arrived in Urn vaiH each van containing aland a ' million do lars worth ol gold bars, i he % usual manner of putting the prec ous •, height on hoard was to haul the kegs 1 up an inclined chute lo the deck by 1 means ol a, hoisting engine, but latterly 1 (bis method has been discoid dined, and 1 each keg is now place'l in a sling and a long stick passed through, the ends of 1 which le t mi the shoulders of two men, who carry their burden up the gangway ' and so on hoard, ■•While the |,.>gs are being shipped ' scrupulous care, ol course, has to be f taken t hat we r<ce,:vo the right number. £ Our receipt, you must, understand, is • given tor -<> many kegs, not so much s gold, for naturally we do not open the - barrels to count the bars. The kegs s bear the Government, seal, and as soon i as they are safely stored away the iron S doors of the st rung moms are also sealed n with Government wax, and tho impre.s- ---•> s.on is broken only when the officials scut - to receive the gold come on hoard. Tho V Logs are checked three times. Find on the pier, when they are taken from the a express waggon, then again when they s reach the gangway, and a third time alien they are placed in the strongnxiin. "Alt.hough we do not have a, guard placed over (he .-i>ecie during the voyage, as I staled before, two men are constantly watching the looms so long as wo are in sight of land. There is. how. oxer, practically no danger of gold being stolen in transit., for it would require to"lie someone more than human who would shoulder a keg of gold weighing a eouplo of hundred pounds and vanish with it without being seen. During the ma.ny years I Jiavo been purser on Atlantic imers 1 ha ve never know n a case where them lias been any (.rouble over a consignment ol gold. It is the saleet cargo to handle 1 know. The total weight of the last consign, ment, of gmld shipped by the Kaiser Wilhelm ll.' amounted k> something like JG.OOOIh, or over sixteen tons, amMlio freight charges came lo about £2500. being one-eight of 1 per cent. Tho specie i.s insured lor its lull value, and should the ship be last, or the .gold mysteriously disappear on route, tho insurance. companies would be held responsible. The amount, of gold shipped from America by various .linen during May and June exceeded ten millions sterling, which left tho V id leal States Treasury almost ha re of gold in bars. A further call would have resulted in eagles and double eagles being dispatched instead of bar gold, which is strongly objected to on account, of the greater abrasion. About, ten years ago there was so big a rush to ship gold from the United States to tho Continent that, had the Government, not taken action in the matter there would not, have been an ounce of refined gold ileft in the Treasury. To slot), or at least, decrease, tho demand for oar gold a tax oi Gd on each JL‘2O was placed, bid the shippers paid this amount without murmuring, and still demanded mure, with the, result! that, the officials in Washington slopped the export- ol gold altogether, and no mere was dispatched until the Treasury had been replenished-. It, i.s not. only on account of the greater abrasion that gold coin is disliked iiy shippers, hut from the fact that the Treasury sell it by designated value and nob by Weight. In a large shipment, when many coins would ho “liglit ’ The loss to the shippers or consignees Would be coiUbiderahle. it i& thought only

right that .some adjustment in exchange should be made, but .so fair lho ofiicials at the White House have shown no parti, culaa- anxiety ho move in tho matter. The largest shipment of gold Irom America occurred in ISDS, when JJ.OOO.OOOdoIs. worth was dispatched. In tho following year the shipment, was 51 .OOO.OOOdois, or practically the same amount as was dispatched during live weeks of -May and June of lids year.