STRONG-ROOMS.
In the planning and construction of a strong-room it must be remembered
that the object sought is to obtain a place secure against both the
attack of thieves and the ravages of fire.
There are many cases, however, where the latter is the chief object; and
as the attainment of this is more difficult than the former, it will
necessarily come before us more prominently. In many respects this
subject is the most important in this treatise, and it is one concerning
which there is a great amount of ignorance. Bearing in mind the rapid
spread of banking and other businesses requiring the security a good
strong-room affords, it will be my object to show the faults of many
constructions now relied upon, and to suggest the simple ways by which
they may be avoided.
Building a single strong-room is a very different matter from erecting a
fireproof building; the latter is a larger and more difficult question,
which will be noticed by itself; but the room that is to be made secure
may be and generally is part of a building with no pretensions to
special safety against fire or thieves.
Now, the first thing to consider is the position best adapted in any
bank, mansion, or warehouse for placing the more valuable part of its
contents. There may be certain parts which seem most convenient for
access or other reasons, but such considerations ought never to be
taken first, especially as the best place happens to be often rather
inconvenient. The basement is undoubtedly the right position; any part
of the basement will do, but a room on the ground or first floor has at
once a source of weakness in itself, for it has to depend for support on
what is not a strong-room. Let some spot be chosen in the basement
where, if possible, the room will have none of its walls adjoining any
other buildings. Should it be next to a street or thoroughfare, it will
not matter; but it should not adjoin a court or area, where burglars
might have an opportunity of working unobserved. It would undoubtedly be
an excellent precaution to build all the walls quite distinct from the
main walls of the larger structure, but this is not absolutely
necessary, and the extra expense is a drawback to it, though I would
give a caution against false economy in such a matter as this.
Any position likely to be damp should be avoided; but if this is not
possible every precaution should be taken to remedy the evil, for the
trouble caused by damp when once it has got into a closed room of this
kind is endless. A few air-bricks connecting the inside by a hollow flue
formed in the wall, with its outlet as far as possible from the inlet,
should be sufficient to ventilate any strong-vault. But if other
ventilation is necessary in the room, have a jet of gas always alight;
and over the gas place a bell-shaped covering communicating with the
outer air, or with a chimney flue in preference, by a two-inch iron
pipe.
In excavating for the foundations, if the subsoil and the situation are
not well known, it is important to see that there is no drain or pipe of
any sort under the surface, and that the ground is stiff enough for the
heavy weight that will be on it. One of the most important parts of a
strong-room is the floor, although there is a popular delusion that
because it is the floor it is quite secure without any protection. A
circumstance showing the necessity of being careful to make the floor
strong occurred in the early part of the year 1865, at Hong Kong. The
Central Bank of Western India, situated there, had a strong-room for its
securities, but unfortunately the defence of the floor seems to have
been forgotten. Accordingly some thieves commenced to make a tunnel from
a neighbouring house, and after considerable labour obtained entrance
through the floor and carried off plunder to the amount of fifty
thousand pounds. The affair was managed during Saturday and Sunday by
means of this tunnel dug between a drain and the floor of the treasury,
a horizontal distance of sixty feet.
A New York bank was also entered in a similar manner, through an
excavation which must have taken two or three weeks to make. Although
such approaches may occupy some time, they can be carried on unnoticed
until the removal of a stone in the floor is at last only the work of a
few minutes. For the floor to be secure, it should certainly be formed
of half-inch boiler-plates rebated and fastened together, laid upon a
good thickness of brick and cement. Stone has been constantly
recommended and used for flooring, but it is not advisable; there ought
not to be any stone in a strong-room except for the sill and lintel of
the doorway, where it is almost necessary.
The walls must be at least fourteen inches thick, brick and cement, and
there ought to be the boiler-plate lining inside wall and roof to
correspond with the floor.
The roof must be brick-arched, and the arches should be made in the
strongest possible way, in order to resist if necessary the weight of a
great portion of the building above falling on them. If the span cannot
be from one wall to another, then a wrought-iron girder may be
introduced, but should be most carefully covered by cement or plaster
at every exposed part. On no account use a cast-iron girder.
The entrance to the room has to be well protected, for it is here that
attack is to be expected from thieves, and that fire might possibly
creep through.
The best plan is to use a fire-resisting door and gate joined together;
the door being flush with the outside of entrance and opening out, the
gate flush with the inside, and opening inwards; as a general rule the
door only is used, but the addition of a gate not only gives extra
security, but allows the door to stand open in the daytime to ventilate
the room, when other openings for ventilation are impossible or
undesirable. There certainly should not be any other _direct_ opening
besides the doorway either for light or air. Light is, I know,
frequently desirable, but if it is obtained through a window or skylight
the strength of the room is lessened, even if these openings have strong
iron shutters. If gas is to be introduced the pipes must be laid on with
care; it is best to have no pipe inside, but a swing bracket outside the
entrance, which, when the door is open, can be swung through the opening
and thus light up the interior. Fixed lamps may be used, but there is a
certain amount of risk--though it is small--of their being forgotten,
and of sparks from them igniting loose papers. It will follow from this
that no stove or fireplace should be used inside a strong-room; for if
there is a flue a source of weakness is introduced, besides the contents
of the room being liable to damage from fire.
But the fixing of the door is an important and hitherto much-neglected
point. The annexed drawing shows almost at a glance the proper mode of
doing this:--
[Illustration]
I have taken it for granted that it is understood iron doors are made
with a frame surrounding them of bar-iron, to which the hinges of the
door hang, and the corners of which project, to give greater strength.
Now, if this door and frame be fixed while a building is in progress,
the locks and bolts are exposed to injury from dirt and damp, and the
frame is liable to be thrown out of position by settlement of the wall.
It is, therefore, better to leave such an opening as shown in the
engraving sufficiently large for the intended door-frame, toothed at the
sides, and having an arch above it. The door can then be fixed when the
building is nearly ready for occupation, the surplus opening being
filled with brickwork. The drawing shows a stone sill, and it is usual,
though not necessary, to fix a stone lintel over the top of the door, as
shown by dotted lines; or the arch may all be filled with brickwork. The
bottom of the frame should be grooved about two-thirds of its thickness
into the sill, leaving enough room for the door to open clear of the
floor-level; or if it be wished to let the bottom frame entirely in, the
same end may be obtained by slightly sloping away the floor outside it.
The top and sides of the frame should be rebated into the head-stone (or
brick) and jambs the whole of their thickness, so that the inside of the
wall-opening may be flush with the inside of the frame.
The door must be placed level and upright in the position prepared for
it, and temporarily supported there; it should be received from the
makers locked, and must have its brass furniture fixed, and be unlocked
by the key before attempting to turn the handle of the main bolts. If
after unlocking it there is any difficulty in turning the bolts back
with the handle, no great force should be used, but the position of the
frame must be adjusted until the bolts move easily and the door opens
without binding anywhere. In case of any such difficulty, a little
wedging up of the top arm against the shutting side of the door (marked
A in drawing), will usually remove it. Try the door with a spirit-level
applied to three parts, viz.: 1. The face or edge of frame (right and
left sides), with door shut. 2. The inside shutting edge of frame, with
door partly open. 3. The inside of bottom of frame; and adjust until the
bolts work properly. It should then be fixed in this position, taking
care not to force the sides of the frame inwards while so doing.
During the fixing, the opening and shutting of the door should be tried
frequently. As cement swells in setting, it is possible a door-frame
which appears to be properly set may afterwards be found bulged or bound
when dry. This should, therefore, be guarded against by wood struts
placed across the inside of the frame. On no account must a frame be
fixed without its door, but always with the door hung and open, in
accordance with the foregoing directions.
As the keys are not required by the workmen after the door is unlocked
before fixing, they should be kept by the owner, lest by being left
about they may be mislaid or wrongfully used.
A strong-room door of ordinary quality should have the outer plate ½ or
⅝ inch thick, with the lock-case and fireproofing-case in addition;
and at least six bolts, three at front and three at back; the frame of a
strength proportionate to the size and weight of the door, and with arms
and lugs projecting, to build into the wall.
The interior fittings of the room are of course determined by the
requirements of the owner. If there is much shelving it may be of
perforated metal or mere strips of iron for boxes to rest on, so as to
allow of free circulation of air. For particularly valuable articles or
documents a safe either small or to take to pieces may be introduced, as
is usually done by bankers. I give a plan of a first-class strong-room,
which for all practical purposes is secure, and combines strength with
economy in construction.
[Illustration: PLAN OF STRONG-ROOM.]
[Illustration: STRONG-ROOM--SECTION ON LINE AA.]
The side and back walls are about 2 ft. thick, in hard brick laid in
cement. At 9 inches from the inside of wall is a continuous rough iron
grating of vertical bars, built in as a part of the solid wall.
Hoop-iron is used in the horizontal courses. The entrance wall is 2½ ft.
thick, but in other respects similar to the side walls.
The roof is formed of a brick arch 18 inches thick, with curved bars in
the centre; and is covered with a layer of concrete.
The floor is brick and concrete as shown; with a layer of asphalte on
the surface.
At the entrance to the room is a steel door of great strength, with two
locks throwing 12 bolts, and with a fire-resisting chamber. Next to this
is a pair of iron folding-doors, not fireproof; which, when open, lie
within the thickness of the wall. There is next a wrought-iron gate
opening inwards; the frames of the doors and gate being all connected by
wrought-iron plates.
In the room itself, at the further end, is a fire-resisting iron and
steel strong-room; and the space in front of it (sides, roof and floor)
is lined with ½-inch iron plate, placed a slight distance from the wall
to allow of an air-space between. The fittings are of iron; shelves on
one side and cupboards on the other.
The cost of such a room complete, of the best materials and highest
finish (including brickwork), would be about 1300_l._
The following is a condensed description of a strongroom constructed a
few years ago for a London bank, and which might serve as a model for
others. The walls, two feet thick, are formed of hard bricks laid in
cement, with hoop-iron worked in. The room is lined throughout with
wrought-iron, ½ inch thick. There are two doors, the outer one a strong
iron one, with two locks; and the inner one of combined iron and steel,
of extraordinary strength, with two locks throwing ten bolts. A safe
placed inside, weighing eight tons, and having twenty bolts, contains
the cash and securities. An alarum in the resident clerk’s bedroom is
attached to the inside of the strong-room, so that if the outer door be
opened a gong is set going. A porter sleeps on a bed in front of the
outer door, and by pulling a handle he can set the alarum off if
necessary; and there is a watchman always on duty. With such a room as
this, situated in a building constantly and carefully watched by
trustworthy servants, robbery is made practically impossible.
As an instance of what peculiar inventions are sometimes brought out, I
annex a description of McNeill’s Patent Safe, which seems to be a sort
of floating strongroom for the preservation of mails, specie, and other
valuables during transit on shipboard from shipwreck, fire, and theft;
but it will be seen to be rather a curious contrivance, and hardly
capable of general adaptation, to say the least. The object of the
invention, it is stated, is to meet a want which has long been felt,
viz., the safety of mails, specie, &c. on board vessels at sea. By the
ordinary system of carrying these, the public have had to put up with
the inconvenience of occasionally losing or receiving in a damaged state
their letters and despatches, and underwriters have had to pay large
sums on the total or partial losses occasioned by the wreck or burning
of vessels containing large amounts of specie.
The safe is constructed of steel or iron plating, lined with wood,
leaving a space, which is filled with fire-resisting composition, of a
rectangular form and dimensions suited to the position in which it is
placed--say between decks of a vessel--and is placed inside a steel or
iron case attached to the main deck, and running up through the upper
deck, forming a hatchway large enough to admit the safe to pass through,
being held in position by guides fixed at vertical angles, forming
slides.
The door of the safe is supposed to be both water-tight and fireproof.
When the safe is placed within its case, the upper part of which forms a
hatchway, it may be covered either with an ordinary hatch-cover or a
deck-house corresponding with other houses on deck, and secured down
with hook-bolts fixed to the sills of the hatch-cover or house, and
engaging into eyes rivetted into the sides of the case or hatchway. The
hook-bolts are connected by iron bars, and communicate with a strong
cross-bar, to which is attached a powerful lever placed close to the top
of the safe.
In the event of foundering, as soon as the water inside the vessel
reaches the upper deck it will flow into the case through holes provided
for that purpose; the safe will ascend the slides, forcing up the lever,
which will disengage all the fastenings of the hatch-cover or house, and
permit the safe to lift it off, and float away clear of the vessel as
she sinks.
Strong ringbolts are provided on the top of the safe for lifting it in
and out of the case; also for towing or lifting on board any vessel
finding it adrift. The boats of the sunken vessel may be made fast to
the floating safe, which will serve as a buoy, keeping them altogether
with their heads to the sea, with a much better prospect of being seen
and picked up by a passing vessel than if scattered over the ocean. The
name of the vessel to which it belongs painted on the door of the safe
would lead to its restoration to the proper quarter.
I am not aware that this peculiar invention has ever been carried out,
but the idea which probably gave rise to it is one that has never been
thoroughly solved. Ocean-going mail-steamers, as a rule, continue to
carry enormous sums of bullion in such a way that if the vessel is
wrecked (as is too often the case now-a-days) the money is scattered and
lost. The plan of making a small so-called strong-room by partitioning
off a part of the vessel, is open to many objections, and is far
inferior to the practice of having strong iron safes, which can be
recovered if the vessel should be lost in comparatively shallow water.
When the terrible wreck of the ‘Royal Charter’ occurred there was a
large quantity of specie on board, and all that had been deposited in a
safe was recovered uninjured by the divers many weeks after, while the
loose money was scattered.