LOAD OF "WHISKY."

Shannon News, 20 April 1926, Page 2

LOAD OF "WHISKY."

SAFEGUARDING GOLD BY DISGUISE Two motor lorries laden with what tOpo;a\d to be whisky and drove up to the Bank of England a few weeks ago. Once inside the courtyard their sec-re: was revealed. They contained, not provisions, but nearly £IOO,OOO worth of bar gold (says a London paper). This is typical of Hie methods by which the J3ank of England trans-, ports bullion from one place to another. Many vans which a"re thought by the passer-by to contain furniture or petrol, actually contain thousands of pounds worth of gold. The vans are, as a matter of fact, like those 'used by a big firva of contractors near the Bank. Apart from the highest offcials ,of the Bank, the head of the bullion department is the only man who knows the hour at which the bullion will be received or despatched. Ho personally superintends the loading. When the gold is intended for export—usually to U.S.A.—it is packed in iron-bound wooden boxes which, i filled, weigh about a hundredweight. | As each case is placed on the lorry 'it is sealed and checked with ; great earc. Nowadays sold is rarely taken by : rail as transfer from the.lorry is also risky. In ,-pite of every precaution, the Bank always insures the gold during a journey. Insurance companies find this profitable as the rates are' heavy. When a lorry carrying gold meets with an accident, the driver and guards have an anxious time. Recently a lorry loaded with* bullion ran :nto the hedge on a lonely road, and. darkness feh before the golfl could be transferx-ed to another, lorry, borrowed from a neighbouring garage. The detectives were naturally greatly relieved when, many hours late, their valuable ioad reached its dsthiation. The latest method of carrying gold ■is; by aeroplane. Cargoes worth a quarter of a million pounds have I een transporter in this way. The great danger, however, is that the bullion 'plane will have to make a forced landing. It might not be so fortunate as the golden-laden plane which fell recently in France. It came down in the middle of a military cam i)-' There if* also the danger that the 'plane marf fall into the sea and sink with its precious cargo.