Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Peoples Bank Installs Gas 'Bombs' to Stop Burglars, Sept. 11, 1924

Bandit Protection Recently Installed in Tryon Bank. . . Peoples Bank & Trust Company Installs Mechanical and Chemical Protective Devices. . . Prevents Bank Burglaries. . . Gas Bombs Drive Away Would-be Burglars and Bandits. Approved by Police Officials

Acting on the theory that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, the officers of the Peoples Bank & Trust Company have recently caused to be installed the latest devices in vault and safe protection, which include an automatic alarm system, triple automatic locking devices and gas bombs.

These bombs, according to W.F. Little, cashier of the institution, are of glass, so arranged that an explosion in the vault will release a trigger causing them to burst and overpower the would-be burglars with deadly fumes. Three different gases are used in order to prevent the bandits from utilizing gas masks, it being asserted that no one mask is proof against all three gases.

The locking devices are so arranged that the blowing off of the lock will automatically cause the tripping of extra bolts and double lock all existing bolts so that they cannot be moved even though the locking mechanism is destroyed.

In addition to these devices, the Peoples Bank and Trust carries ample insurance against both burglary and hold-up losses for as Mr. Little asserts, “Anything that one man can build another man can tear apart—given the time. Protective features are intended to multiply the time it takes to force entrance and increase the chances of detection.

The Peoples Bank and Trust Company carry membership in the National Bankers Association as well as the Carolina State Bankers Association, and both organizations maintain an adequate field staff engaged in running down offenders against their members including burglars, hold-ups, forgers, and swindlers of various sorts. These and the insurance companies have possibly done more to make bank deposits safe from lawless depredations than any other agencies.

From the front page of the Polk Count News, Tryon, N.C., Sept. 11, 1924

newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn94058241/1924-09-11/ed-1/seq-1/#words=September+11%2C+1924

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