A Strange Vault

A strange discovery was made at San Francisco the other day by the workmen engaged in tearing down the old landmark at the northwest corner of Montgomery and Commercial streets. While removing the marble slabs which covered the floor, a stairway was discovered which led down to a vault under the building, the existence of which was unknown. The vault extends the entire 'ength and breadth of the superstructure. It is built of bricks placed lengthways, which were separated by pieces of elate, the whole being firmly cemented into a solid mass. The roof was arched and constructed in the same manner. At one end of the vault was an apartment, built in an unusually solid manner, to which an entrance was effected Dy a door of iron a quarter of an inch ;hick and riveted with bolts. A pioneer furnished the information ;hat the building, or at least the first story, was erected in 1851, for the occu)ation of August Belmont & Co.s' bankng house. The conflagration of 1849 had swept every structure in the vicinity out of existence, and when the building was erected it was detennined to make t fireproof. The basement was where jold bullion and coin were stored, and it was built to resdst burglars and defy fire. Even among the then resident of the city the existence of the vault was not generally known, and the method of roaching it was a secret confined only to the bank's employés and to the workmen