Exhibits

Four days after the Montreal Bank opened for business, its directors petitioned the governor of the city to place a sentinel at the bank for security. Montreal had no police force, but was garrisoned by British troops. The following year, the city made a provision “for the erection of street lamps, and also for night watches, consisting of twenty-four in number, their duties being to trim and attend the lamps, and also to act as police guardians.”

Accountant Henry Dupuy, recalling his early days as a Montreal Bank employee, wrote about having to transport a large sum of specie (money in the form of coins), in boxes and kegs from Kingston to Montreal by stagecoach in February 1832 during a snowstorm.

Between Brockville and Cornwall, the coach met a very steep hill and broke a harness in the attempt to climb it. Henry and the driver had to carry the specie from the bottom of the hill to the top, wading through snow nearly up to their hips. Eventually, they were able to reassemble coach and cargo at the top of the hill and be on their way.

Henry wrote of the stagecoach driver: “He swore at a great rate at the hard dollars for giving him so much trouble,” but then went on to say, “It would have been rather hazardous had the driver been a desperate fellow; however, I had not the slightest fear.”

Thanks to this hardworking employee and his trustworthy driver, the cash made it to Montreal safely.

In 1870, the protectograph offered a way for banks to protect themselves and their customers against forgers who would alter cheques, securities, cash certificates, bills, receipts, and other forms of exchange.

These chequewriters were used to print the face value on negotiable securities in relief so the value could be both seen and felt. The machine printed a mark before the digits in the face value, making it impossible to change the amount after the cheque had been printed. The corrugated surface of the digit stamps was pressed into the paper fibres, allowing the paper to absorb the special ink. This technique made it virtually impossible to erase or even chemically remove the printed money value.

The protectograph was part of a long line of technologies aimed directly at keeping Bank of Montreal and its customers safe from fraud.

Built into all three floors of our former Winnipeg main branch in 1912, this bank vault was one of the thickest and most secure ever made.

The steel in the doors and the lining of the vault alone totaled 500,000 pounds (250 tons). The outer door was 47 centimetres (18.5 inches) thick and weighed 36,000 lbs (18 t), while the inner door weighed 20,000 lbs (10 tons), and they were reinforced by thick layers of corundum to prevent burning through the door. The doors featured 24 solid steel locking bolts, more than 10 cm (4 in) in diameter, and two combination locks on each door. The codes were known only to two officers of the bank. Quadruple time locks ensured extra security, as did security patrols and “electric protection.”

The vault had three sections. Day-to-day business needs were met by the bank’s cash vault, located on the main floor. A second section served as a book vault to secure ledgers and various account books. The basement-floor section – 9.7 metres (32 feet) long, 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in wide) and 2.4 m (8 ft) high – served as the bank’s safety deposit vault.

The June 1931 issue of the Staff Magazine recounts how a robbery attempt at the Vancouver Heights branch was thwarted by two heroic employees: manager F. J. Roche and teller G. C. Johnston:

“Two bandits gained entrance to the office through the skylight at night and, concealing themselves in the Manager’s office, seized Mr. Johnston when he arrived at the Bank at 9 a.m. They tied him to a chair, and a few minutes later seized Mr. Roche as he entered his room and lashed him to another chair.

The bandits, masked and armed with revolvers, demanded that Mr. Roche open the safe. Mr. Roche replied that it was impossible to do so as the time-lock was set for the opening of the safe at 10 o’clock. Repeated threats and explanations continued for an hour. Then with the arrival of 10 o’clock, Mr. Roche was unbound, taken to the safe under cover of revolvers and ordered to ‘open up or be drilled.’

Mr. Roche, after various delays in fumbling the numbers, at length threw off the combination, but pulled on the wrong lever and of course failed to open the door. He suggested that the time lock was still holding and told the bandits to try it themselves.

By this time it was past 10 o’clock and customers were knocking at the front door. The bandits became nervous and decamped through the back door. They have since been arrested and committed for trial.

A presentation from the General Managers of an inscribed gold watch and a cheque to Mr. Roche and a cheque to Mr. Johnston as an appreciation from the Bank of the manner in which they had protected its property.”