Bank of Yanceyville Vault Air Conditioned: 1938!
There are a number of interesting things about the bank that Sam Bason built at Yanceyville in Caswell County . . . not the least of which is no doubt a seasonal banking policy . . . and at this time of the year the hourly schedule is no more than lettering on the windows a.m. to 3 p.m.
It is 'bacco time in Caswell . . . and growers home from widely scattered markets in North Carolina and Virginia want to stop by on their way home and make a deposit or visit the strong box in the vault . . . and a community like Yanceyville is one in which business is on a community plan, accommodating.
"Its just impossible for us to close when our patrons want to see us," Mr. Bason said. "Of course, it is quite different in the summer when the farmers are in the fields and only the town folk have their banking to attend to. The schedule [on the window] is then maintained."
]Photograph: Samuel Murphey Bason's Yanceyville Rotary Club photograph. It is not associated with this newspaper article.]
Back in 1921 when the bank was built, it was regarded as the best appointed of any bank in a town the size of Yanceyville . . . and even today some of the appointments are more modern than may be found in large city banks. its resources are about $500,000, falling down a bit during summer when it becomes necessary for some to "borrow" from savings to make crops, take care of farm and household necessities and so on.
"It looks like a fine spot for a holdup," a visitor remarked to Mr. Bason.
"Not so good," he answered. "You see, there isn't much money in sight on the counters at any time. Here is what we do with it. Put it through this slot . . . like posting a letter at the post office . . . and it will be fifteen minutes later before we can get a dollar of it.
"We figure that while the bank robber would be waiting for the lock to open, persons would enter the bank and he would be foiled . . . probably walking out and disappearing."
[Photograph: Bank of Yanceyville under construction. Image not associated with this newspaper article.]
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The most valuable piece of equipment, however, is an electric ventilating system within the big vault, an emergency air conditioner "just in case."
"Sometimes," Mr. Bason continued, "a bank robber will force members of the office staff into a vault and slam the door in his face. That's bad! Experts say that a man might live in our vault without fresh air for a period of two hours . . . and if two persons were confined the life span would be cut in half. Imagine that!
"But you press this little button here and old air is forced out and new air forced in. It means that such a victim could live without discomfort almost indefinitely, certainly until rescued from the tomb."
[Photograph shows vault in background; not associated with this newspaper article.]
Sam Bason is a product of Alamance County, where he was reared on the Haw River . . . going to Caswell some twenty years ago to become an outstanding citizen of Yanceyville and the surrounding community. He has become thoroughly "acclimated" and wouldn't trade his business address nor his domicile for a swanky front on Park Row.
Now he has become a member of the highway commission from the fifth district . . . and that means laying plenty of bumpy roads and proposed trails on his office desk. It brings visitors by the individual, group and delegation, with a little petty change left on the counter at the drug store and sometimes at the grocers.
He's a genial fellow. He'll talk about the history of Caswell, the rural background, and the coming first industry . . . a hosiery mill . . . and he'll discuss national affairs in business and politics. And before you go, he'll say "Wait just a moment, I want to give you one of the latest road maps. It is a dandy.!"
"I'll say it is," remarked a visitor in his office yesterday. "It's the third one you've given me!"
The Daily Times-News (Burlington, North Carolina), 25 Oct 1938, Tue, Page 4.
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