The Cannon Ball Safe 1896

The Nevada Company, Berlin Nevada founded by James G Stokes. Only old time ingenuity would come up with such an ingenious idea to stop strong boxes from being stolen. Make something so heavy and impossible to lift and carry, no matter how many men and horses you have. The cannonball safe weights 2,400 pounds and has walls a foot thick on each side. The interior compartment is 10” in diameter. The safe made a weakly trip between Austin and Berlin. Plus it had a removable double dial. One of which was in Berlin and the other in Austin. Makes it pretty hard to open without a dial. Also, how would you blow it open? Any nitroglycerin charge you placed would only hasten it’s delivery to the next town-intact Pretty neat idea by the Nevada Company’s, Phillip Stokes. You can still see the family’s summer home in Austin Nevada, Stokes Castle! It’s on display in the Locomotive Barn at the Nevada State Virginia & Truckee Railroad museum. No you can not try to roll it away!

-Stephen Knight