The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-12 00:00:00

THE BATTLE OF THE SAFES.

The committee appointed to give its opinion on
the comparative merits of the two safes respec-
tively exhibited by Mr. Chatwood, of Bolton, and
by Mr. Silas C. Herring, of New York, has just
issued its report. After stating that the four
members named by the parties, viz., Messrs. E.
Holmes, Thomas B. Pickering, Mullet, and Fairlie,
bad elected M. P. Douliot, civil engineer of Paris,
to be their president, and that this committee had
assigned to each of the competitors the task of em-
ploying drilling instruments, gunpowder, steel
wedges, crow-bars, steel screws, and any other kind I--
of burglars' appliances on his adversary's safe in order
to test its capability of resistance, the report says :
—" Herring's experts commenced by attempting
to drill through the dior of the safe, but with-
out attaining any other result than that of convinc-
ing the cornmitte3 that tit) safe was invulnerable to
this mode of attack; and although no attempt by
drilling was tried upon the Herring safe, a subse -
quent examination convinced the entire com-
mittee that his safe possessed this quality in au
equal degree." After much labour, however, a small
groove was chiselled along the whole depth of
Chatwood's safe, whereby the position of the joints
was discovered, and the steel plate forming the
exterior was torn off by means of steel wedges
and hammers. A second plate was thus brought
to view, which, on being broken to pieces, dis-
covered a third bolted to the door-frame, and
which resisted all their efforts, until the groove
system was again employed, where the safe was
ultimately opened in 198 minutes. Herring's safe,
constructed on an entirely different principle, re-
sisted, in its principal inner part, all the men's
efforts for a long time, and it took 251 minutes
to open it, being 56 minutes more than Chatwood's.
The report then says :—" Admitting the excellence
of both the safes submitted to trial, and also admit-
ting that the force brought to bear upon them was
far superior to any even likely to be employed by
burglars, a careful consideration of the facts compels
us to the following conclusions :—Firstly, that consi-
dering the intrinsic quality of the materials employed
as being equal in the two safes, Mr. Herring has
by his happy combination rendered the material
more efficacious, and indeed given to the hard
cast-iron the tenacity which it lacks by nature,
and we therefore are of opinion from this point
of view-Ist. That Mr. Herring's safe is the better
in the quality of the material employed. 2d. That the
exterior aspect of the Chatwood Safe, from the close-
ness of itsjoints and simplicity of its form, would disin-
cline burglars to attack it, but if they should have the
security necessary to make the attempt, its great uni-
formity of constructive detail would giVe them great
hope of success, their difficulties would considerably
diminish as they proceeded, and this would act as a
moral stimulant to their physical force, until they
attained the prize coveted. The Herring safe, which
appears at first more easy of attack, presents to the
end difficulties always great and always varied, and
therefore tends to exhaust both the physical and
moral energy, and to this extent offers a superior
guarantee against the successful attack of burglars.
We are therefore of opinion that the Herring safe
is the best in its capability of resisting drilling in-
struments, gunpowder, steel wedges, crowbars, steel
screws, or any other kind of burglars' appliances.
We therefore, in accordance with the foregoing de-
cision, direct that the 15,000 fr. deposited by Mr.
Herring be returned to him, and that the 15,000 fr.
deposited by Mr. Chatwood be applied—first, to
the necessary expenses of the trial, and that the
balance be divided into three equal portions, to be
given to the charities of London, Paris, and Wash-
ington, as directed by Mr. Herring."

COUNTRY MARKETS.

LIVERPOOL-FRIDAY.

There was a good attendance at to-day's market, which
was very excited and buoyant. Wheat has advanced le
61 per 1001 b on the rates of Tuesday last. Flour brought
3s per sack more money. Oats and oatmeal very firm.
Indian corn in steady request, and 9d per qr over former
currencies—mixed American brought 43s 9d to 44s ; prime
white, 52s per 4801 b. Beans and peas is to is 6d per qr.
higher.

STAMFORD-FRIDAY.

We hal about tho usual show of wheat to-day, and
currencies must be quoted nearly 4s advance, with a fair
trade, Barley met with a steady demand, and prices is
higher. Oats were steadily disposed of, and prices rather
higher than last Fcek. Beans in good request, but scarce.
Now white wheat, 69s to 76s ; red do., 66s to 70s per 86
stone. Barley, malting, 42s to 48s; grinding, 36s to 393
per qr. Oats, new, 26s to 32s ; old, 32s to 36s per 24 stone.
Beans, 48s to 54s per 38 stone. Peas as of late.