The Republican journal., 1870-02-24
HOW BURGLARS DO THEIR WORK.


HOW BURGLARS DO THEIR WORK.
| Burglary has become an avocation; and
the safeguards which ingenuity has thrown
around valuables in the form of ''burglal
proof locks, safes and vaults, seem to be
completely overmatched by increased skill
on the part of robbers. The matter has be-
come one Of great public Importance, and
the custodians of treasure of all kinds should
understand how completely locks, safes and
vaults are at the mercy of burglars, provided
they have opportunity for operations The
Glenn's Falls, N. Y. National Bank was re
Gently ransacked by burglars, and the Cash
ier, in Il published letter, gives better ac-
count, than we have before seen, how these
thieves manage to blow open vaults and get
at their contents. Mr.. Wait, the cashier, in
answer to a letter of inquiry says:
Our banking house was entered about mid
night, probably, by forcing open the rear
door with Jimmy" The burglars at once
proceeded to cover all the windows closely
with thick army blankets, dampened, for the
double purpose Of hiding their light and
deafening the reports Of the explosions, The
vault was protected by two sets Of Lilies
inches in thickness, the inner of single thick
boiler plate. The chamber or space between
the two sets is, say, IS inches deep and 8
feet wide. Wedges were inserted between
the outer doors until the crevice was sutlici-
ent to allow the powder (some of which was
of the tineness Of marble dust,) to be blown
or otherwise gotten through into this space.
The crevice was then tightly calked, and the
fuse applied The explosion tore apart the
bolts and the rivetcd fastenngs through
which they worked, and the doors We're
thrown back upon their hinges with trcmen-
dous force. smashing the castings and imbed-
ding the handles in the solid masonry The
inside doors were next opened by being
wrenched from the hinges with powerful
'.iimmes." A large Lilies safe, with doors
l 12 inches thick. now appeared. The
wedges were again applied-this time at the
top of the doors-the powder inserted, and
blast No. 3 blew the doors completely off the
safe, exposing the inner and final stronghold
of the funds-a Bacon's steel safe, manufac-
tured for l,s about three years ago, and fit
ting the inside Of the ''Lillie' as closely as
practicable.
This safe is composed of five alternate
layers Of iron and steel, and is divided into
an upper and lower compartment, each Sc
cured by 'Covcrt' lock The first move
upon it was to uncover the ''spindlen of the
through and so effect an opening but this
was presently left, rs likely to prove a chad
iobn and resort again had to the materials
already so efficient in the service Of the viii
lians. The wedges were introduced most
effectively at the side Of the lower door near
est the handle, Us that side of the safe shows
that it was badly sprung by them The
powder was again inserted and the fuse
lighted, but before the explosion the outer
vault doors were closed. As they flew open
from the conclusion, the safe door weigh
ing several hundred pounds, struck one of
them, and glancing off into the banking
room, crashing into the floor some eight
feet from where it started.
As soon rs the smoke cleared away the
booty which the robbers sought became Wis
ible, as it was in this compartment that the
''reserve" OF legal tenders was kept, with
such private papers, securities &C., as might
chance to be in our possession. The green
backs, directly exposed as they were to the
action of the powder must have been badly
burned, as fragments of a 81 900. with many
others of smaller denominations, were found
in and about the safe. A package of g., 900,
not much damaged, was discovered under
one of the fallen doors where it had been
blown by the explosion. The upper section
Of the safe was yet intact In this were four
tin tills, holding the funds, notes, &C., in
daily use. Two Of these rested upon the bot
tom of the compartment and the other TWO on
an iron shell subdividing it. The burglars
attacked the partition between the two sec
tions, and succeeded in partially prying it
down, and in drawing out one of the tills con
tanning Il few hundred dollars in bills. At
this particular time they must have taken
sudden leave, rs everything else was undis-
IL.
sutliced to ''clean OUT the upper compart-
ment.
have fully detailed the facts in this NATTER
and as nearly as am enabled to from closest
scrutintv: because it is due to bank officers
and to the public that it should be known Just
what these professional burglars are able to
do, in order, ifpossible, that some adequate
security may be provided against them. That
the constantlyiincreasing cost, ingenuity and
care expended in the construction oflocks and
safes is being constantly met by a correspond
ngincrcase of skill on the part OF operators
fresh evidence is furnished almost nightly
In fact, ''burglar- proof" as applied to these
intended projections, seems yet to be almost
misnomer, setting aside the matter of
time and an unsleeping vigilance.
1t seems strange, to be sure, that in q
town like this, three such blasts as tore and
scattered massive combinations of iron and
steel rs if they were a toy house, the break
ing of windows and all other unusual noises
and disturbances attended upon the raid,
should have attracted so little attention that
nothing was known of the affair until the
clerk entered the bank, after Z o'clock But
SO it is, and perhaps we arc no sleepier than
other communities where there are banking
houses with no more internal security than
ours