Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1874-08-19

centuries. The Egyptian loclxsmith
was probably the first TO excite the sly
gods mirih. Next in order came the
iabricator of the "door fastenings OF
diverse colours, made of brass and
ivory" of ancient Rome, followed by
the maker OF the still more elaborate
serrure de tabernacle, in the medieval
age, immortalzed in early christian
missals. The locksmith of the Celcs-
tial Empire then began to make his
strange instruments having wooden
slides, the architecture of which was
peculiarly adapted to the summer
house in which the fair heroine of the
"willow pattern" was kept in durance
vile Then the locksmith began TO
flourish in England and, by the timo
Of good Queen Bess, the operations Of
the craft were so fully established in
the towns of Staflordshire--to wit,
Wolverhampton, Willenhall and We'd
nesbury-that Cupid must have in
dulged in peals Of laughter worthy of
the immortal Comus; and, after all the
enterprise of later years, with its levers
and wards, "detectors,' and master
keys, the Muse of Love is still able to
chant, even in the hearing of Hobbs
and Club:
"My father he has locked the door,
My mother keeps the key.
But neither bolts nor bars can part
Ny own true love and me-
The Egyptian lock, the rude cary
ings Of which are said TO have embel-
lished the walls of ancient Karnals
Temple, and the Herculaneum, is thus
described by Mr.. u. Beckett Denison,
Q. c.: "In this lock three pins fall
into q similar number of cavities in
the bolt, and so hold il fast they are
raised again by putting in the key
through the large key-hole in the bolt,
and raising it a little, SO that the lock-
ing pins are pushed by the key out of
the way of the bolt. The security AT.
forded by this lock is very small, as il
is easy to find the places of the pins
by pushing in piece of wood covered
with clay or tallow, on which the holes
will leave their impress, and the depth
can easily be ascertained by trial.
These locks were first introduced into
England by the merchants of Ph9ncia,
who gave them to the Cornish miners
in exchange for tin. Strangely enough,
locks of similar construction, but evi-
IDENTIFY homemade are still TO be
found on the doors of many Of the
peasantry in Cornwall and Devon. IS
The locks of ancient Greece and
Rome are quantity described by the
philosophers and poets of the timc,
Auatus compares the constellation of
Cassiopeia TO a Roman key, "having a
curved stem and a handle shaped
like the south stars of the group
Eustathius says that those ancient keys
resombled siclSles, and were sometimes
80 large as to be carried on their shout
ders, as reapers bear their sickles to the
harvest field. This statement is con
firmed by Calimachus in his hymn to
Ceres, whore ho represents tho priest
ess of Nicippe carrying key on her
shoulders. Homer's allusion to the
lock and key on the wardrobe Of the
fair Penelope will probably be better
known. The passage is thus rendered
by Pope: a.amsf .
& "a brsgen key she held, the handle turned, =
With steel and polished ivory adorned.
The bolt, obedient to the siikcn string, 'fi
Forsakes tho staple as she pulls the ring,
h. a. I.l A. L.
The bars ny back, the flying valves rtsound,
Loud as bull makes hill and valley ring,
So roared the lock when II released the spring.
Eustathius, q Greek commentator on
Homer, who flourished in the twelfth
century, says that the key here refer
red to was very ancient, and was known
as "the serpent key from its resem-
blancc in form. IT was in use before
the siege of Troy, although some
writers persist in ascribing its inyen-
ton 10 Theodore of Samos. f4.i
The medieval locks were, perhaps,
among the most elaborate and artistic
specimens of those articles ever pro-
duced. Beads, scrolls or floral wrcaths,
exquisitely craven in steel, lined the
edges. Angel forms similarly wrought
surInountcd the escutcheon, like the
twin guardians Of the fairies grotto in
the pantomime while the surface of
the lock presents as great variety Of
leaves and flowers, all chased with the
utmost skill, as Eugene Rimmeps beau
tiful boquet. These locks were mostly
found on the doors of the ancient Con
tincntal cathcdrals, or on the magnifi-
cent cabinets for which the middleages
were so famous, and Mr. Fairholt as
sures us that in either case the lock
constituted no mean part OF tho pro
fuse decoration OF the door to which
it was affixed. The skill Of Contipent-
al locksmiths, after considerable slum- /
ber, was revived in the seventeenth
century, in the person of NJ, Reigpier,
a French artisan, who acquired great
fame as the maker of 'letter locks,
with which tho couriers' despatch box
es were secured. A Dutch writer,
Yon Fuse, passing over the claims Of
his own countrymen, ascribes to NJ,
Reignier the invention Of the letter
lock which is, in reality, of Dutch ori-
gin, and was made a century before
this French Cbubb saw the light, An
allusion to il is made in Beaumont and
Fletcher's play, The Noble Gentle
man, printed as early as thcycar lG15,
which completely sets aside Rcignier's
claim TO the invention; "a cap case
for your linen and your plate, with a
lock that opens with a. ME-.
n" and Carcw, in some verses written
five years later, has this reference 10 Il
"As doth lock that goes ~ ~.
with letters, for till every one be known N'f
Tho locks as fast as though you had found mono"
Tho latter quotation partly explains
the construction Of the letter lock, with
which NJ Rcigniers namc will always
be connected as their most famous
manufacturer. The letters Of the al
phnbet were engraved on four parallel
revolving rings, which by pre-arrangc-
mcnt on tho part Of the owner, were
made 10 spell a certain word, or num-
bcr Of words, before the lock could be |
opened II ovcn the owner chanced TO |
forget tho ''opcn sesame,ron which he
had determined, like the luclsicss youth |
b.. -