The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1874-08-14

There is much that is curious and in
teresting in the history of lock making,
which dates back to far more remote
period Of history than is generally sup.
posed. The labors of the antiquary dis.
close the fact that some of our most mod
ern Improvements in the construction Of
locks are merely the accidental repro
duction of inventions that originated
many centuries ago. The ancient + gyp.
tians, those silent custodians of more
than one of the lost arts undoubtedly
manufactured locks with tumblers which
held the bolts until they were moved by
the key, device usually considered to
be of modern origin. Amid the ruins
of Thebes and in other localities iron
keys have been found, evidently designed
for lock of this description.
That the Romans also made locks of
intricate construction is evident from the
numerous discoveries in Herculaneum
and Pompeii and in Enland there have
been found keys which were doubtless
contemporary with the Roman occupa.
tion of Great Britain. Ages ago the
Chinese made wooden locks which op.
Grated upon precisely the same principle
as the famous Bramah lock whichwas
invented in England in 1884, and was
regarded as the first great improvement
in lock making.
liz the Bramah lock, so named from
its inventor, the use of wards was dis
pensed with and other peculiarities of
construction gave it the reputation of
a lock which could not possibly be picked
For many years lock of this kind was
displayed in the window of the office in
London, with a reward of two hundred
pounds to any one who could pick it.
This feat was accomplished in 1851 by
MIR. Hobbs, whose first attempt occupied
nineteen hours, owing to the breaking of
one of his instruments, but he subse-
quentIy repeated the operation three
times within an hour.
The next lock Of any prominence was
Chubbs', invented in England in Eng.
land in 1918. This was also easily pick
ed by Mr.. Hobbs. At the London Ex-
position of 1851 Mr.. Hobbs presented
for the attention of Mechanical experts
a lock made by Mr. Pyes, which defed
the ingenuity of the best English lock,
smiths but was finally picked by the Mr..
Linus Yale, Jr., who was for many years
the President of the Yale Lock Manu-.
featuring Company, of Stamford, Conn.
This triumph of American skill was
frankly recognized by Mr.. 4. B. Denison
the celebrated lock maker of London,
who says that American locks fare vast
ly superior to any we have ever made
in England; and on the whole, the
United States are evidently ahead of us
in the manufacture of both good and
cheap locks.
Within a few years past the hard
ware business, in all its innumerable de.
partments, has become an interest of
immense importance in this country, and
among the counties articles embraced
under the generic term hardware, locks
may be regarded as one of the most
prominent. There are of course numer-
Gus claimants for distinction in this
branch Of production, but for ingenuity
of design, excellence of material finish
ed workmanship, and above all, absolute
security, none sustain higher reputa
ton than the celebrated Yale Locks
above alluded to
AS first manufactured nearly thirty
years ago by their inventor, the late Mr..
Linus Yale senior, these locks were a
decided improvement over their preda
cessors, but their range of application
was limited, and their costliness prevent
ed very general adoption. Some years
subsequently Mr.. Linus Yale, junior,
invented lock of different but superior
construction, having fiat, folding key
but his attention being soon directed to-
wards bank locks, regarding which grea,
interest was then felt, he for several
years cotnend his labors to their i'm.
provement, patenting several improve
ments of great value.
In 1860 Mr.. Yale resumed the pro
duction of key locks for general use
and soon afterwards patented style Of
lock which, with subsequent improve
ments, has since rendered his name SC
celebrated. 1t was of the description
called spin lock" identicle in some
respects with that previously made by
his father, but possessing the distinctive
feature OF key of thin, fat steel, les,
than an inch and half long, and wigh
ing but fraction of an ounce-as shown
in the following cut
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