The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1876-02-24
now BURGLARS orrn.rn

i1irfNicHcd the superintendent Hl s@ts
usuuae;ory, and tells tbe result a. lot
lows
The business 81 the maker, ike
thsi of thc police ofHccr, i to prevent The
deptelaHons of the burglar. Two men
Of tqaal SKILL aud using tools Of Ike
efficacy, set themselves 70 work, the one
60 construct n impregnsble receptacle,
the other 10 find violent entrance TO i.
The contest between the two has been
going on with varying success for many
wears, but it Is certain that safes are now
made which will resist all the tools the
burglar eau usa on tkem In the longest
tine be- has FOR his operations. But these
safes are expensive, and i is too often
the case that firms and corporations,
rom q false desire Of economy, insist on
having a cheaper article, not adequate TO
she requirements of It's situation An
absolutely secure article may be bad II
one viii only pay for H. The longer a
safe + unmatched, and the more isolated
the building Ia which Il is placed, the
greater the strength required in It.
4 safe which is to be placed in bank
in the city where Waterman visits the
vault regularly on Sundays, need only
have double walls; but one 10 be used in
The country, where the bank building
will probably be uuvisited from Satur.
day night TO Monday morning, should be
trplt-walled safe. The one may be
called twelye-hour, the other a thirty
six hour safe The burglar will cut a
poor safe 10 pieces in thirty-fiye minutes.
Bat If the safe he is to tackle be one OF
strength aud modern construction, the
work is heavier, and the tools required
more numerous aud elaborate. At the
robbery Of the Grafton (Mass.) bank, the
tools used were so numerous and bulky
AS TO make fair load for horse TO draw.
he burglar decides to try the drill, but
the metal walls of tae safe are OF such
hard temper that an ordinary drill II
powcrless on them. lie is ready for this,
aud sets the combination blow-pipe TO
work. This is blow-pipe which directs
on the spot to be attacked flame OF
combined oxygen and nitrogen gases,
aud The intense heat softens the metal to
that degree that the drill makes a speedy
upon 1t. The hole once made,
the blast Is introduced, aud the safe
blown open. But possibly even the
blow-pipe fails, the modern
ready with another appliance.
lie has an air.pump to which two rubber
tubes are attached. To the end of these
a metal trough, with fiat edges, is joined.
lie places the trouth fat against the safe,
20 as to cover the Joint Of the door In the
frame, and carefully fixes il there with
putty. With the same material he stops
up and makes air-tight the remainder OF
the crack, only leaving one space uncov-
cred at the bottom of the door. The
whole safe is now practically part OF
the ar-pump. lie begins TO pump; the
air in the safe is exhausted, and more
rushes in through the uncovered space
under the door. Here our burglar holds
a paper or card on which fine gunpowd-
er is spread, and the rush of air carries
this inside the safe. The pumping is
continued till the requisite charge is in
troduced, and it is then exploded. The
blow-pipe and the air-pump are the lat
est as they are the most dangerous tools
in the burglars outfit, and as soon as
they were known, which has not been h
great while, ii became evident that safes
must have some new appisnces specially
adapted TO resist them. Safes made only
to Withstand the attacks Of steel wedges,
crowbars, and sledges would give away
At once before the more subtle and silent
operations of these newest tools. There
fore the safe men reconstructed the doors
Of the safe, aud made them fit into
grooves which were packed with rubber
50 that between the doubIings OF the
grooves aud the great weight OF the door,
when IL swung Ia and was locked, the
elastic material made the JOINT perfectly
air-tight. Against this the air-pump was
uscl g, but the bow-pipe was not so
ensily provided for.
- Ia, li-.
cover some new material, or some new
combination Of old. They haye found
this iu the metal called rapklinite, q
mineral composed of peroxide OF iron,
oxide Of zinc, and oxide Of manganese,
n appear nee much like the magnetic
oxide Of iron. II is found In considerable
quantity only Ia Sussex County, N. j..
The peculiarity Of the metal which fits il
specially for the walls Of safes ID that IL
h4rdeus on cooling to its original density (,
aad TINS the burglar is little better OF
AFTER using bis blow-pipe than be was
before, whereas other materials are 80
soitened that his drill goes right through
them. The use OF Franklinite aud the
packed joints are the latest Of the i'm.
pfogements in safes, and IL is claimed
that safes 30 constructed are proof against
anything that the burglar can bring 10
bear on them, 80 far as is known. Bus
/ il should be remembered that If the safe.
maker il ahead now, bis friend, the
/ burglar, may pass bin IN the race again,
aud finding some new tools, rob the best
safe made Tbeu the afe-maker mus
Start sgaiu from the new ground, aud "a
+ II goes On. The reporter was shown i
y full collection Of burglars tools, old and
new, which have been sent from yarion'
banks where they were left By Their
owners. An air-pump put up 10 re.em