San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1879-02-01

quently been performed in from fifteen
to twenty minutes.
Thieves have adopted good many
ingenious ways Of picking locks, and
some Of them have attained delicacy
of feeling by which they have been
able to determine, with fine instru-
ments, the exact distance it was neces.
sary to raise each tumbler; but Of late
years many Of the locks have been es-
pecially constructed with the view of
foiling anything Of this kind. Tumbler
locks, requiring large keys, have been
opened by forcing around in them a
blank steel key, breaking the wards and
forcing back the bolt. '''a'' ''",' nh'
The combination Of the dial lock can cal
be found out by placing under the back
Of the dials small, peculiarly manu-
factured ratchet, 60 that at every reverse
motion Of the knob asmall puncture is
made on plate upon which it moves,
or upon disk Of paper especially Sc
cured to it for the purpose Of receiving
these impressions Or pdnctures. A eel
ebrated burglar, in getting at the vaults
and safes Of noted bank, had two OF
these combination dial locks to open,
and did all his work in one night. %
1t isa favorite plan of some expert
thieves, in committing heavy bank rob-
berries, to ascertain by Watching where
the cashier sleeps, cautiously getting
access to his room at night, either
through an unsecured window or by
turning with nippers the key in his bed.
room door, and taking wax impressions
of the keys toihis Office, vault and safe
From these impressions exact duplicates
are easily made, and the thief then OPP
crates at his leisure, making the attack
when he thinks the proper opportunit,
has arrived to secure the Creates
amount of plumber, sra y,f.7sl q. % 4,,u,
A method which has been in practice
for "a number Of years, and a very sue.
cessful one in opening vaults, is by ST.
curing an adjoining room, and getting
through the ceiling, floor or partition
into the vault. If the vaults are iron
plated, the plating is penetrated in a
very short time by the. use Of drills and
thin saws. 4, An aperture sufficient,
large for the egress Of; a single man can
then be cut through one-quarter inch
iron in about four hours. After access
is obtained to the vaults, the safes art
opened by any of the numerous appi
ances suitable to the circumstances. q
Thieves travelling through the coun-
try have a very ingenious, simple, but
effective way Of ascertaining whether
there is night Waterman inside the
bank, without subjecting themselves to
any danger of being noticed in watch
ing for this purpose. 1t is that Of put
ting small wedge between the door
and the iamb in the evening after the
bank is closed, and by observing if this
wedge still remains there before the
bank is opened in the morning.
.
In the cases of bank robberies, the
final work is. generally done between
Saturday night and Sunday morning.
The tools used by professional thieves
are suchas are commonly used by me-
chanics, excepting the jimmy" which,
for the heavier work, is made in several
sections screwed together when it is re-
quired for use, being then about the
size Of the ordinary crow-bar.
In response to a request for some ca
ses Of an unusual and peculiar manner,
Mr.. Pinketton talks freely.
Some years since a decent-looking
man called upon the cashier Of large
bank in q seaport town, desiring to
rent the cellar and basement underneath
the bank for the purpose of, an oyster
store. The stranger was accepted as a
tenant, and the oyster business was be-
gun, and fourished for about seven
months. The rent -wasseaid promptly
every month, and that was all the bank
people expected. One fine morning
the banker woke up to learn that the
bank had been entered; moneys, secu-
rites and all were gone-a clean job.