The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1881-02-12
Ingenious Tools Employed BY 1sder1
Burglars.

Ingenious Tools Employed By 1sder1
Burglars.
THERE Is evolution in burglars tools
as in other things. The mechanical
arts are made to do service in the
progress of crime as we'll as in the legiti-
mate development of civilization. The
big Jack, weighing several hundred
pounds, which the Ocean Bank robbers |
left behind them in 1869 after plumber
ing the bank safes of $3.50, 900, would be
laughed at by a modern craftsman.
That lack bears about the same relation
to modern tools that the tallow.candle
bears to the electric light. Compared
with the beautiful set of tools which
Capt. Thomas Byrnes, now Inspector
Byrnes, captured from the Manhattan
Bank robbers, the big jack is as an an
cient landmark. The modern burglar
works with brains. His schemes are
long-headed and far-reaching. He mar
shaIs his forces like the General of an
army. To- one is assigned the duty of
"piping the cop" or watching the
officers; to another the duty of covering
retreat. But to the skillful workman is
given the task of making the tools and
using them in burglary:
One of the most powerful instruments
now used is the 'drag," for tearing out
the plating of safes. First a hold is
drilled in the plate of the safe, or a
piece is cut out by the aid of revolving
cutters ingeniously applied. Then the
drag is attached. The principle Of it is
the Introduction into the hole of stout,
chunky piece of steel which goes into
the hole endwise, and is then turned so
that its ends extend beyond the sides
Of the hole. Into this chunky
piece of steel a screw-bolt fits, and runs
in solid frame attached to the safe or
braced against it. When the screw
bolt is turned the force is so great that
thick chunks of the heaviest iron plat
ing are torn out rapidly. The more
brittle the plate of safe the quicker
can it be torn out by this powerful
instrument. Sometimes the process is
reversed, and the inside of q safe door j;
pushed off. Then the bolts are moved
back without touching the lock, and tn
safe door easily opened. The whole
process is quick and comparative!
noiseless. . = ...aa. . e.@-.'
The drills and cutters used by bur
; glars will cut through any material ye
used to construct a SAFE. The lates
, process Of Hardening steel makes it q
: hard that any drill OF cutter made flOn
! it will pass easily through an ordinar
file, which has for long time hereto
fore been considered the hardest kind G
8 steel. Great skill is also used in hard
ening and tempering the wedges, CHS
t els, and jimmies used by burglars. Th
. essential requisite Of such tools is tn:
t they shall be hard enough to cut an
e vet not so brittle as to break readily q
a ter the applicationof force. Sometime
j. burglars use an immense cutter, muc
K like crowbar, with the. end forme
0 like a sort of sardine cutter. This wi
9 slice into an iron plate with the san
q facility that tin can of preserved frr
+ can be opened.
# There is very powerful instrumel
d that is used to spread apart the bars
II window gratings or to enlarge any ope
a ing. The principle is to apply sore,
+, bolt with a very fine thread and NOV
l. BILE projections. The stiffest iron ba
y can be quickly and noiselessly bent wi
e these. The instrument can be arrang
a so as to reverse its action, and dra
things together with almost irresistit
at force.
Of Burglars are familiar with the fa
Of that keen.edged hard steel will cut gle
ID almost as well as diamond, and tn
SO use a three cornered instrument for tt
le purpose. The usual plan pursued
is burglars to break window frames is
ep paste over the glass q sheet 5of pap
it, Then one quick blow skaters the pal
e. and no noise of splintered glass
'e- heard, becausethe paper holds the pie
ok of glass, to be removed at the burgla
ng leisure.
ed Combination bank Jocks have gen
Zle ally defed the burglars, but Char
lie Adams, alias Langdon W. Moore,
nd member of the gang that robbed
* Charleston (Mass.) Bank, was said
,ar have purchased q lock Of q workman
re, the factory of q celebrated lock-mak
nd and to have so studied the lock that
= could open almost any combinati
When Moore's house was raided in
city q complete SET of burglars to
was captured. He was in the habit
loaning them to burglars for consid
%. alton. He made the tools by wholet
let, in his house. They were mainly inte
uld ed to open safes with time.locks or OF
of appliances calculated to defy the bu
hot lar by making his work too difficult tc
lfli- performed within the time ordina
red available. The advance in the scie
zed of burglary has, however, been so "a
lrts that safe-makers now seek to sec
ans protection by putting one safe wit
n q another, 80 that each compartment 8
ure present a distinct task to the burglA
his Nev York Sun.
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