Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1881-02-05
Ingenious Tools Employed by Modern
Burglars.

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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 modern craftsman.
That jack 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
shals 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 ard
using them in burglary,
One of the most powerful instruments
now used is the "drag," for tearing out
the plating of safes. First hold is
drilled in the plate of the safe, or q
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 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 a safe the quicker
can it be torn out by this powerful
instrument. Sometimes the process is
reversed, and the inside of a safe door is
pushed off. Then the bolts are moved
back without touching the lock, and the
safe door easily opened. The whole
process is quick and comparatively
noiseless.
The drills and cutters used by bur-
glars will cut through any material yet
used 70 construct safe. The latest
process of hardening steel makes it SO
hard that any drill or cutter made from
it will pass easily through an ordinary
file, which has for long time hereto
fore been considered the hardest kind Of
steel. Great skill is also used in hard
ening and tempering the wedges, CHS
els, and jimmies used by burglars. The
essential requisite of such tools is that
they shall be hard enough to cut and
yet not so brittle as to break readily af.
ter the application of force. Sometime;
burglars use an immense cutter, much
like crowbar, with the end formed
like sort of sardine cutter. This will
slice into an iron plate with the same
facility that tin can of preserved fruit
can be opened.
There is very powerful instrument
that is used to spread apart the bars O
window gratings or to enlarge any open
ing. The principle is to apply screw
bolt with very fine thread and nova
BILE projections. The stiffest iron barr
can be quickly and noiselessly bent witt
these. The instrument can be arranged
so as to reverse its action, and draw
things together with almost Irresistible
force.
Burglars are familiar with the fac
that keen-edged hard steel will cut glas
almost as well as diamond, and the,
use three-cornered instrument for tina
purpose. The usual plan pursued b,
burglars to break swindow frames is Il
paste over the glass a sheet of paper
, Then one quick blow skaters the pane
and no noise of splintered glass i
heard, becauset the paper holds the piece
of glass, to be removed at the burglar
leisure.
Combination bank-locks have gener
ally defed the burglars, but Charlie
Adams, alias Langdon w. Moore, tn
member of the gang that robbed tn
,, Charleston (Mass.) Bank, was said t
have purchased lock of workman i
the factory of celebrated lock-maker
and to have so studied the lock that h
could open almost any combination
When Moore's house was raided in thi
city complete set of burglars tool
was captured. He was in the habit c
loaning them to burglars for consider
alton. He made the tools by wholesal
in his house. They were mainly intend
ed to open safes with time-locks or othe
= appliances calculated to defy the burg
lar by making his work too difficult to b
! performed within the time ordinaril
: available. The advance in the scienc
of burglary has, however, been so rapi
that safe-makers now seek to secur
}, protection by putting one safe with
! another, so that each compartment sha
y present distinct task to the burglar
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