The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1882-07-20
A COOL SOOUNDREL,
The Peculiar Manner in Which Burglar Craoted
Bank

The Peculiar Manner in Which Burglar Craeted
a Bank
My profession is not u popular one.
There is considerable prejudice against
it, don't think myself it is much
worse than good many others. How
ever, that's nothing to do with my story,
Some years ago, me and the gentleman
who was at that time connected with me
in business --h he s met with reverSes since
then, and at present isn't able to go out
was looking around for a job, being
at that time rather hard up, as You
might say. We struck a small country
town, | amt agoin' to give il away by
telling where it was, or what the name
of it was, There was one bank there.
The president was a rich old duller
owned the mills, owned the bank, owned
most of the town. There wasn't no
other officer but the cashier. and they
had Il boy who used TO sweep out and
run their errands.
The bank was on the main street,
pretty well up one end of h-nlce, snug
place--on the corner of crosS-street,
with nothing very nearit We took our
observations, and found there wasn't no
trouble at all about it. There was an
old Waterman that walked up and down
the street nights, when he didn't fall
asleep and forget it, The vault had
two doors; the outside one was chilled
iron, and hal q three-whceled combna-
ton lock; the inner wasn't no door at
all; you could kick it open. 1t didn't
pretend to be nothing but ire-proof, and
it wasn't even that. The first thing we
did, Of course, was to fit q key to the
outside door. As tke lock on the out
side door was an oId-fashioned Bacon
lock, any gentleman of my profession
who chances to read this article will
know Just how easy that job was, and
how we did it. may say here that the
gentlemen in my line of business, hav-
inc at times n great deal of leisure on
their hands, do considerable reading,
and are particular fond of neat bit of
writing. In fact. in the way of litera-
ture, | have found among 'em-howev-
err, this being DEPRESSION, | drop it,
and 90 on with the main job again.
This was our plan; After the key was
fitted | was TO 90 into the bank, and
Jim that wasn't his name, OF course,
but let it pass-was to keep watch on
the outside. When any one passed he
was to tip me whistle, and then |
doused the glim and lay low; after they
got by, goes on again. Simple and
easy, YOU see Well, the night that we
selected the president happened to be
out of town; gone down to the city, as
he often did got inside all right,with
slide lantern, breast-drill, II steel
Jimmy, bunch of skeleton keys, and
green bai2c bag to stow away the swag
| fixed my LIGHT, and rugged my breast
driIl, and got to work on the door just
over the lock.
Probably great many of your read
ers are not SO well posted rs me about
bank locks and may say for them that
n three-wheel combination lock has
three wheels in il, and slot in each
wheel. In order to unlock the dooryoL
have TO get the three slots opposite to
each other at the top of the lock. OF
course if you know the number the locb
is set on, you can do this; but if you
don't, you have to depend on your in
gcnuity. There is in each of these
wheels n small hole, through which you
put wire through the back of the lock
when you change the combination
Now if you can bore a hole through the
door, and pick up those wheels by run"
ming wire through those holes, why
you can open the door | hope | make
myself clear ] was boring that hole
The door was chilled iron about the
neatest stun ever worked on. wen.
on steady enough; only stopped whe.
Jim-.which, as | said, wasn't his rea
name whistled outside, and the watch
man toddled by. By-and-by, when I'd
got pretty near through, heard jim,
SO TO speak, whistle again. Istopped.
and pretty soon ] heard footsteps out
side, and I'm bowed if they didn',
come right up the bank steps, and ]
heard u key in the lock, was SO DUN.
founded when heard that that yop
could have slipped the bracelets right on
me- picked up my lantern, and III
be hanged if didn't let the slide slip
down and throw the light right onto the
door, and there was the president.
who are you?' says he,
"Who are youP' says !, thinking that
was an innocent remark, as he com.
menced it, and a-trying all the time to
collect myself
I'm the president of the bank" says
he, kinder short; something's the mat
ter with the lockp'
BY George The idea came to me
then.
Eyes, sir" says |, touching my cap;
"Mr. Jennings, he telegraphed to me
this morning as the lock was out of or
der, and he couldn't get in, and so I'm
come on TO open il for him"
II told jennings aweei ago" says he.
that he ought TO get that lock fixed.
Where is hep
Hes been a-writing letters, and he's
gone up 10 his house TO get another let
ter he wanted for TO answer