The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1883-02-22
The Burglar and His Methods.


The. methods of the American thief
hre very comprehensive and skillful;
more so than are those of the profession,
for such has thieving become, of other
countries. 1t is commonly acknowl-
9 Tged among the fist police officers
in the world that, for a fine job, the
American thief is far ahead of the other
nations. Why shou'd d they be? That is
somewhat OF mystery, unless to the
training he has received under the
tutelagc of the best of English thieves he
adds the peculiar daring, coolness cum
ming and Skill that seem to be inherent
in the fully develo ed American; but no
matter for what reason, the fact remains
unchallenged that he stands ut the head
of the craft A consideration of his WAYS,
gentle and otherwise, will be interest
ing to read. He is divided in many
families, but first and foremost among
thieves is the bank burglar or ''high
tobyman." He is the king-bee in the
criminal hive, and affects to be a gentle
man when not engaged on ''lay.'
The history OF nearly every large and
wealthy city abounds in instances of the
bank robbers daring roguery He
W
presence would not have been felt had
he not left a EXIT of beautiful tools be-
side a wrecked SAFE OF bank vault, and
taken in exchange greenbacks and
bonds that may be thousands, but more
often is millions. This in his peculiarly
sportive moments he might term fair
exchange, and does; but no amount of
sportive wit can persuade the bank olli-
GERS into thus regarding the visit
Bank burglars are not in the habit
of working alone. They tra~el in
gangs, and have at Their beck and
call crowd of confederatesAcap-
italists, layers-out and go.betweens
The frst-named "stake the cracks
man when he is broke, furnish
the funds for his expeditions, and
whenhe is in trouble look generally 10
his interests. The layer.out is the
brains of the gang, plans its expedi-
tions, often furnish the funds, aud, att
er a success, shares the spoils. The go
between is he who acts as agent for the
return of non eligible bonds or securi-
ties of any kind, for, although these
papers have no real value to the
burglars, the bankpeople are pinched
by the same wise, and between the two
inconveniences both are willing to
sacrifice something in the interest of
harmony and The rest Rank burglars
tools are generally of very superior
order, gathered with care and piece
meal until the kit is made up. A foil
, kit Of the best order is worth $4,000.
This may all go in the event of a fail.
ure OF a Job ~ disturbance, and gen
orally does go when n successful piece
of work is accomplished, as the booty
is heavy enough to carry away in itself,
so that tools are left behind. Mechan-
les of q superior class exist in larger
cities who make speciality of fashion
| ing burglars tools In the absence Of
| such me hanic the tools are collected
in parts, but as this is risky way of
obtaining them it is avoided if posi-
bic. Kits of the tobyman's tools are
kept ON hand for hire, and good col
1 lection can be obtained in the centers
| of the business for from 500 to 5000.
| These tooi-renters are generally tool
makers. also. but often the fence has
them on hand. and it is part of the bust
ness of the old cracksman to keep them.
| Fifty per cent of the noted burglars are
| practical smiths and thoroughly under
stand the temper and capacity of their
own tools. Sometimes a gang, each
owning implements of different kinds,
pool their possessions, and thus make
up full ''kit." The tool-makers have
their specialties. Some are. famous for
chisels, Others forpunches and jimmies,
and one maker has made a national rep,
lItation for q sic lge of lead and copper
that entirely superseded that formerly
used of steel, because Of the dull, al
most noiseless, blow it strikes. ~
The latest great Improvement is in
drills that cut into the hardest steel like
a knife into wood, especiallythe double
rachet drill OF Howard. the burglar, who
was murdered by his comrades some
years ago for treachery. This drill is
said to be able to bore hole through q
solid block of steel as easily as does a
| gimlet in one Of wood. Another tool
called safe-opener. made on the prin-
ciple of the domestic oyster-opener, will
cut the front out-of q SAFE when once il
gets hold. But the mo It powerful and
destructive instrument used BY burglars
is the sale-drag. originally made in En-
1 gland 1t weighed at first about 500
pounds, but Amer.caningenuity has got
it down to little over 100 in weight
and improved its qualities. An expert
can tear aystrong safe literally TO p eces
with this terrible machine. - Cie0eiand
Herald .tFa
Il l VI