Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-10-25

| ana they were directed to withhold the amount
| from his regular pay. To prevent any embar-
| rassment to the Commissioners he at once paid
| the amount into the Treasury. where it was
| received and placed to the credit of the Dis
trict, though paid him by the Post Office de-
partment.
A MAN WHO LAUGHS AT LOCKS.
How Combination Safes Yield Up
Their Secrets to an Expert.
! TIME-IOCKs OF NO AVAIL AGAINST A MAN WHO
KNOWS ALL ABOUT THEM-A CHAT WITH A SAFE
OPENER-LEARNING COMBINATIONS THROUGH
THE CHARACTER OF THE MAN WHO DEVISED
THEM-THE TREASURY SAFES NOT SECURE
AGAINST sKILLFUL BURGLAR-A MAN WHOM
THE POLICE KEEP THEIR EYES ON.
Clocks? Locks won't keep burglars out.
Why, can open any kind of lock that has ever
been invented, without key or combination :"
The speaker was a close-shaved, clean-cut,
penetrating looking man. He stood in a lock-
smiths shop on AZ street, dangling the dial of
combination lock on the end of bent WIRE
They open If he looks at EN-" said youth,
who stood by interestedly examining the bits of
broken lock, old keys, drills and odds and ends
of wire, brass and steel which were scattered
about the shop. The sign in front of the door
read. practical Locksmith and Safe Opener"
do you make practice of breaking open
safes?" asked The STAR man.
II open safes when nobody else can" replied
the smith. giving the scribe a keen nOuirng
look which might have opened him had he been
lock. THAT u.s. Iopen safes when the locks
are out of order or the combinations lost
Sometimes man will oil the lock of his safe
and it gets gummed up that the tumblers
won't work and he can't get it open. Some
men are forgetful and lose their combination
Safes are sold at sherff's sale sometimes and
the owner being mad won't give up the COM
bination. When anything of that kind happens
they send for me-" -=f..tts - ....5t..-.s,.
''Do you blow them open?'
NO. IT the lock is broken so that it won't
work drill little hole alongside the dial and
pick the lock with small bit OF wire. If the
lock is all right, only the combination is lost,
20 to work TO find it aud don't deface the safe
at al. 1t takes me from three seconds to six
hours to open safe, according to the kind and
the method employ"
But how can you find the combination? Does
it not take a long timer"
by testing. AS to time. it depends upon
circumstances If | know the man who set the
combination can find it in very few minutes
Ii | don't. it takes longer. You see. study
the character of the man and if know him
pretty we'll can strike his combination thrshrS,
his character When stranger comes to0D$0.
say he has lost his combination make $500
of him. and in nine cases ont Of ten can hit it
the second or third trial But if he did not set
the combination himself it is more difficuIt
Then study the lock instead of the man. and
am sure to get it open in a few hours. Oh. no!
1t wouldn't do to tell you how. Safe openers
are dangers IN community. They are always
watched by the police. They keep an eye on
NE all the time. | have them irving nv door
all hours of the night and there's generally one
somewhere around. No. couldn't teach Won
how to open safes. But you might not find it
easy to learn There is a kind of association
between me and lOcks-an understanding. as if
were. We have the same way of thinking"
Gould you open burglar proof time lock?"
asked the scribe
Il can open the best lock that was ever made
in five or six hours. These little Office safes
wouldn't put that much time on. They don't
pay enough. | just take hammer and break
the knob of, and can get into the safe in about
three seconds"
What do you get for opening sate?"
For u little three second safe get 80 For
large safes like they have In banks and brokers'
offices; and where they don't want the lock in
Could you open the great safe in the United
States Treasury
Easily. l could get rid of the time lock and
everything in six or seven hours, and wouldn't
make any particular fuss about it either No
safe was ever made but it had some weak point
known to the maker, SO he could get into it In
case the lock should refuse to respond If there
wasn't they would have to break the concern all
to pieces if the lock broke. Now know where
to find these weak places lean strike within
quarter OF an inch OF it every time. 1t is generally
covered over by thin sheet of steel or boiler
iron, and by cutting away block three or four
inches, which is easily done, | could drill into
the best safe that has ever been made. 1t would
not be any trouble for burglars to get into the
Treasury safe If they understood locks as do"
Has your knowledge of locks ever gotten
you into any trouble with the police ?" asked
THE STAR man.
mo. not seriously. though. as say. they
always watch me. Down in Oil CITY. thonqh I
created quite an alarm one night and came near
being captured a. burglar. Some fellows got
TO tanperlng with the safe in large hardware
store there, and somehow got the combination
changed so that no one knew how to open it.
The proprietor sent for me, and told him |
could open it. but as l was quite busy should
have to wait until evening Iclosed my shop
little after dark and went over to the store and
got to work on the job. had been working a
couple OF hours, when somebody banged at the
door and called for me tossurrender without
resistance II l did not want to be shot. The
proprietor was fortunately in the store at the
time and opened the door. There was a SQUAD
OF policemen armed and the house was COM
pletely surrounded, so l could not escape The
patr0lfnan had seen me at work on the safe and
gone of and reused the town. and the whole
police force had been called out to surround the
building. The proprietor explained, and went
on with my job"
Du. iochs uon 40 mucn GOOD against eX-
perts," he continued. "a gang of burglars
would find no trouble In robbing the Treasury.
1t Is strange they have never attempted Il.
las to ordinary locks could take an ordinary
case knife or piece of stiff wire and open eyery
door on the Avenue from the Capitolt to the Treas
ury And 1t would not take me much longer
than it would to walk that distance. No door
would occupy me more than couple Of seconds.
can open any trunk by simply little tap with
hammer, AID won't injure the lock In the
least. III yOu forget your combination come
in"
"Greg boats" are sent among the British fish.
ermen OFF the coast OF York and Cleveland Inv
enterprising H0llanders. These boats are fitted
out like English bar-rooms, with all the modern
ilalr0Yeuuents includin3 harnaaids hot