Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1884-12-01

How safes gaesa Up Thesr secrets -
en- ExpUra.

close shaved, ciean-cut, penetrating look
ing man. He stood IN d Iocksmith's
shop on Four-and-a-half street, dangling
the dial Of i combination lock on the
end of bent wire
''Tliey open If he looks at 'eE, ? said .
youth, who stood by interestedly exam
ini ( 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 Locksmtth and Safe
Opener"
do you make the practice Of breaking
open safes2" asked the Star man.
II open safes when nobody else can,
xepliel the smith, giving the scribe
keen, inquiring look which might have
opened him had he been lock- THAT
Is open safes when the locks arc out
Of order or the combinations lost. Some
timcs a man will oil the lock Of his safe
and 1t gets gummed up 50 that the tum-
AIers won'twork and he can't get IL open.
Come men are forgetful and lose their
combination. Safes arc sold at sheriff's
sale sometimes, and the owner being
mad, won't give up the combination.
When anything Of that kind happens
they SEND for me-"
do You blow them open2"
t'No. III 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, / 90 to work to
find 1t and don't deface the safe at all.
II takes ne from three seconds to six
hours to open a safe, according to the
kind and the method / employ.
but how can you find the combina-
tion2 Does it not take long time2"
''By testing. As to time, it depends
upon circumstances. IL 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
well can strike his combination through
his character When stranger comes
to me to say he has lost his combination
| make a study Of him. and in nine cases
out of ten / can hit it the second or third
trial. But if he did not set the combi-
nation himself it is more difficult. Then
! study the lock instead of the man, and
/ am sure to open it in a few hours
Oh. mol il wouldn't do to tell you how
Safe openers are dangerous in commu-
nifty. They are always watched by the
police. They keep an eye on me all the
time / have them trying my door all
hours Of the night, and there's generally
one somewhere around. No, couldn't
teach you how to open safes. But you
might not find it easy to learn. There is
kind of association between me and
. locks--an understanding, as it were.
8 We have the same way Of thinking"
Gould you open burglar proof time
locka" asked the scribe.
can open the best lock that was
ever made, in five or six hours. These
little Office safes l wouldn't put thot
much time on. They don't pay enough.
just take hammer and break the knob
off, and can get into the safe in about
thr5e seconds. =
safeao
For little three second safe get
ten doAars. For large safes like they
have in banks and brokers' offices, and
where they don't want the lock injured
ret $3.50
sCould you open tho large safe in the
Dnited States treasuryl"
Easif could get rid of the time
oT anA everything in six or seven
h3drs, and wouldn't make any particu-
fuss about it either. No safe was
yer made but il had some weak point
rnown to the maker, SO he could oct
INTO it in case the lock should refuse to
respond. It there WASN'T ley would
have to break the concern On to pieces il
- lock broke. Now know where to
lad tho weak places. can strike with
a quarter of an inch of it every time
IL generally covered over by thin
beet Of still or boiler iron, aud by OK
ikg away d block three or four inches
which is easily done, | could drill into
he best safe that has ever been made. It
you'd not be any trouble for burglars to
et into the treasury safe If they under
4 a locks rs | do. =
= Has your knowledge of locks ever
often you into any trouble with the
ellcea2 asked the Star man.
No, not seriously, though. "a / sav.
hey always watch me. Down IN Oil
lily, though, | created quite al alarm
ne night, and came near being captured
3 burglar. Some fellows rot 10 tam
pring with the safe Of large hardware
lore there, and somehow got the combi-
lation changed SO that no one knew how
D open it. The proprietor sont for me.
zd told him could open it, but as I
> quite busy / should have to wait
Ill evening 1 closed nv shop d little
ser dark and went over 10 the store
Al got 70 work on the job. / had been
orlxing a couple Of hours. when some.
NV hanrp1 NJ fha 7nnr and s,n1ln7 60.