The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1885-08-27
LIGHT ON A DARK sUsJEcTi
Tie busy burglar end His TooI1- Hls In.
geniOus Methods Of Work.

kehfOus Nethbu~ ot "oIhs
i(hicazo HeralIl
''We were talking of Pstsey rody. the
notorious safe blower" said the police
lieutenant, ''iIe was one of the host
powerful crooks in the country The
Pinkertons had him in cOurt once 10 ex-
plain his methods. and there Patsey pro-
duct,d a brace with which he pulled off
the combination knob, smashed the ON
binatiof itself broke the safe door han
die aud forced the door o its hinges
breaking the elatter--all in three minutes
tut then, Hatsey was an expert, and in
those DAYS there was not bsnk vault
in tile country that be couldn tackle
successfully after he on, 9 got to II.
Then the lieutenant launched forth
into = highly interesting essay on burg
lar tools. calculating his deductions
with of hand cravings of the more
prominent tools made, on the leaves of
the reporters = Notebook. These draw
ings were made in the same manner as
an lri>hinan PLAYS the fiddle by main
strength, hut they filled the Lii.
tomplete kits of burglars tools are n
curiosity nowadays, at least as far as
hicago crooks are concerned. There
are no housebreakers at present who
are proficient in all branches of the
"profesh The modern principle of
the division of labor applies to burgla $
as well as To other workers. The finest
tools still come from England --Shef-
field, Birmingham and Wolyerhampton
being noted in this line. Simpler ap
pliances. such as skeleton keys, are fire.
t,uenrly made by the burglar himself,
but the heavier tools require exquisite
workmanship and first class material.
The ordinary kit means ''darkey,"
smnll dark lantern; silent matches,
wax iapers, 'mcddy," or slung- shot,
falsely called life-preserver, because
more lives are taken with il than pre-
served strong pruning kuife for the
cutting away of wood in door panels. q
thin and plant palette knife for the un
cIasping of window catches, a jimmy,
skeleton keys, ends of wire to lift lock
tumblers. brace and bits, and nippers
for the turning of keys that have been
left in the locks. The outfit is only or
the ordinary work The ingenuity with
which the professional burglar meets al
most any contrivance provided by in
vention for the safety of valuables fur
nishes him with novel tools.
First of all there is the improved
jimmy. The largest size, up TO We feet,
and provided with fulcrum and lever is
only used on great occasions, such as
the forcing of vault door or a safe.
London burglars call this formidable
appliance the lord Mayor From this
size down TO the pocket Jimmy all di-
nensions are encountered. The larger
81 es are usually of the extension pat
tern that is, they are divided into two
or three lengths, which are screwed to-
gether when required for use. Some
are solid and some of tubular STEEL the
latter requiring the finest workmanship.
The brace and bit is the completest
tool in the burglars outfit. Made of
the finest steel, the bit penetrates the
heaviest safe door if necessary but usu-
ally the holes are drilled only deep
enough around the combination to re-
ceiye the charges of giant powder or
nitro glycerine, 10y means of which the
combination is blown to atoms. After
that the jimmy finishes the breaking
open of the doors The explosive is
nicely distributed through the mechan-
ism Of the combination by means of
small funnel made from tin, through
which the operator blows. Ii explosion
is too dangerous on account of the noise
the combination knob is Knocked off by
a few blows of a mallet upon a fine
cold -chisel. 4 hole is bored by means
of bit and brace, and through the hole
the combination which holds the bolts
is driven back by means of steel
,nnnrh ha door fhan l.
opened by simply turning the handle.
The nippers is another very elegant
tool, used in cases where people believe
themselves sufficiently protected by
leaving the key in the loci. ippers,
formed somewhat like bullet mold,
with sharpened prongs and Il receptacle
under the cutters, are used by pick
lockets to clip off diamonds or other
gems. The cutters clip the Jewel OF
close to the pin, which remains in tho
shirt or scarf. while the stone drops
into the pocket of the nippers. Win
dow fasteners are unclasped and spring
locks opened by the palette knife, which
is formed somewhat like an apOrheca-
rvs spatula 1t is of plant steel so
thin that it is easily showed through the
smallest crack.
Besides these tools there il variety
of saws, mostly made from watch
springs, ends of wire, chisels> hammers,
and anger bits The outfit depends on
the fact whether the crooks Jumps a
crib, j. G., enters through a window;
breaks criLs," that is, forces the
door; CRATES crib" let's himself
in through the cellar grating, or gar
rets a crib, which means that he enters
the building through the seattle in the
roof. The ',scuttle worker is always
provided with rope ladder of
MANILA hemp, the rungs being
of stout iron slaves. Strong steel
hooks are provided for fastening the top
of the ladder to window sills or the
caves of the roof, and sand bags are
fasten.d below to keep the latter taut
and at the same time hold it off from
the wall erandah climbers keep a
knotted rope, with steel hook, to
fssten the latter by a dextrous throw to
a window frame, shutter or other suit
able hold. 1t is by no means strange
occurrence that scuttle workers climb
from roof TO roof in row of houses, thus
evadihg the risk of being seen or met by
the officer who patrols his beat below.