Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-11-05
LOCKSMITHS.
A Glass of Mechanics Whose Days of Use.
fulness Are Over.

fulness Are Over.
s'Tell you something about lock-
smithsr' exclaimed an old craftsman,
dolefully; there are none any more.
The trade is dead. Locks are all made
now by machinery, except, perhaps.
safe and prison locks; those are hand
made because they afford greater secur-
itv than the other kind. Time was
when the lock- maker was a smith and
hell-hanger as well, and the trade was
good one; but it is all changed now.
and we do nothing now except repair
ing, or occasionally duplicating a key
that has been lost.
1.-The factory made article has taken
the place of the handmade article, and
driven US out of the business. Now.
perhaps. twenty men are required to
make lock which formerly was the
work of one man. These men super
intend machinery by which certain
parts of the lock are made. One man
handles punch, and cuts out the tum-
blers; another makes the sliders; the
springs are made by another, and go
on, until all the the parts are ready to
be put together None OF these men
| could make lock without assistance
from other workmen, and they have no
knowledge of the principles of locks.
Before the era of machinery all
locks were made by hand. That is
why Fold locksmiths understand their
business so well. But there are very
few smiths OF the old school in the bust
ness now. Most of them have quit
making locks. and are making sewing
machines. The principles ON which
sewing machines are made can be easily
understood by any locksmith, and there
is more money to be made In the new
business.
Eyes. the modern lock is superior to
the old-fashioned one, and for this rea-
SON, it is harder to pick. The old lock
was made to accommodate large key.
so that no matter how fine the con-
struction inside an accomplished cracks
man could always get an idea of the
works. The keyhole being large, he
would insert a wire, the end of which,
being eression O 9TH The "e s9yigg o9ld receive
| CURED to open the lock. 1t was an
| easy matter to make key after this
| model in wax. SO that almost all the
old locks could be pickedrXith but little
d'' ''Ths patent lock of -. requiring
a fiat key. defies any at apt at picking
the works, because the key-hole is so
| small and the slots are too numerous.
For that reason skeleton keys are use-
less to thieves nowadays, and cracks
| men rely for success principally On their
possession of duplicate keys.
IS jail work. as it is known to the
ness where machinery is not used
81 Al -
tiaries are made of wrought iron and
constructed with from two to five tum-
blers finished off smooth on the inside
brass clamps. The parts when thus
joined are absolutely air-tight, and the
only opening in, the lock is the key-
hole. Such q lock is as durable as can
be made.
1.-The principle of the modern lock is
very old. I have book here which
gives a description of lock found
among ruins of the great temple.of Kar-
mac, and which was in use more than
forty centuries ago. The leading prin-
ciples of this lock have served as the
foundation for most of the Inventions of
recent times. The locksm tbs of China,
we are told, had, centuries before the
birth of Christ, perfected lock out OF
which a sharp bamboo thorn would dart
and strike the hand of any one wrong
fully tampering with it. The end OF
this bamboo thorn was STEPPED in
poisonous decoction, and, should the
Iuckless thief escape death. he would
be marked for life. But this story is
hardly entitled to full belief for the rea-
son that, as the Chinese themselves
claim guppowder was manufactured by
them at the time, a celestial safe blower
could easily render the patent lock
harmless by the aid of a few grains of
powder.
1.-The medieval locks were among the
most elaborate and delicately contrived
specimens of these articles ever pro-
duced. They were enveloped in steel,
covered with heads and floral designs,
and were mostly found on the doors OF
the ancient cathedrals or in the magni-
ficent cabinets that have been the mar
vel Of succeeding age" -Chieago