The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1885-07-29
rst Louis Globe-Democrst.1

secured. With the brass wires he has in his
sachol he will pick any lock in the house
throw back any bolt or lift up any bar
Further than this, he viii guarantee to open
any safe, pick any combination lock or get
into any room, closet or vault without the
aid Of powder or a jimmy.
"Ihs business Of picking locks is as fasci-
mating to me-" said one Of these gentlemen
to an inquisitive reporter "as the study of
chemistry geology, botany or astronomy IS
to a scientist l take more delight in master
ing combination than q mathematician
does IN solving an intricate problem The
public believe that q burglar is thug, a
man all Drawn and no brain, who has no
knowledge of letters and no mental strength;
that he Is in fact desperate animal. The
very reverse is the case. / know burglars
who are fine cOnversatiOualists and appar-
emily welI-cultivated men. Just little
thought will enable you to see that a burglar
must be a mau-that is, a successful burglar
must be a man Of good mental quality as
we'll as of superb courage. The safe,bIower
is invariably a well-nformoI man. OF all
the fraternity of lock workers the COnlbina-
ton safe-worker IS tho most expert
His is q life Of study, and he pro-
cesds TO fathCm the mystery Of new
piece of mechanism of this sort with about
the same sensation that q good newspaper
man would follow up the mystery If a
crime OF the capabilities Of thee men an
incident that occurred a short time ago may
interest you. The cashier OF bank in
Ohio counted over its securities iu his pos
session one evening, and, finding them cor
rect, closed the safe door with bang and
went home. The next E~rniny by sons
freak of mind the combination which would
only let him into the fire and supposed burg
iar-proof safe had slipped from his mind.
In vain he endeavorel to cOnjur3 up the
magical numbers, and in vain the directors
and officers Of the bank worked on the
turning-kn0b. There were $4,000 worth of
bonds and money behind that invuIuerable
door, and for two months the bank men
tretted and struggled to reach them. One
lay a stranger sauntered into the littls
town, and the first thing he heard Of was
the dilemma Of the bank.
"He strOllod Ieisurely up to the building
and quietly informed tine cashier that he
could open the safe in a short time The
cashier, who had fretted and fumsd for two
months at the same job, looked upon the
stranger as a lunatic but as the case was a
desperate one he told tho stranger to 20
ahead and do it, The man walked over to
the pondoraus door, and on one knee began
TO turn the combination knob. The click
Of m'' hnni-m pleased him, for he smiled.
am I0 d few minutes rising to his feet,
gaya t'.a .3aor n pull and it swung slowly
or 10, .'H.,n., AMI revealed the strong boxes
III" g.. ijonrs for eight weeks so earnestly
10. s.e'
ust have paid him we'll"
!; but, to show you what human
ma 'at mo tell you another incident
w osnod to this same happy lock-
pic... came across a closo-f-teI mer-
chm. snusyivauia, who was unable to
r,s-.. .l-.7., -r.-r1-
the WJ,aatiou a few minutes, and tho,
swu open -he heavy door, Ten dollars
said ID. .ae merchant. oh no said the
Incrci~. ..o you think I'm going TO pay
that a few minutes workn VERY
Well my friend, quietly closing the
safe do ..hd giving the combination knob
few tu-ns. just excuse me; I've got bust
hess down town In half minute lie was
walking out Of tue store, leaving the sare as
securely locked as il had been before.
This was something the dealer dill not bar
gain for, and he FASTENED after the lock ex-
pert, but he had to pay So before the safe
was opened again.
You asked me moment ago about safe
blowers. There are very few safo-lyorkor+
who resort to the use of powder to open a
door. Having acquired mastery over one
combination, q safe blower is too sGrewl to
let his secret out After entering the butft-
ing in which the safe is located. Ls can b.
his sense Of touch or sound, open the COM
bination and then secure his plumber Than
lao begins the work of safe-bl0winz h
first locks the safe door and then fills all the
cracks with putty, and through a little ri
lice made in the upper crack fills the safe
with powder by means of a little bellows.
He then fills the hole, attaches a slow match
to a small orifice made in the lower crack
and walks off eisurely with the fruits Of his
crime. In q half hour the fusa has igutei
the powder, and the safe door IS shattered
from its hinges Then the police rush in.
and the next day report at headquarters
that the robbery was accomplished by blow
ing the safe
Some of the foremost experts never begin
operations until the 'Roughers,' a name
given those who force open the building,
stand ready to brain an officer and do the I
blowing business after the lock expert has +
Tliied the safe and started on his way with
the booty. Within two years one of these /
roOberles occurred in New York The safe
was blown through the Roof. and the watch
man, in detailing the circumstances. said +
the roof and safe went up like q huge +
rocket; the safe fell about a block away. f
The Waterman hurried after it, and, when .
relating the story afterwdrI, ,ail ne -aw
three men pry open the inner door and de- (
after heating the combination the thieves .
TO conceal how it was done. detcrminal to
blow the safe In their hurry t. got away F.
they overcharged the safe ana treated tie
Waterman to a pyrotechnic display that a
less droway fellow might not have enjoyed
The robber masters q combination with
almost mathematical accuracy. just q the F
music teacher is trained to detect one false .
note in a large chorus. so the sare-robIer
studies the click Of the rachets within the
lock and mark the drop. The expert safe .
worker is rs scientifically familiar with the
relative resisting power Of the differ
ont makes of vaults and safe doors as he is /
withsthe expansive force of the different ex- .
plosives. He keeps himself posted by
reading scientific ami trade papers .
When he is puzzled he writes to tao ex-
planatory columns of the scientific journals
and Solves, in a roundabout way, those
problems too much for his previous educa-
non. lie estimates to a grain the quantity