, 1885-04-26
THE CLOCK LOCK.


some twenty years agoL-was- Will
Messrs. Aytine Il Caret, the famous
jewellers, who had their business prem
ises in Cheapside. They were even then
one of the wealthiest Arms in London,
and the value Of their stock Of uncut
stones was mid to be fabulous. One
day in conversation with a fellow as
sistant. % after my coming, I hap
pened to ask II the firm had eyer been
robbed. ~
by shoplifters, yes; in a small way
and occasionally, the same as Others, =
was the reply, but / should like to see
the burglar that would tackle our safe.
| e then described to me the strong
room, where all the stock was kept nj
night, and think l have never before
or since heard of such an ingenious piece
of mechanism. First of ali, each tray
Of goods, as It was lifted from the win
dow or showcase, was placed upon a
little steel tramway which ran under the
counter and slid the cases into the strong.
room, a dial in the wall registering the
number that passed in or out. AT . p.
m. an alarm rang, and the door OF the
strong-room shut by itself, for it was
what is called aclock lock, clock inside
the o performing this Off g auto
matically, and opening the door again
at . every morning except Sundays,
Good Fridays, and the usual other holi-
days, which were duly allowed for in
the mechanism.
But" / said, Good Friday and
Easter Monday are not fixed dates, SO
how is that donel'
! was told that the works Of the clock
had a calendar barrel which arranged
all these dates for a year; and was
altered every list Of January by the in
yentor Of the apparatus, the foreman, a
swiss, named Schwarz. The room it.
self was tuilt of cast iron bricks locked
together by spring dove-tails; it had no
windows, but was ventilated by holes
pierced through in zig-zag directions,
n a lamp burned there day and night.
h clock which opened and shut the
door was not visible; 1t was built up in
the iron walls and how IL was
got at TO wind or alter il was
only known to the inventor and the
head OF the firm. 1t kept absolute time
anu they said II could never stop with
out warning, even if the handspring
snapped, but l don't know how that was
managed. The door of the safe opened
outward, and during the day was opened
and shut and locked with an ordinary
lock like any other door, but during the
night no force save artillery or a steam
ran could move il.
Now, You wouldn't think, continued
my informant. that the boldest burglars
IN the profession would waste two
thoughts on such an impossible task as
breaking in there, but they did /
don't know who they were, but they put
up the finest job | ever came across.
The principal actors in the drama, as /
might call il, werc our care-taker and
his wife, two quite old people, who
seemed to be honest all their lives, but
who, | supposed, were dazzled by the
enormous extent Of the proposed plum
der.
This is how it was managed, though
you will understand that the details
only transpired afterwards. The old
woman went away for change of air at
Christmas; this was the first step. On
Dec. 81 "a Friday the firm received a
letter forged from a well-known Gus
toner, begging them to take charge of
a safe containing some iewelry and a
quantity of papers.
ZONE vague excuse was made for not
pursuing the obvious course of sending
oANi AlAnEo " tutlI DlIlktT b TAllCI IINn
heir jewellers. A note of acquiescence
was returned per bearer, and in the
evening, q little before closing time, the
safe arrived in a van. Though large, it
was no heavy. being of wood, not iron.
and therefore not worthy Of its name.
II was duly deposited in u corner
OF the strong-room and no one
thought any more about ii. Now. in
aida Flint r.onAap L.w xr..o
lowelry. but only our old bag of a
housekeeper. Had the robbers been
prudent they would have made her lay
hands on such goods only as would not
be likely TO DO missed at once, and then.
cailiHg for the safe the next day, have
got clear off with tho plumber and left
no clew. But their plan was too ambi-
tious.
ON Saturday morning Mr.. Caret and
Schwarz vent into the strong-room ti
after the calendar barrel of the clock &c.
cording 10 annual custom. They locked
then selves in-their usual practice-but
did not suspect that the old woman in
the box was eagerly peeping from her
contealment to see how the clock
was opened. ! don't envy her her
long confinement in that box,
Ahthkh VI Aoulot nHG was DIONlltu MlIn
catables and drinkables. ANYHOW she
stuck to her post, and when at 8 O'Clock
for that was our Saturday closing
hour in those days she heard the alarm
60 off, and the door bang, ] warrant
she was glad to come out and street h
her old back. A little before / on
Sunday morning, the time agreed on foI
the robbery, she out with her tools and
4 rnnla nf.ap tho hid, aI-.l- ...-ls-
cry. None of her skeleton KEYS would
tackle 1t, but u crowbar managed the
job, for Herr Schwarz didn't expect to
have this point attacked. She then
found some connections with three
bar bolts which shot from the door
OF the room. She unscrewed these
and removed the bars just as her hus-
band, who was impatiently waiting out
side, tapped at the door with his
knuckles. She opened the door, doubt
less with a feeling of triumph, but as
she looked up to see what made it move
30 stidiy, she uttered a yell of fear and
dismay.a With q noise which sounded
on the guilty couples ears like a clap
of thunder, n second heavy door of solid
iron, an armor plate four inches thick,
descended in a o in the Intel OF
the other. Before the husband could
move out Of the way he was caught and
crushed by tho middle, lying half in and
half out OF the room.
On Monday morning | was the first to
arrive, and found a policeman standing
sentry before the shop. He said the
patrol had reported suspicious charac.
tiers lettering around several times dur
the night, and the inspector had posted
him there to look out. thanked him,