Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-07-04
BURGLARS. KITS.
Improved Fine Tools which no House
breaker Should be without.


Improved Fine Tools which no House
i breaker Should be without.
From, the CAicaoo Herald.
The finest tools still come from Eng
land-Sheffield, Birmingham and Wolver-
! hampton3 being noted in this line. Sim
| pier appliances, such as skeleton keys,
are made by the burglar himself, but the
heavier tools require exquisite workman
ship and tirst-class material.
| The ordinary kit means a small dark
lantern, silent matches, wac tapers, a
slungshot, falsely called Il life lpreseryer,
because more lives are taken with it than
preserved; strong pruning knife for the
cutting away of wood in door panels, Il
thin and plant palette knife for the an.
clasping 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.
This outfit is only for the ordinary
work. The ingenuity with which the
! professional burglar meets almost any
continuance provided by invention for the
safety of valuables furnishes him with
| novel tools.
! First of all. there is the improved Jimmy.
The largest size, up to five feet, aud pro-
vided 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 thd Lord
Mayor" From this size down to the
| pocket jimmy all dimensions are ehcoun-
tered. The larger sizes are usually Of the
! extension pattern-that is, they are di-
vided into two or three lengths, which are
screwed together when required ToE use
Some are solid and some Of tubular lsteel,
the latter requiring the finest workman
| ship.
The brace and bit is the completeAt tool
in the burglars outfit. Made of the Anest
steel, the bit penetrates the heaviestl safe
| door if necessary, but usually the holes
are drilled only deep enough around the
combination to receive the charges Of
giant powder or nitro-glycerine, by means
of which the combination is blown TO
atoms. After that the jimmy finishes the
breaking open Of the doors. The explo-
sive is nicely distributed through the
mechanism Of the combination by means
of small funnel made from tin, thrplIgh
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 cbld
chisel. A hole is bored by means Of bit
and brace, and through the hole the Eom-
bination which holds the bolts is dNven
back by means of a steel punch. The
outer door can then be opened by turning
the handle.
The panel cutter resembles an ordidary
carpenters auger, but the bit is of the esx-
tension kind, from two to four inchRs
wide. This makes hole of from four 70
eight inches near the lock. The arm q
put through, and lock and bolt are tEeih
easily manipulated.
The nippers is another very elegant tool,
used in cases where people believe tham-
selves sufficiently protected by leaving
the key in the lock. Nippers, formed sonhe-
what like "a bullet mould, with sharpeued
prongs and q receptacle under the cuttefs,
are used by pickpOckets to clip of dta-
monds or other gems. The cutters clip
the jewel off close 10 the pin, which ne
mains in the shirt or scarf, while the stOhe
drops into the pocket of the nippers.
Window fasteners are unclasped and
spring locks opened by the palette knife,
which is formed somewhat like an apothA-
cary's spatula. 1t is of plant steel, SO
thin that it is easily showed through the
smallest crack.
Besides these tools, there is variety OF
saws, mostly made from watch springs,
ends of wire, chisels, hammers and auger
bits. The outfit depends on the fact
whether q crook Jumps crib" l. e.,
enters through window; ''breaks q
crib" that is, forces the door; "grates al
crib,' or lets himself in through a cellar
grating, or 'garrets crib" which means
that he enters the building through the
scuttle in the roof. The "scuttle worker
is always provided with a rope ladder Of
MANILA hemp, the rungs being of stout
iron slaves. Strong steel hooks are pro-
vided for fastening the top of the ladder to
window stills or the caves of the root, and
sand bags are fastened below to keep the
ladder taut, and at the same time hold 1t
off from the wall. Veranda climbers keep
a knotted rope, with steel hook, to
fasten the latter by a dexterOus throw to
a window frame, shutter or other suit
able hold. 1t is by no means a strange
occurrence that scuttle workers climb
from roof to roof in a row OF houses,
thus evading the risk of being seen or
met by the officer who patrols his beat
below.