Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1886-01-20
ABOUT THE LoCKsMITH's ARE.
An Old Craftsmln's Lament.
The Factory Made LOck---Locks
for JailS.

Tell you something about lOcksmiths'
exclaimed an old craftsman, dole
fully there are none anymore. Tn,
trade is dead. Locks are all made now BY
machinery, except, perhaps, safe, an(
prison locks; those are hand made be
cause they afford greater security thar
the other kind. Time was when the
lockmaker was smith ald bellhangel
as well, and the trade was a good one
but IT is all changed now, and We dc
nothing now except repairing, or ncca
sionally duplicating a key that has Jeer
lOst.
The factory made lock has taken the
place of the hand made article. and
driven us out of the business. Now,
perhaps, twenty men are required to
make lock which formerly was the
work of ore man. These men supeIin-
tend machinery by which certain parts
of the lock are made. One man han.
dies the punch, and cuts out the tumb,
lers; another makes the slides, the
springs are made by another, and so on,
until all The parts are ready to be put
together. None of these men could
make a lock without assistance from
other workmen, and they have no
knowledge of the principles of locks.
Before the era of machinery all
locks were IN Ide by hand. That is why
old locksmiIhs understand their busi.
ress so well. But there are very few
smiths of the old school in the business
now. Most OF them have quit making
locks, and are making sewing machines.
The principles on which sewing ma
chimes are made can be easily under
stood by any lOcksmith, and there is
more money TO be made III the new bu-
sness.
Yes, the modern lock is superior tC
the Old-fashiOned one and fer this Iea-
5on it is harder to pick. The old lock
was made to accommodate large key.
so that no matter how fine the cOnstruc,
ton inside an accomplished cTaekSman
could always get an idea of the works
The keyhole being large he would IL
sert a wire, the end of which being
covered with wax, would receive an
impression of the style of key required
to open the lock. 1t was an easy mat
ter to make a key after this model in
Wax, 81 ludl dflhOSt ali lllt O4l IoIhS
could be picked with but little Difficult.
ty.
1.-THE patent lock of to-day, requiring
4 fiat key, defies any attempt at picking
the works, because the key hole Is Sc
small and the slots are too numerous.
For that reason skeleton keys are use
less to thieves nowadays, and cracksmen
rely for success principally on their pos.
session Of duplicate keys.
"'Jail work. as it is known to the
trade, is the only branch Of our bust.
ness where machinery IS not used. All
the locks for ialls and penItentiaries are
made of wrought iron, and constructed
with from two to five tumbler5 finished
off smooth on the inside and held to-
gether with steel screws and brass
CLAMPS. The parts between thus joined
are absolutely air tight and the only
opening in the lock is the key hole.
Such lock is as durable as can lie
made.
1.-THE principle OF the modern lock
is very old. l have a book here which
gives a description of lock found
among the ruins of the great temple of
Karnac, and which was in use mere
than forty centuries ago. The leading
PRINCIPLES of this lock have served as the
foundation for most of the inventions Of
recent times"