Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-09-20
EXPERT CRACKSMEN.
HOW PROFESSIONAL CROOKS PLY THEIR NEFARlOUS VOCATION.

Skilled BIechanics-PecuIiar Methods of
 Burglars-A Dangerous TooI-watching
 for the watchman.
 To adopt the well known thief takers ex- pression, the professional" crook is far from being the tough and rowdy usually pictured by the agitated fancy of the alarmed citizen. The most successful burglars are not of the Sykes class, so graphically depicted by Dickens fertile pen. They are intelligent and not infrequently ingenious mechanics who would command the highest wages in honest pursuits, and those members of @ gang whose part of a ''job" it is to recon hotter the ground have the bearing, appear ance and manners of well-to-do business men whose presence around banks and great mer- cantile establishments would not excite the least suspicion. The practical safe breaker | studies the latest mechanical inventions in his line with as much intelligence and application | as the safe builder, and experience teaches that the cracksman frequently outwits the inventive genius of the legitimate mechanic. | While the work of the burglar must of | course be adapted to the circumstances of | each particular job, there are certain pecun- arlties of noted cracksmen by means of WAASh SA uGUSCUlV0S are 6QaDk6Q to say with almost absolute certainty who per petrated the crime. There are burglars who would never enter the house by any other way than the scuttle in the roof, choosing an adjacent vacant or partly occupied building as a starting point; others will sneak into e | house and keep themselves concealed until l the time for their work has arrived: still others prefer entrance by the basement or some rear window not sufficiently secured with grating. Doors which are merely bolted from the inside offer not the slightest obstacle to the professional burglar. A simple and Eoiseless trial will ae once show him the location of the bolt. With fine bit he bores hole not more than an eighth or a sixth of an inch near the bolt, pushes through a loop of thin but strong silk or fishing line, | and by means of a pliable steel tap, usually
 watch spring material, he knows how te
 fasten the loop around the knob of the bolt.
 A quick pull is sufficient to move the bolt in
 the slot. This operation is for fine work in hotels or fashionable residences
 The safe breaker does not associate with
 those who "crack" a store for the purpose of stealing bulky goods He represents the
 aristocracy of the profession, and uses force
 only when it is absolutely necessary. Com
 binations of safes have often been learned
 by this class of crooks through obtaining ac- cess to tho premises after business hours
 removing the dial of the combinations, fit ting sheet of tinfoil over the latter, and re- placing the dial. The legitimate opening or
 closing of the safe makes the impressions of
 ldkters or numbers on the soft foll sought to
 be obtained by the burglar. At second
 visit the dial is readily removed, and for the
 expert one glance at the foil is sN.fficient to
 apply the combination, wazseh opens the safe without force. Disordering the combination
 after the robbery, so that the safe cannot be opened again for hours, is a favorite method of the burglar to gain time for escape. If ] force is required the mechanical burglar has
 quite formidable array of tools-his s'kit,' g , as be calls it. The complete kit contains an air pump, putty, powder or dynamite, fuse, , sectional jimmy, steel drills, diamond drills,
 copper and steel faced sledges, lamp and
 blow pipe, jackscrew, wedges, syringe, brace with box slide, feed screw drill, steel punches, } small bellows, skeleton keys, nippers, dark lantern, twine, and screw eyes.
 } The most dangerous of this outfit is the 5 second power in mechanics-the screw. The method used ill breaking open the safein Henry W. King 6 Co.'s establishment, for 3 instance, is a practical illustration of the 7 power of the screw. In this case the burg , lars first rigged brace against the vault door. Then they drilled hole through the
 door near the dial, cut thread into the hole,
 and inserted what is termed female screw. Into the latter they fitted the jackscrews, t: provided with handle large and strong s enough for two men to work at the turning,
 The jackscrew went in until 1t struck the com E: bination. Then the tremendous force of the ; formidable burglars tool came into play. . The entire combination was broken off In
 some cases the force is not directed against j. the combination, but against the back plates ,: of the safe door, usually the weakest part oi E. the entire structure. Something must "eive'
 when the screw comes into play, aud either }. the back or the front plate Is forced out oj }; its position sufficiently to admit the sectional u jimmy, which, together with the wedge O,
 "widdy," finishes the work of bodily tearina }. asunder the most improved ''burgIar proof }; safe.
 q To ascertain whether there is watchunar
 on the premises to be visited the professions e- burglar has very simple but effective strata }. gem. He forces a piece of thinly shaved t. whalebone between the doors of all exits and 2. the outer castings of the doors. If the whale
 bone is still in it's place in the morning at ths }. usual hour of opening for business the dool si has not been opened by any one. A watch l. man in leaving the premises in the morning
 would naturally cause the whalebone tC t. spring to the ground The use of twine tx
 the burglar is just as important as the tele g. graph is to the public. One of the first step. 5 taken by the burglar after effecting an en
 trance is to fasten one end of twine to some si thing near the safe, and run the other enC e. out to the outside man, who watches, to giv, r. the signal If 1t is safe to keep on working, t'
 keep quiet for time, or to come out at once
 The outsider scatters beans or sand along tn ., sidewalk for some distance near the place O. T operation so that no person approaching cal ls walk without being heard.-Chicago Times 
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