Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-09-28
EXPERT CRACKSMEN.
HOW PROFESSIONAL CROOKS PLY
THEIR NEFARlOUS VOCATION.

HOW PROFESSIONAL CROOKS PLY
THEIR NEFARloUS VOCATION.
Safe Breakers Who Outwit the Genius of
Skilled Mechanics-Peculiar Methods of
Burglars-A Dangerous Tool-Watching
for filo Wntciman.
To adopt the well known thief takers ex-
preston, the professional crook is far from
being the tough and rowdy usually pictured
b. 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 inte .ligent
and not infrequently ingenious mechanics
who would command the highest wages in
honest pursuits, and those members of
gang whose part of JOB" it is to recon-
noiter the ground have the bearing, appear
ance and manners Of well-to-do business men
whose presence around banks and great mer-
camille establishments would not excite the
least suspicion. The practical safe breaker
studies the Iltest mechanical inventions in his
line with as mnch intelligence and application
as the safe builder, and experience teaches
that the craftsman 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 par; cular job, there are certain peouli-
aritics Of noted cracksmen by means of
which experienced detectives are enabled to
say with almost absolute certainty who per-
pctrated 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 starting point; others will sneak into a
house and keep themselves concealed until
| 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
10 the professional burglar. 4 simple and
noiseless trial will d: once show him the
location OF the bolt With fine bit he
bores a hole not more than an eighth or q
sixth of IN 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 to
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 associats with
those who crack a store for the purpose of
stealing bulky goods. He rcpresc IS the
aristocracy of the profession, and uses force
only when it is absolutely necessary. Com
binarionS OF safes have often been learned
by this class Of crooks through obtaining ac-
cess to the premises after business hours,
removing the dial of the combinations, fit
ting g sheet of tinfoil over the latter, and re-
placing the dial The legitimate opening or
closing of the safe makes the impressions of
letters or numbers on the soft foil sought to
be obtained by the burglar. At a second
visit the dial is readily removed, and for the
expert one glance at the foil is efficient to
apply the combination, which opens the safe
without force. Disordering the combination
after the robbery, so that the safe cannot be
opened again for hours, is n favorite method
of the burglar to gain time for escape. II
force is required the mechanical burglar has
quite formidable array of tools-his kit. '
as he 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, dars
lantern, twine, and screw ewes.
The most dangerous of this outfit is tn,
second power in mechanics-the screw. The
method used in breaking open the safe il
Henry ". King & Co.'S establishment. fol
instance, is practical illustration of the
power of the screw. In this case the burg
lars first rugged brace against the yaul
door. Then they drilled hole through tn,
door near tie dial, cut thread into the hole
and inserted what is termed a female screw
Into the latter they fitted the jackscrews
provided with a handle large and strone
enough for two men to work at the turning
The jackscrew went in until it struck the com
binatiOn. Then the tremendous force of tn,
formidable burglars tool came into play
The entire combination was broken off. II
some cases the force is not directed agains
the combination, but against the back plate
of the safe door, usually the weakest part o
the entire structure. Something must give
when the screw comes into play, and eithe
the back or the front plate is forced out O
its position sufficiently to admit the sectiona
jimmy, which, together with the wedge. O
''widdy,n finishes the work of bodily tearini
asunder the most improved burglar proof
safe
To ascertain whether there is n watchmaI
= on the premises to be visited the professions
burglar has a very simple but effective strata
gem. He forces a piece of thinly shave
whalebone between the doors of all exits an
the outer castings Of the doors. If the whale
bone is still in its place in the morning at til
usual hour of opening for business the doc
has not been opened by any one A watch
man in leaving the premises in the mornin
. would naturally cause the whalebone t
spring to the ground The use of twine I
the burglar is just as important as the tel,
graph is to the public. One of the first ster
taken by the burglar after effecting an el
trance is to fasten one end of twine to SOM
thing near the safe, and run the other on
out to the outside man, who watches, to Civ
the signal If it IS safe to keep on working, I
keep quiet for q time, or to come out at ono
The outsider scatters beans or sand along IL
sidewalk for some distance near the place ,
operation so that no person approaching ca
| walk without hpinrr hpnrd -Cbicopo T;p,a.