The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-06-25
Asour The LooKsMIrA,s ARr.
Gn Old Craftsman's Lament-The Factory
Made LOcE-LO elxs for JaiIs.

&n Old Craftsman's Lament-The Factory
Made Lock-LOoks for JaiIs.
GChicago Newsl
''TeIl you something about lock.
smiths" exclaimed an old craftsman.
dOletully there are none any more
The trade is dead Locks are all made
now by machinery, except, perhaps,
safe and prison locks; those are hand
made because they afford greater Sc
curity than the other kind. Time was
when the lock-maker was smith and
bell-hanger as well, and the trade was
a good one but it is all changed now,
and We do nothing now except repair
ing, or occasionally duplicating a key
that has been lost.
The factOry-made lock has taken the
place of tina hand made article, and
driven US out of the business. Now,
perhaps, twenty men are required to
make a lock which formerly was the
work of one man. These men superin-
tend machinery by which certain parts
or the lock are made. One man handles
a punch, and cuts out the tumbiers
another makes the sliders; the springs
are made by another, and so on, until
all the parts are ready to be put to
gether. None of these men could make
lock without assistance from other
workmen, and they have no knowledge
of the principles of locks.
Before the era of machinery all locks
were made by band. That is why old
Jocksmiths understand their business so
well. But there are very few smiths
the old school in the business now
Most of them have quit making locks,
and are making sewing machines. The
principles on which sewing machines
M Ha N no Il k,y,
any lockSmith, and there is more money
TO be made in the new business.
eyes, the modern lock is superior to
the old-fashioned one and for this rea-
son, it is harder to pick. The old lock
was made to accommodate large key,
so that no matter how fine the con.
struction inside an accomplished cracks.
man could always get an idea of the,
works. The Rey-hole being large, he
would insert a wire, the end of which
being covered with wax, would receive
an impression of the style of key re-
quired to open the lock. 1t was an
easy matter to make key after this
model in wax, so that almost all the ola
locks could DO picked with but little
difficulty.
''The patent lock of to-day, requiring
fat key, defes any attempt at picking
tue WOFkS, because Jne Key mole Is so
small and the slots are too numerous
For that reason skeleton keys are USE
less to thieves nowadays, and cracks
men rely for success principally on theil
possession 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 iails and penitentiaries
are made of wrought-iron, and con-
structed with from two to five tumblers
finished off smooth on the inside and
held together by steel screws and trass
clamps. The parts W en- thus oined
are absolutely air tight and the only
opening in the lock is the key hole.
Such a lock is as durable as can be
made.
THE principle o. the modern lock is
very old. | have book here which
gives a description of a lock found
among the ruins OF the great temple of
Karnac, and which was in use more
than forty centuries ago. The leading
principles of this lock have served as
the foundation for most of the inVen.
lions of recent times"