The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-02-14
BTRGLARY AS AN ART.
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF
BREAKING SAFES.

IaN IS GOnCE6lO0 c|lS~ law @AAASN "a
Manage to Escape.
IN Er- Criminal in Chicago Tribune.
The popular idea of safe robbery seems
o. ha that on a dark night, when not even
= policeman is near, several big. strong men
break into place, and, drilling holes in the
.ofa they insert powder or dyn mite and
Now the door Off, afterward setting fire to
the building to des roy all traces of the
crime. As a matter OF fact, in really
"Anen lob an explosive is rarely used; the
tools can be carried in au overcoat pocket,
and MANY weeks are often spent in planning
and arranging for single job.
In this article propose to detail the va
rious methods of safe robbery and to show
that bunglers blow safes open. There are in
this country lust about an even score of
nan whom no bank safe or vault, however
strong can resist. To reassure society |
will saw that oyer half OF these are safe
babind prison bars. 1t IS an adage among
crooked people that they must to New
Work for highwaymen, Philadelphia for
thieves. Chicago for bank anc safe bur-
Glars and Cincinnati for pickpockets.
Pittsburg does not produce any first-class
crooks. but more "cappers," or info mers,
than all the cities have enumerated COM
bined.
Safe breakers have more than kept pace
With improvements in safes, Including time
Iocks. chilled steel nests of eight or nine
tbicknes>es. and e ec.ric protective attach
mems Their t2ols are made by some of
tile finest mechanics and inventive genuises
of the world A full kit of the most ap-
proved modern safe-workers' tools costs
about 5000.
Twenty years ago, when burglars started
out to rob a afe, they filled a carpet sack
with highly-tempered drills, copper sledges,
sectional jimmes, dark lanterns, powder,
and fuse On the way they stole horse
and wagon, filing the latter with the
greater portion Of the tools of a country
blacksmith shop. They would work on the
safe fir ON four I'd six hours, and finally blow
it open with fine grade of ducking pow
der. Usually the shock would break all the
glass in the building, arouse the town, and
the burgla would often have to fight for
ther lives. In t Ose days the men had to
be big and powerful, because the WORK was
extremely laboriouS. Ii the burglar was
an expire fighter or noted tough, so much
the better, for he could make a desperate
resistance il case he was caught in the act
or Immediately after it,
THE MODERN SAFE BURGLAR.
Now, with the modern safe burglar it is
almost totally different Although much
more skillful and successful than his prede-
cess. T, he is mere conservative. He seldom
runs his own head into danger, and there
fore seldom endangers the head of law
abiding citizen by permitting his head to
come in contact with him o. the Job while
it is under way. Every precaution against
being surprised is taken, and & is seldom
the robbery is discovered until the cashiers
appeara ce the next morning. The modern
safe burglar is an exceedingly keen, intelh-
gent mau. He can open safe having all
modern improvements in from ten minutes
TO two hours without The aid of explosives
and by only slightly defacing it. Some
times he leaves scarcely marx.
A first-cl SIS modern safe, W ether large
or small, gene ally has double out ,ide and
inside doors with steel chest in the bot
tom, forming really a safe within safe, the
inside being the stronger. The outside do )r
is usually eitIer stuffed or skeleton"
The inside one is made of eight or nine sheets,
of different temper, Of the finest steel. Thes
sheets are bolted together with conical
bolts having left-hand thread, at ,er which
the heads of he bolts are cut off, leaving
what is virtually so id piece of steel, which
no drill can penetrate. The b,st 10 ks are
of the combination type, with time-lock
attachment. In both cities and towns
safes containing the most valuables have
an electric alarm attac ed. Any tamper-
ing with it will communicate the fact to
the owners or the safes guardian, which in
cities is either an electric protective bureau
or a central police station. A ecent inven-
ton in France is a phot0g -aphic att tch-
ment. As soon as a safe is touched this
device will light an electric lamp, pho5o-
graph the intruder, and give the alarm at
the Electric Pro ective Company's Office.
As consequence safe breaking is going out
of date in France a the cleverest Grim mails
have so far failed to find a way to circum-
vent the camera.
The first thing considered by gang of
the finest experts is a banks desirable loca-
ton and the chances for getting safely away
with The pluH der. Eve transportation
facility Is carefully considered. As the
work Is almost invariably done at a season
OF the year when wagon roads are impas
sable railway timetables are carefully con-
sidered. In these days of the telegraph and
telephone the gang must be u der cover in
large city or concealed with
friends by the time the crime is dis
covered, which at the utmost IS about six
hours alter the crime has been COM
mltted. From Nov. | to March is the
safe burglars harvest time, because then
the nights are longest and the chances of
detection less, as fewer people are on the
streets, aud houses adjoining being tightly
closed to exclude cold exclude noises also.
A man can furthermore carry tools in an
oyefcoat 81 ithout attracting attention that
ne could not wear with a summer suit. The
remainder OF the year is spent in marking"
the most desirable bank for future opera
tons. Four men, who compose the ordinary
sale mob, will put up from thirty to forty
JOBS" for a winters work, allowing for all
contingencies. From six to ten of these will
be carried out.
MAKING PRELIMINARY PREPARATIONS.
Having decided on bank, the habits Of
lhe cashier and other chief employees are
carefully studied, above all of thoss who
visit the bank after working hours, chief
Oh Whon is the Waterman, if the bank has
ohe. III the Waterman drinks, or spends
TIME visiting women when he should be at
Tue oahk, he is an easy prey. Weeks, and
sometimes even months, are spent in put
tlhg up job of magnitude. and a number
Oh smaller lbs are done to carry out one
"here the proceeds may run up into the
tens OF thou amds of dollars
Men visit the town who have legitimate
pushes as blind Tney make all pre-
Hhllhary preparations. The greatest inge-
nluity is employed to obtain exact informa-
uol, such as the evenings ths ca hler or
teler Is likely to visit the bank and the ex-
act time. Here is one of the devices en-
Iloyed; After the bank has been closed in
sne ening pins are stuck obquely in the
oaSIng OF the door In such a ma ner that it
Oelnot lie opened without bending or dis
p'aclns them. If the pins are placed at z
ai"i found disturbed at 10 o'clock on one
ulght the "feeler out" comes back at $3.50 the
HeAI' he continues in this way until ue
eItalns on lust what night or nights OF