The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1891-11-11
TO CRACK OPEN A SAFE.
An 0Id-Time Burglar Tells How the
Job is Done.
FINE TOOLS NOT NECESSARY.
The Inventive Genius of the Cracksman
Follows the Safe Maker Closely
How simple Methods Succeed.

Until n year ago safe manufacturers
constructed safes with the design OF
guarding against illegitimate access by
three methods-viz.. by fracturing or
wedging. by drilling and by the introduc-
tion OF granulated explosives. says an old
time burglar In the st. Louis Dispatch.
These three methods represented the
principal weakness In the old-time burg
.ar-proof chest, and when the cunning Of
the inventors brain made 1t possible to
construct a safe so tough that 1t could not
be fractured, so hard that 1t could not be
drilled, and no place left unprotected In
which powder or dynamite could be In
iected, 1t was thought that the safe
cracker would be forced to earn his livell-
hood by the sweat OF bis brow In some less
arduous vocation. But the species peter
man" OF the genius thief is possessed OF
the genius Of perseverance.
Can open a bank safer" you ask.
II couldn't I'd quit burgling and go TO
ploughing. for there's no money on the
road nowadays for a man unless he can
"do" burglar-proof.
Need a lot OF fine tools TO do 'em with2"
Ihear the reader ask. Listen to me for
minute. need no tools at all. I'm no
Hermann nor one OF those Indian Jug
glers we read about who can put q piece
OF macaroni up one sleeve and take dago
hand-organ and a monkey out OF the
othor. 1t is only question Of science.
When tho safe people got to making
their old boxes so tough that they couldn't
be drilled we had to go hustling for new
points. Before we got through we found
out that the old style OF work and all the
tools which had been handed down to us
~ hxye
erations of illustrious cracksmen-may
they rest easy wherever they are-had to
be discarded, and now all 1 need In going
against the stoutest kind OF bank cafe Ia
a copper cylinder, screwdrlver, tin syringe
with rubber tube and a couple Of ounces
OF fnitro-glycerine.
Yes, nitro-glycerine. and it's fact, too,
that every good safe made Is packed with
some sort OF absorbent material calculated
TO protect 1t against just that explosive.
Now, I'll tell you how we discovered the
present system. Not long ago an old
partner OF mine down In Syracuse, N. Y,
got toexperimenting to with nitro-glycerine.
and he found out that he could heat IL up
TO ninety and 100 degrees Fahrenheit
without causing an explosion. You know
glycerine is q soft, greasy substance,
thicker than oil. and runs very slowly,
Il
runs as freely as petroleum. This was
find. Lots Of people say 1t can't be heated
so as to make it thin, and even II IL could
IL could not be used In safe-blowing, as 1t
would explode the minute II touched
metal OF a less temperature, but that Is q
mistake.
We'll, In course OF time my partner
went little further. He bought fine
bank safe with double combination locks,
anti-dynamite device and all the other
modern improvements which are designed
TO freeze US hard-working men out.
struck Syracuse about that time, and
both of us went to work on that safe. We
stripped off plate after plate until the net
work of bolts and bars was laid bare, and
when we had gone that far we found what
we had been hunting for.
Around the spindle running through
the door and connecting the lock with the
combination dial on the inside was q va
can't space q quarter OF an inch wide In
some places. That night Bill and stuck,
an old syringe, funnel and bottle Of
glycerine In our clothes and hit the road.
1t used TO be that the safe-makers In.
genuity was contended against Wet armis,
or words to that effect, and the expert
cracksman OF ten years ago had to carry
q trunkful OF heavy tools on the road,
which were sure OF having the un-
pleasant effect OF mailing him In case he
was "pinched." Now. with his little tin
syringe and bottle OF nitro-glycerine In
his pocket, he can travel through the
country like any other honest man who Is
not afraid OF the police. 1t may sound
strange TO talk about blowing safe with
these simple instruments, but when tell
you how its donc you won't be surprised.
Once In the bank you knock the tum-
blers off OF the vault door and step inside,
closing the door behihd you. Now you've
got all night TO work on the box standing
before you In all It's glory OF Furnished
chilled steel plates, double combination
locks, anti-dynamite devices and air-tight
gearing apparatus. Kneel down on one
knee and take off the dial with screw
driver or jack-knife. Reach around In
the caboose of your pants and bring out
your syringe and nitro-glycerine. Screw
a cylinder over the spindle-head and pour
in the glycerlne.
Blow gently on the cylinder tube and
the law Of gravitation carries the explo-
sives'in through tho plates till it reaches
the lock- Wrap the safe In a couple OF
wet blankets TO deaden the noise Of the ex-
plosion, touch it off with a Eliminating
cap, and then walk off with the Doodle.
That's tho operation in a nutshell. OF
course, 1 told everything / know.
and moo uld go out and open safe
In this manner without serving an ap-
premiership, but what have told consti-
tutes the main features of the work re-
quired, and It's very simplicity makes peo-
pie think it's fraud. But it isn't.
can do any safe made with spindle
running through the door in less than
half an hour. This includes opening three
sets Of doors. When there are three doors
we usually blow on the first one with COM
mon Illuminating gas. but this can't be
used on the inside doors. as tho gas
would burn tho money, and when we get
the door open we wouldn't find enough
currency to pay the gas bill. All this talk
about burglar-proof safes Ia nonsense.
never saw n safe that could be unlocked
from the outside that couldn't be blown
open. and you don't have to work on some
Of them much longer than you would on
an oyster can.
Gold Paved streets.
Tho contractor, who in the excavation