Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-10
VERY EASY TO BURGLE,
No Dwelling Proof Against the House.
breakers Tools.

No Dwelling Proof Against the House.
breakers Tools.
Interview with Gail Ross in Chicago News.
''The first burglary remember Of commit
ting wns when my father lifted me over the
fence into a neighbor's yard to steal flowers. I
suppose he didn't think how bad it really was,
but the memory Of that first theft has chung to
me always. Subsequently, when took no
ton to steal something more than flowers
namely, to gut jewelry store-I fortified my
self with a good bracer Of whisky, worked
the house with blush and blamed my father
for teaching me to steal.
'Now, across the water it is not 80 easy to
gain access to house as here, because Of the
iron screens. In New York it is hardly less Diff
fcult, in my opinion at least, for the same rea-
son. However, out west it is not considered o
difficult feat to enter house, take it where you
may"
.'And you ascribe that to"
''To the way the house is built. People have
learned to protect their basement windows as
rule, with bars. but still this is not always the
case. One would think that man with his
millions, perhaps, in bank, with his house
loaded with costly art pieces and a fortune
alone may be in diamonds and silver ware,
would take every -precaution to guard against
burglary, but he doesn't. He imagines because
he never has been robbed that he never will be.
That is about as much sense as the man had
who didn't want his life insured because he had
never died.
whenever I took notion to work a house
didn't stop to go and look up the police
record and see if the place had been worked
before. Immediately began laying my plans.
man with good nerve and a clear head who
works alone ought to be successful. l always
worked alone except once. Then / was caught
and my pal escaped. was on the outside and
he was doing the job. took my sentence like a
man and never 'peached' on him. Had 1 been
operating alone l don't think would have
"About making houses burglar proof should
first recommend that people put locks on their
doors that can't be picked with-well, with a
button-hoOk. burglar depends largely on O
skeleton key to gain access Men Of means,
however, now have the latch-lock on their
doors, and these cannot be picked-that is, not
readily. To guard against entrance by the
doors they should be heavy, should fit tight to
prevent work with Jimmy should be double
locked with a chain-lock on the inside and
bolted securely at top and bottom. That will
generally battle a sneak thief, who does not de-
serve TO be called n burglar However, when
he finds the door effectually bars him he can go
to the rear, climb on shed, portico or even
skin up a water pipe or lightning rod to a
to be the easiest place Of all to enter a house.
That is why there are 80 many 'second-story
workers, as they are called, but never tried
ltmyselT. To prevent these fellows all exposed
windows-I mean those opening on porch or
shed-should be well barred. A second-story
worker, doesn't carry tools as rule. He is q
sneak thief
The man spoke these words as if the "pro-
| fession" looked on sneak thieves as objection
| able characters who should be excluded from
| the society Of honest cracksmen.
But for iron bars and steel doors" he con-
tinued, IAN expert burglar has little dread.
Give him time and he will go through any
thing. 1t requires genius to circumvent him,
and even genius is not equal to il. And for
this reason: A burglar or safe-blower has a
| greater incentive for surmounting the difiicu
| ties i'll the way of access TO treasure than has
the inventor for creating them. The one re-
ceives his reward in the shape Of salary; the
| other in working for fortune. perhaps, that
lies Just beyond the barrier which he is en-
deavoring to overcome. The burglar gains a
| fortune for few hours labor; the inventor
labors for year and at the end of that time
gets barely the worth of his WORK. It is a
natural law that where there is the greatest in
centive there will be found the greatest results
of labor. Thus it is you will find burglars as
smart as, and even smarter than. inventors.
| For my Part fail to see how you could
make q house absolutely burglar proof. You
might make it SO difficult of access that the
burglar will find another to suit his purposes
as we'll One thing is certain, however, o rich
man is a fool not to have bars on his windows.
They cost little, but they save much"