The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-01-15
POLLING BURGLARS.
PREPARATIONS TO FRUsTRATE At
TEMPTS AT BURGLARY.


/ How q Big New York Jeweier Guards
! His Costly Treasures-Safes Within
/ Safes Are Enclosed in Fraii but Sensk-
tive Cabinets-Alarm Bells Also.
! Here are 600 feet of showcases. half of them
on each side of long room, and back CT
/ them reas many feet of upright cases stood
against the wall In the rear of the room
! are more cases, and wherever there is room
I for them are costly music boxes, bronze
statuettes and other valuable articles ef
European and American make. All the
showcases are full OF jewelry and other ar
ticles made of gold and silver. For twenty
feet near the front the cases hold nothing
but real diamonds and other precious
stones. for the place is big jewelers. sales
room up town, where no imitation articles
are sold-nothing but real gold and silver
and real stones.
What beautiful field for a burglarg
was the idea that flashed through the
mind of reporter who entered the place q
few days ago.
What do you do with your goods at
night?" the reporter asked the proprietor.
There is no secret about it" the jeweler
replied. do you see those three cabinets
those black walnut cabinets, against the
east WALTZ We put everything in those at
night"
You trust to black walnut cupboard
all these cases of gold and diamonds, do
you, valued at-at about how much?'
IF you take the entire lot" Mr.. Jeweler
laughed, you can have it for $3.50. 600 But
come behind the cou inter- with me and les
me show you the cabinets"
The jeweler led the way TO the middle
of the east side of the room, between cases
full of diamonds and costly stones on the
one hand and upright cases full of silver
teapots and trays and sugar bowls on the
other hand
SECURE CABINETS.
Here" he said. when the cabinets were
reached, is where we keep everything at
night, except such large articles RS would
not go in. In our business it is not the big
things, but the little ones that are valu-
able"
They were ordinary looking walnut cab
inets, each perhaps seven feet high and five
feet wide, and each with folding doors, an
upper and a lower panel in each door. A
boy might break them all open with .
hammer in one minute.
But Mr.. Jeweler threw open one of the
pairs of folding doors and disclosed inside
an immense safe that seemed to say, "Come
on, now, if you're a burglar; let's see what
you can doP' 1t was one of the polished
steel Sort with tremendous resistance
written all over it.
"These are called burglar proof Safes"
said the jeweler: ''but need not tell you
that no safe is burglar proof. Nothing has
been or can be made that cannot be broken,
and an expert burglar can open any safe in
the world. However, think these are rs
nearly burglar proof as any safe in New
York It is merely a question of time with
burglar, and these safes are warranted to
resist any attack, except with explosives,
for twelve hours There is not much dan
ger from gunpowder or dynamite in such
an exposed place, and to operate with tools
successfully requires twelve hours"
SAFES WITHIN SAFES.
As he spoke he opened the safe doors.
Three-fourths of the interior was divided
into shelves, all of the same height and
breadth. The other fourth was taken up
by another safe, apparently complete in it
self
There is where we keep our most valu-
able goods, the diamonds and other very
costly articles" the jeweler continued,
tapping the small inner safe. "There is
one of these inside Of each of the large
safes, and each small safe IS separate and
complete in itself, with its own separate
combination. If burglar manages to
reach the inside of one of the large safes he
still has another safe TO open before he can
get the most valuable goods, That is all
that steel can do for Us. Now we call in
electricity to stand guard Each safe is
connected by separate wires with the Bur
glar Alarm company. If an explosion or
any other jar should move one of them a
sixteenth Of an inch out of it's place, a bell
would ring in the headquarters of that
company, and within ninety seconds two
policemen would be here. II anybody
should turn the combination knob hairs |
breadth that would have the same effect
But that is only the second step toward /
security. Let me show you the third"
He closed the folding doors of the walnut !
cabinet
''Tap one of those panels with your fin !
gers, please" he said.
The sound that followed was muffled and |
heavy, entirely unlike the sound made by |
tapping a thin wooden panel
These slight cabinets are not as de- !
fenseless as they look" the ieweler contin- ,
ued. Those panels are made of paste |
board, and other parts of the cabinets, |
of wood on the outside, have |
pasteboard within"
PAsTEBoARD AND TIN.
And why pasteboardi" the reporter
asked.
Because pasteboard is better noncon-
iuctor than wood That panel you tapped
S made of three thicknesses Of pasteboard
and two thicknesses of tinfoil. First there
$ the outer pasteboard panel, which Is
stained and grained TO initiate walnut,
hen layer of tinfoil. then a second sheet
If pasteboard, then a second layer Of tin
oil. and finally third sheet of pasteboard,
which forms the back OF the panel The |
irst sheet Of tinfoil Is connected with tbs
positive pole Of an electric battery; the sec
md sheet OF tinfoil is connected with the /
Negative pole Of battery. With the sheet
# pasteboard between them the metallic
heets do not touch, and there is no circuit.
But let a burglar begin to operate upon the
abinet, and run knife blade or 9imlet
IT anything else through the panel. and
he metallic tool, touching both sheets Of
infoil, instantly completes the circuit.
'ell rings in the burglar alarm Office, and
wo policemen come, as before"
is that ali!" the reporter asked