The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1892-09-05
TO CRACK OPEN A SAFE.
An oLD-TImE BURGLAR Tells HOW
THE JOB IS DONE.

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Until q year ago safe manufacturers
constructed safes with the design Of
guarding against illegitimate access BY
three methods-vIz, by frncturlng or
weighing. by drilling. and by the introduce
tion Of granulnted explosives. says an old
time burglar in the st. Louis Dispatch.
These three methods represented the
principal weakness In the old-time burg
lar-proof chest, and when the cunning OF
the inventors brain made 1t possible TO
construct . safe so tough that It 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
jected, IL was thought that the safe
cracker would be forced to earn his liveli-
hood by the sweat OF his brow in some less
arduous yocationl Butthe species peter
man OF the genius thief 10 possessed OF
the genius Of perseverance,.
Can open bank safer YOU ask.
II couldn't I'D quit burgling and 30 to
ploughing. for there's no money on the
road nowadays for man unless he can
| do" burglar-prooi.
| Need q lot Of fine tools to do 'em within
hear the reader ask. Listen to me for a
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 monkey out of the
other. II Is only a question Of science.
/ When the safe people got to making
| their old boxes so tough that they couldn't
be drilled we had to 60 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
through years Of approving use by gem
| erations of iliustrious cracksmen-may
| they rest easy wherever they are-had to
be discarded, and now oil ! need In going
against the stoutest kind OF o bank cafe Is
q copper cylinder, screwdriver, tin syringe
with rubber tube and couple Of ounces
OF nitro-glycerine.
| Yes, nitro-glycerine. and It's fact, too.
i that every good safe made Is packed with
some sort OF absorbent material calculated
to protect it 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. T.,
got to experimenting with nitro-glycerine,
and he found out that he could heat 1t up
to ninety and 100 degrees Fahrenheit
| without causing an explosion. You know
| glycerine Is soft, greasy substance,
thicker than oil. and runs very slowly,
but after it Is heated 1t becomes thin and
runs as freely as petroleum. This was o
find. Lots Of people say 1t can't be heated
so as to make It thin. and even II It could
It could not be used In safe-blowing, as 1t
/ would explode the minute 1t touched
metal Of less temperature. but that Is q
mistake.
1 Well, In course OF time my partner
i 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 mon out
struck Syracuse about that time, and
both of US went to work on that safe. We
stripped of plate after plate until the net
work OF bolts and bars was laid bare. and
i 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 n va
cant space 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.
It used to be that the safe-makers In
il genuity was contended against Wet arms.
or words to that effect, and the expert
cracksman Of ten years ago had to carry
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. It may sound
strange to talk about blowing safe with
these simple instruments, but when tell
1 you how Its done you won't be surprised.
i Once In the bank you knock the tum-
blers OF Of the vault door and step inside,
closing the door behlhd you. Now you've
! got all night to work on the box standing
before you In all its glory Of Furnished
4 chilled steel plates, double combination
locks, anti-dynamite devices and air-tight
/ gearing apparatus. Kneel down on one
knee and take of the dial with a 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 spindie-head and pour
! In the glycerine.
Blow gently on the cylinder tube and
the law of gravitation carries the explo-
sives in through the plates till 1t reaches
/ the lock. Wrap the safe in a couple OF
wet blankets to deaden the noise Of the ex-
plosion, touch 1t Off with a Illuminating
cap, and then walk OF with the boodle
That's the operation In nutshell. OF
course. haven't told everything know,
and no one could go out and open q safe
In this manner without serving an APP
premiership, but what have told consti-
tutes the main features Of the work re-
quired, and its very simplicity makes peo-
/ pie think it's fraud. But 1t 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 the 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 Is nonsense.
never saw 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