Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-01-21
BURGLARS ON THE STAGE
They Open q Safe In -Four Minu,.s ,s
Win n Hundred noIIa>~


They Open q Safe in Four Minutes and
Win Hundred Dollars
When The Stoaway" was heinz ,,-o-
duced at the Haymarket. in Chicago
two years ago, William A. Pinkertop
the detective, called at the theater dnr.
ing the performance to see the two
burglars who accompany the troupe.
used to know Spike Hennessy in
New York" he said, but I believe
TINS man you have with You is fake"
Come around and see," said Man
ager Davis "Hennessy and Mccoy
VIII go on in the next act, and you can
see the -safe-blowing act from the
wings If You want to-"
When Mr. Pinkerton was shown into
the burglars dressing-roo1n he no soon
er saw Spike" and the kid" than he
exclaimed:
Well. well, this is the last place I'd
nave looked for you fellows"
'Hew are you, Billy?" said Hennes-
81. Let me introduce you to Hide
brand Montrose. who accompanies me
on the jimmy while / fash the dark
lantern in our character sketch in the
second act He was known TO fame
several years ago as Kid Mccoy"
The Kid and / are old friends" re-
piled Mr.. Pinkerton, land I am sur
prised to see you both here doing a fake
act on the stage
''Wot's that" demanded the kid"
<'wot's fake?'
why. this safe blowing" said the
detective, pleasantly. Come now, own
up, it's fake and / know il No use
OF you trying to convince me that you
men can blow a safe in four minutes"
There's the safe standing outside
the door," said Hennessy Take a
look at it, and if you find anything
wrong with it I'll eat my hat"
Accordingly the detective stepped
outside and looked the safe over He
examined the lock, felt of the hinges
and studied the hanges in the ponder
ous doors And you blow it in four
minutes" he remarked. thoughtfullY
That's their average time" said Mr.
Davis
IN tell you what I'll do. Spike"
said Mr.. Pinkerton, with the air of a
man who is conceding an inside tip on
a thirty-to-one shot IN put one hun
dred dollars in that safe, you do the
same, and let me lock it in nv own
com bination, and if you get the money
out IN i've minutes it belongs to you; if
you don't it belongs to me-"
IF my colleague" responded Spike"
waving his hand deferentially toward
the smooth-faced kid, ~ ''sees no OBJ
lection to making one hundred dollars
i don't either
BY this time the curtain was down on
the first act, and the money was at once
placed in the safe, and the detective
changed the combination. locking the
safe so that it could not be unlocked by
any one but himself The safe was then
rolled on the stage and the curtain rung
up. Mr.. Pinkerton stationed himself in
the wings where he could command a
good view of the safe. and waited
watch in hand, for the burglar scene
When the cue was given for the bur-
glars. Hennessy and Mccoy jumped
through a window, and in an instant
were at work ON the safe. There was
a rattle of tools, and fash of dark
lantern, and in trice the ratchet drill
ing machine was attached to the
safe door and the diamond-pointed
drill could be heard cutting soft
ly through the steel door. Two
minutes passed and the drill
was jerked off The hole had been
bored through the door, and now Hen
messy inserted powder-blower while
the kid" worked the bellows The
skillful hands of the two crooks swiftly
Puttied the crevices around the door
and a crank drill silently cut the hinges.
The fuse was inserted, a wet blanket
hung over the door. and the flicker of
match told that the charge was about
to be exploded AS the split second
hands in Mr.. Pinkerton's watch showed
that three minutes and thirty-eight sec
onds had been consumed, there came a
sheet of fame from out the safe door, a
rush of smoke. and. with heavy jar,
the massive door sprung out and fell on
the stage.
The detective slowly turned and re-
marked, reflectively: I've been ohas-
ing safe-bl0wers and thieves for over
thirty years and 1 thought I knew
something about the business. but this
is the first time l ever heard of a safe
being blown open in four ninuteS"-
Chicago Journal