Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1892-03-02
PONDEROUS SAFES.
Massive Receptacles for the Keep
ing Of Precious Jewels.
Solid Walls of Steel That the Most Skill
ful Burglar Could Not Penetrate
in Shorter Time Than
Twelve Hours.

Here are 200 feet of showcases, half
OF them on one side of long room,
and back of them are as many feet Of
upright cases stood against the wall
In the rear of the room are more cases.
and wherever there is room for them
are costly music boxes, bronze statu-
cites, and other valuable articles of
European and American make. All
the showcases are full of jewelry and
other articles 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. salesroom up town,
where no imitation articles are sold
nothing but real gold and silver and
real stones.
What beautiful field for burg
lar!'' was the idea that flashed through
the mind of Sun reporter who en-
tered the place a few days ago. Not
that he contemplated operating in that
field; but on looking about the room he
could see no sign OF a safe or any other
strong receptacle-not even such a lit
tie iron box as Mr.. Russell Sage was
recently expected to produce $780,
900 ireiu.
What CO you do with your goods at
at night?" the reporter asked the pro-
prietor.
You'll find it easier to get them in
the daytime" Mr. J-weler smilingly
responded ------------
But you have some system of secur-
ing them. Tell me what it is for the
information of the public-if it is not a
secret
There is no secret about it." the
jeweler replied. do you see those
three cabinets, those black walnut
cabinets, against the east wall? We
put everything in those at night
You trust to black walnut cup
board all these cases of gold and
diamonds, do you, valued at-at about
how much?"
''If YOU take the entire lot" Mr..
Jeweller laughed, you can have it for
S350,000. But come behind the counter
with me and let me show you the cabi-
nets"
The jeweler led the way to the mid
die of the east side of the room, be-
tween 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.
Here" he said, when the cabinets
were reached, lis where we keep every-
thing at night, except such large arti-
cles as would not go in. In our bust
ness it is not the big things, but the
little ones that are valuable"
They were ordinary looking walnut
cabinets, each perhaps seven feet high
and five feet wide, and each with fold
ing toors, 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 burg
lar; let's see what you can dor' 1t was
one of the polished steel sort, with tre-
mendous resistan ce 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 as nearly burglar proof as any
safe in New York. 1t 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 d an |
ger from gunpowder or dynamite in |
such an exposed place, and to operate |
with tools successfully requires twelve |
hours
AS he spoke he opened the safe doors
Three-fourths of the interior was di-
vided into shelves, all of the same |
height and breadth. The other fourth |
was taken up by another safe, appar-
emily complete in itself
There is where we keep our most |
valuable goods, the diamonds and other |
very costly articles" the jeweler con-
tinued, 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 com bination. If a |
burglar manages to reach the inside of |
one OF the large safes he still has an.
other safe to open before he can get |
the most valuable goods
But what an immense labor il nnst |
be to put all these goods in the safes
every night and take them out again
every morning" the reporter sug-
yested
Not as much as you might think"
Mr.. Jeweler replied. 81 will show
Von how it is done. Look at this show
,ase. You see the articles do not lie
On the bottom of the case, but on little
SHALLOW velvet-hned trays Those trays
are made TO fit the showcase, three of
hem being just the width of the case.
ihe compartments in the safes are
made to accommodate the trays, each
compartment holding two tiers of six
trays each So before closing we have
'nly to slide the trays into the safes,
md everything is secured"