Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-03-04
LOCKS ANDTHEIR HISTORY
THEY ARE AN INVENTION OF THE
ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

Originally Made of Wood and Wore
Far From Being BurgIar-Proof From
tho Primitive Article to the Com
Locks and bolts have become a ne
cessity since man became Secrativc or
covetous. To keep a would be intruder
on the right side of a door and the
fingers of thief from the oh ect of his
cundlty our ancestors imprO ,Istd the
wooden bar and designed the mvst RI
Gus lock The latter was OF course ia.
later product as involving mrchau r.d
skill and a knowledge of metals. The
ancient Egyptians are cretitel with
the manufacture of the original lock,
which WAS simple in construc ion and
by no means proof against the iugenu-
ity of the primitive burglar. They
We're mostly made of wood, with an NC
casional example of iron or copper
The warded lock was IL further evolution.
and during the Middle Ages, in which
50 much of mechanical work was rs ,Oci-
ated with sacrelotal instincts and OBJ
jccts the products were characterized
by elaboration and the highest style of
finish
The religion of mechanics in those
medieval times was conscience in work
and faith in its thoroughness, to which
IN modern days we can not honestly
make so valid claim. The result in
the art of lock making was the pro.
duction of specimens, of which it is
said that history and antiquarians tell
OF no finer specimens, art and hnJi-
work being happily combined. The
lumber lock is Monaghan, and has
been in use in the Celestial empire for
centuries, the ancient Chinese being
artists in mechanical devices, aud by
no means the blockheads so literally
scandalized on the sand lots and plat.
forms of modern times. The comb.
nation paddock has also a veneIa le &c
ord and is attributed to the genius of a
French locksmith, the opinion how
ever, being held by antiqulrilns tuHt
ITS inception dates back to a remutar
period.
BE that as it may, it is evident tha
N locks as in everything else in pure
mechanics, we are but improvcrs on our
predecessors. Ingenuity has adapted
itself to changing conditions. The lock
Is more a necessity than ever II u.e
more vaIuables to protect, and better
educated rogues to Illustrate, aud vo
are getting eminently rich in both au-
ticles, while in the skill of the lock
smith as much as in the yaIor of the
police we place the faith that leaves no
headache IN our nightcaps, and keeps
our bonds and ledgers safe We have
oyolutionized in lock manufacture from
the Egyptian article to the modern
combination mystery Of which, as far as
hur8larious intentions are concerned
there Is no key but deposit OF gidu
powder or pinch of dynamite.
Ii is, however, to the four types Of
locks named that we owe all Subsequent
cvoutions, and are not perhaps except
IN improvements, so far ahead of elder
~ skill as we sometimes assume, ii is
simply a matter of pedigree and in
mechanical ingenuity, as in family
calendar, we could as reusouuh Y eE-
poet to be on tue census roll without 20
grandfather, as to be where we are iu
manufactures without our untecciells.
In the matter of locks we care more
about practical protection than in max
ing their brass and iron monumen al of
canonlzed man or act, and in his
sense we are i'll keeping with the age
that is more anxious about its deposits
than its biographies. 1t is, however,
none the less fact that i'll the ingeu-
lonS mechanism of the modern lock we
are but simply simplifying the dlscov-
cries of our predecessors.