The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-02-19
BURGLARY HOLDS ITS LEAD.
The ekll of the Safe Crack ers Still ,
Little Too Much for the Safem asers.

The ekill of the Safe Crack ers Still a
Little Too Much for the Safem akers.
From the San Francisco Chronicle,
The three cafe-cracking episodes following so
quickly one upon the other have convinced the
police and the agents of all the safe manufact-
urers that there is clever gang of burglars
working the city. Detectives have been put on
the scent, and It's confidently expected thai
arrests will be made in few days The burq.
larles nave started merchants to talking safe a
great deal, and many are examining their
steel vaults anxiously, because all the safes
thus far toyed with have been opened with
ease.
A clever safe expert, talking Of tie burglaries
yesterday, said The work seems to have been
done by men who thoroughly understand the
beating OF a combination burglar-proof safe
You see there are two styles Of safe crackers.
as we know them, the new and the old That's
how the police get clew 10 working up a case
The old-style craftsman used powder He first
drilled hole beside the lock and then blew It
Off with charge of powder The improved
method 10 to first KNOCK OFF tho spindle and
then drive the combination lock back into the
safe. Then all the burglar has TO do is to helm
himself. The Spike Hennessy'' style Of safe
burglar is going out of fashion During tee
past ton years only five safes have been blown
open. Itmakes too much noise. All the others
have been touched in the latest style the
assessor S safe was tempered with few months
ago ard 1t was as plain as day that il was the
work OF an amateur VINO mad Just learned
enough of the quiet, easy way of breaking omen
vault 10 knock off the combination knob, but
there his knowledge OF toe business ended. In
stead OF drilling in little to one side Of tn
combination and driving it In. he thought il was
necessary to bore in through the keynote as it
was a key and combination safe. That settled
1t. He could have worked a week that way and
he couldn { nave got in. The result was that he
simply injured the safe and caused the city the
expense OF having it opened.
THE burg ars Of to day are more considerable
fhAV n ha bax d,se -,
in the days of yore trey wrecked the safe Just
for satisfaction. recolect q singular affair in
the lit place called Smartsville. up in Yuba
county. One night burglars broke into the
general store to tap the safe that was supposed
TO contain at least $4,000 worth of gold de
posted by the miners ths day before 1t was
an iron affair, weighing about 200 pounds. The
rascals were afraid to blow IL open for fear Of
arousing the town, so they simply lacked it off
into an adjacent canyon, blew IL open and took
everything in sight. Tneg only got a few nun
dred dollars. though, the gold having been
secretly sent to Marysville, where it was
banked.
''Several years ago the safe Of a Wholesale
commission house in this city wa7 ruled. AMI it
was severai hours b sfoTe anv one could find ont
just bow the ioO had been d Lee You know iC
is common tning for men working in an Office
to p t their memorandum on the side of the
safe. Well this oIe Vas simply covered on one
side with pieces of pap5T. The burglars got in
one night AMI soaked of one of the pa Jers and
cut into the side. They could not finisn the JOB
in one hight. so they pasted the paper on again
and came back the next evening. Inen they
finished the Job. and pulled out everything of
va ue in the safe. When | was llled 10 10
solve the problem of how the safe had be IN
looted without touching the door, lifei up a
book and saw the mole from the ins le. TIE
one OF q o young men employed rememb ered
having seen some white st on tn floor beside
the safe the day before the mo. @ disappeared
He lad thought nothing OF 1t, ami the SAFE
crackers ad an opportunity to do the second
nights work.
Nowadays" continued the expert, liner
chants do not place the confidence which they
used to in steel vaults They 20 to the safe d =
posts With tteir valuables. In many Of the
large houses the safe Is 81 Aply Kept to put the
books in to protect them from fire. To save the
box from mutiation by burglars, they post the
combination beside the lock and label it dis
tincty In several places the notice reads:
81 his is the combination. Do not break the
safe open, but follow the instructions written
hereJn and you will get in without roub,e'
"0ne gentleman has posted this card:
our valuable5 are in the safe deposit
Please don't get mad and have fun with the
Others do not lock their safes, even. They
simply shoot the bolt.
When the building on Market street next to
the Nucleus was being constructed shirt man
ufacturer doing business 10 the latter structure
was very much disturbed over the safety Of his
wealth. re had d safe, but he was not at all
confident that it could not be entered. one
night be- had 500 on hand and was at loss
what to do with it. bright idea struck him.
He rolled the money, which was all 10 silver. UP
IN a bundle and placed it beneath the safe. Sure
enough that very night the steel vau,G was
opened, and the burglars got away with few
dollars in change The mass OF silver was
found all right under the cracked safe.
Lorr--One never loses anything BY keeping
his engagements punctually.
stone-My experience is ne is apt TO lose half
in fort he of fal