The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-08-03
BATTLING BURGLARS
SAFES AND LOCKS WHICH ARE PROOF
AGAINST TAMPERERS.

Vaults.
There is no denying the fact that the
burglar of today, who aims ut high
game, displays amazing ingenuity in
tho manufacture of scientific tools and
apparatus and also in the practical work.
ing of the same
But he is completely out of the run
ming when pitted against our safemak-
ers and locksmiths, even though he peri
odically buys their wares for expert
mental purposes.
While the present writer was being
personally conducted" over the prem
ises of the greatest firm of lockmallers
i'll the world he acquired much interest
ing information concerning those won
drOus pieces of mechanism which pro-
tect the vast riches of palaces, banks
and strongrooms, and which render il
absolutely impossible for thieves to
break in.
Perhaps the most interesting depart
ment was that one in which an exhibi-
ton of the highest form of the burglars
Craft was being given. Skilled workmen
were seated before locked safes and
were using the almost irresistible fusing
apparatus OH tho door in order to reach
the locks or were forcing gunpowder
through the keyholes by means of tiny
pair of bellows
Others were squirting corrosive chem
lcals into the locks and noting the eff
feet, while sturdy artisans were using
the drill and the wedge with scientific
force and skill that showed they could
be dangerous enemies to society if they
were criminally inclined.
The fusing apparatus consists Of Il
cylinder of compressed oxygen gas,
which supplies short section of pipe
terminating i'll an iron cup. The latter
is pressed firmly against the door after
q light has been applied, and stream
of flame issues from the end of tho pipe
in its bottom. So fierce is this flame
that it mclts the metal in tho safe door
and eats Il Jagged hole through it in
remarkably short space of time
1--WE turn out about 2SS, 600 locks ey-
cry year, p" remarked the manager of the
works, land they range i'll weight from
quarter OF an ounce-including key
to 22S pounds, the respective values of
these extremes being IL cents and ST.
500.
Foremost among til . locks which
protect enormous wealth come those Oh
the treasury doors of the Bank of Eng
land. The making of each of these mar
vels of mechanism occupies three men
for six weeks and costs 1915
''Those little fluted pieces of steel III
the head of the y-technically called
'stcps'-are nine i'll number and are ca
pablo of 362, $50 different combinations.
If banker whose safe was fitted
with this lock Glanced to lose his key, or
If he had reason to suppose that q wax
impression of it had been made, all
that would be necessary i'll order to baf-
file burglarious designs would be to I'M
lock the safe with the duplicate KEY.
unscrew the head and change the posi-
ton of the steps and then relock the safe
or strongroom.
"The mechanism IF tho lock Nouits
Instantly adapt itself to the changed
combination and could never be I'M
locked by the former key.
This, however, is not an unmixed
blessing. One afternoon certain city
merchant was amusing himself by un-
screwing the steps of both his keys
when it suddenly occurred to him that
he had forgotten the combination
AS the keys i'll question We're capa-
bic of thousands OF combinations, there
was nothing for it but to set to work on
II system of numbered tables and tick
off each combination as it were tried
But that may take months, cb-
jectcd the merchant rucfully Well, as
the only other alternative was to build
furnace round the door of the safe it
was decided to try the combination first
eve sent two men and an apprentice
with the printed tables--grcat sheets of
paper several yards long-i,nd after nine
days labor, during which about -, 900
different combinations were arranged
and tried, the right one was hit upon by
accident, and the door opened. Needless
TO say, there was pretty big bill
against the customer who gave us all
this trouble
1.-The treasury doors at the Bank OF
England measure feet and weigh
about AZ tons. Besides being fitted
with the above mentioned changeablc
locks they have violence locks feet
long, each of which weighs 200 pounds,
and gunpowder proof locks, having.
blowholes on every side, even through
the massive bolt These blow holes al
low the gunpowdcr pumped in to escape
and reduce the force of possible cxplo-
sion to Il mere harmless puff
1T is worthy of note that there arc
more than $1,000 locks fitted in the
Bank of England. Then comes the SIT
voy hotel with 300, controlled by one
master key. The manager of each of the
six floors at the Savoy, however, has u