Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1894-10-11
BATTLING BURGLARS.

the burglar OF to-day, who aims nj
high game, displays amazing in
genuity in the manufacture Of scien.
tific tools and apparatus and also in
the practical working OF the same.
But he is completely out OF che
running when pitted against our
safemakers and locksmiths, even
though he periodically buys their
wares for experimental purposes.
While the present writer was be-
ing personally conducted over the
premises Of the greatest firm of
lockmakers in the world he acquired
much interesting information con-
cerning those wondrous pieces of
mechanism which protected the vast
riches Of palaces, banks aud strong.
rooms. and which render it absolute
ly impossible for thieves to break
in.
Perhaps the most interesting de-
partment was that one in which an
exhibition Of the highest form Of
the burglars craft was being given.
Skilled workmen were seated before
locked safes and were using the al
most irresistible fusing apparatus
on the 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
chemicals into the locks and noting
the effect, while sturdy artisans
were using the drill and the wedge
with q scientific force and skill that
showed they could be dangerous
enemies to society if they were GRIM
inally inclined.
The fusing apparatus consists Of
a cylinder Of compressed oxygen
gas. which supplies q short section
of pipe terminating in an iron cup.
The latter is pressed firmly against
the door after light has been ap-
piled, and q stream of flame issues
from the end Of the pipe in it's bot
tom. So fierce is this flame that it
melts the metal In the safe door
and eats a jagged hole through it
in a remarkably short space of time.
We turn out about 2Ss, 900 locks
every year. remarked the manager
of the works, 'and they range in
weight from a quarter of an ounce
including key-to 22s pounds,
the respective values of these ex-
tremes being IL cents and 81, 500.
Foremost among those locks
which protect enormous wealth
came those on the treasury doors of
the Bank of England. The making
of each Of these marvels of mechan-
ism occupies three men for six
weeks and costs 1915.
'Those little fluted pieces Of stee!
in the head Of the Alphabetically
called 'steps'-are nine in number
and are capable Of 362, 800 different
combinations.
IF a banker whose safe was fitted
with this lock chanced to loose his
key, or il he had reason to suppose
that a wax impression Of it had been
made, all that would be necessary
in order to battle burglarious de-
signs would be to unlock the safe
with the duplicate key, unscrew the
head and change the position of the
steps and then relock .he safe or
strong room.
'The mechanism of the lock would
instantly adapt itself to the changed
combination and could never be un-
locked by the former key.
'This however, is not an unmix-
ed blessing. One afternoon O cer-
tain city merchant was amusing
himself by unscrewing the steps Of
both his keys when it suddenly oc-
CURED to him that he had forgot
ten the combination.
'As the keys in question were
capable of thousands Of combina-
tions, there was nothing for it but
to set to work on q system of num-
bered table and tick of each COM
bination as it was tried.
But that may take MONTHS OBJ
jected the merchant ruefully. Well,
as the only other alternative was to
build furnace round the door of
the safe it was decided to try the
combination first.
we sent two men and an appren-
tice with the printed tables-great
sheets Of paper several yards long
and after nine days labor, during
which about IL, 900 different CON-
binations were arranged and tried
the ripht one was hit nnon hx anci-