Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-03-03

sun De the 1ourth 10 open the vault door
in the morning, and to save the owner
the necessity of burslarizing his own vault
The possibility of four carefully inspected
CLOCKS getting out of order within a few
hours OF each other is SO small that it
is not considered except in its relation to
the burglar. The jar of an explosive used
by burglar might throw the clocks out
of order This would make the burglars
success more doubtful, but II would not be
an unmiXed blessing. for the owner of the
vault would be out several thousand dollars
breaking into his vault So this contin-
gency is provided for in some cases by
mounting the clocks on springs
Where spindles are still used land they
are used In majority of the safes and
vaults constructed) they are sometimes made
IN two parts. each passing half through the
door at inherent points and connecting in
the middle of the doors thickness by a sys-
TEN or small gears. In another construc-
ton the spindle is made of a series of small
Cylinders and larger disks along n common
axis, on the theory that the removal of
such piece Of work will be more difficult
than the removal of a straight spindle
But doctors disagree" very widely on the
subject of spindles. One maker uses a
spindle of large size and heavy construc-
ton In the belief that an increase in size
viii make entrance by this point more diff
cult; another makes his spindle as small as
possible in the belief that the smaller the
spindle the less useful the spindle hole to
the burglar.
The Eject of NftrO-Glycerfne.
The most vulnerable part of a vault now
is the edge of the door. 1t is almost i'm
possible to obtain an absolutely tight Joint.
one which will be impervious to LIQUID ex-
plosives. The old method Of attack was by
powder blown into the crack of the vault
door, As the construction of these doors
became more perfect this was made i'm
practicable. Then the gentle burglar turn
ed his attention to other explosives and to-
day he uses ntro-glycerine. Nitro-glycer-
inc when warm runs as freely as water. II
the crack of a door is not absolutely tight
the nitro-gy cerine will find some small
lodging place in 1t. When exploded IL rips
off the door. tears off its outer layers or
opens a space where a larger charge of ex-
plosives can be used If the joint is too
well fitted to permit the use of nitro-glycer-
Inc and the vault is In an isolated place
where powerful explosives can be used
dynamite is laid against a weak spot and
well tamped. Its explosion either makes
an opening or weakens the walls or door
so that tools or other explosives can be
used to advantage. With a guarantee of
comparative freedom for operation, set Of
burglars can enter a modern vault in ere
to eight hours. The shortest process is usu-
ally by the use of explosives, and II has
been found that the high explosives ere
singularly local in effect and produce very
little sound Hammer and siedge are often
used, though burglars prefer boring. with
the use of a blow pipe to draw the temper
of the steel attacked. But the modern con-
struction renders this sometimes extremely
difficult because of the high conductivity
OF iron and the close contact of the cold
steel adjacent. Burglars seldom attempt to
make holes of more than an inch in diane
ter, and the heat from the small flame
which can be introduced through such a
hole is quickly dissipated. Sometimes the
burglar bores through the soft metal and
breaks the Intervening sheets of hard metal
Wi ~ hlnuQ Of han min . be-
metal piecemeal. 1t is estimated that an
expert with finely tempered tools will work
through an inch Of a vault wall in an hour.
1t sometimes happens, though, that an in
expert burglar abandons job after pene-
trating the outer layer of steel because
his poorly tempered tools were all dulled
in the attempt.
Sometimes a burglar finds it compare .ive-
ly easy to strip a safe or vault. If he can
cut through the outer casing along a line
the wedging on of sheet after sheet is
better method of attack than drilling. A
large and well-built safe has been COM
pletely destroyed by this process in four
hours Of steady work, with the use of
sledse, cold chisels and wedge. Recogniz-
ing the fact that principal danger is
from stripping" steelmakers say that
they furnish a rather poor quality of steel
to safe and vault men. In the construc-
ton of the new treasury vaults, though,
it is likely that only the best quality steel
will be used.
Dealers in safes and builders Of vaults
have their little trade tricks, and one Of
the most familiar of them is to get a piece
or work from some rival establishment, bore
holes in 1t and exhibit IL as a proof of the
insecurity of the other mans work. This
proves nothing to the exhibitors advan-
tase. because it has been shown by expert
ment that every substance used in safe and
vault construction can be drilled. Even
"Franklinite," which was regarded In 1879
as almost, II not quite, invulnerable has
been drilled at the rate of an inch an hour
r4srh a, Il.
used in safe or vault construction does not
take into consideration the conditions un-
der which the burglar must work. What
would be quite easy to accomplish In an
open field might be extremely difficult in
business building. The favorable condi-
lions could exist in burglary in one case
only-in case mob attacked and took pos
session OF a building. 1t would not take
that mob very long to break into any vault
that was ever constructed. The four-inch
wall of modern safe has been blown in
experimentally by a single charge of dy-
Mantle. second charge of dynamite de-
stroys the safe. 5'tel y
The Well-Guarded Treasury.
But the Treasury Department does not
have to consider the question OF invasion
very seriously. The treasury is well guard
ed, and an armed force could be summoned
to its protection on very short notice. The
treasury has to consider protection from
the burglar within its walls. There are
more than sixty watchmen about the
treasury vaults, and they constitute the
best possible guard to the millions of bonds,
notes and coin. But it is proposed to re-
inforce their work by the introduction of
vaults of modern construction, made doubly
safe by coating OF composition, filled with
electric wires. the breaking of which would
be plainly shown on dials in the office of
the captain OF the watch. the nearest Do
lice station and the bed room of the treas
urer of the United States. Such a system
of electric detection is now I'm use In the
subtreasury at New York. With these pre-
cautions against attack Uncle Sam could
feel that his treasure was quite safe. He
can never have that assurance so long as
ii is possible for an expert, without assist
ance to bore hole In one of his vaults in
less than half an hour
TILE nnESERNxc CT ASxrn