The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1895-11-16
The Modern Safe.
From the Chicago Record.

From the Chicago Record.
The latest burglar proof safes and vaults
are magnificent specimens of skillful work
manship. Although the doors often weigh
tons, they swing as easily on their hinges
as window shutter After the first great
door is thrown back and displays its glitter
ing array of bright locks, its glass incased
clocks and its smooth steel bolts there is
another door almost as strong, with bolts
and locks Of its own. When this is open
it reveals three other doors The upper
two are of thin steel and have no locks
Only papers and books are to be kept in
the little pockets or pigeonholes which they
inclose
Under them and shutting in the cash
drawer there is the third door with its own
lock and bolts. In this safe the size of
the cash repository bears about the same
relation to the size of the whole safe as
pumpkin seed docs to the pumpkin. And
it is not only burglar proof but freproof-
warranted, in fact, to stand for at least IS
hours the greatest amount of heat that any
burning building could give it.
The making of Il safe of this kind is
complicated and expensive operation. All
the steel used comes in the form of plates
from the works After having the neces-
sary screw holes bored in them they are
heated to high temperature and then
tempered by suddenly immersing them in
water. When they come out they are
often little twisted and warped, and have
to be rolled cold and sometimes polished
clean by swiftly moving emory wheel,
The noise Of this operation is ear splitting
and so rasping that a man with ordinary
nerves can hardly endure it. When the
plate is perfectly level it is transferred to
another machine, where it is clamped tight,
| and an emery wheel shaves off the edges.
The plates are now put together, first
one of hard steel, then one of wrought iron
or soft steel, and so on until the necessary
thickness is obtained From the iron the
safe receives its tenacious qualities-it can
not be cracked or broken as easily as steel,
and the steel imparts a hardness that defieS
the burglar drill The screws are also
made of combined steel and iron. Each
of them is only long enough to reach
through two plates, and the screws which
join the third, fourth and fifth plates to
the first are never directly under any other
screws, so that there is no chance for a
burglar to bore down through a row Of
screws. The plates are also drawn very
close together for if any space was left
between them safe blower might succeed
IN ,,n+tino. bic into
Between the interior and exterior walls
Of the safe Il large amount of hydraulic
cement, combined with other ingredients,
usually according to secret recipe, Ii
packed solidly. In case of fire the theory
is that the water in the cement-about 4a
per cent-will, owing to the heat of the
outside covering, become steam, partially,
at least, and be driven close to the inner
wall Here it will remain and furnish
blanket impervious to heat. All the bolts
are cylindrical and from an inch up to two
inches in diameter
Combination locks are now used ex-
clusively. The mechanism of most of them
is extremely simple In one lock there
are a number of round brass disks or
'tumblers,'' each pivoted at the center on
small shaft which runs through the safe
door and connects with the lock knob.
Each tumbler has slit in it just the size
of the steel arm which controls the bolts
and reaching nearly back to the center.
When all these Sits are together and
pointing in exactly the same direction the
arm slips into them and the bolts can be
thrown. But if the slit in single one OF
the tumblers is even thOusandth of an
inch out of line the arm will not slip back.
The disks are set short distance apart
and small screws with big heads are fastened
at random over them. As these strike to-
eether in turning the tumblers whirl, and
a man might turn the lock knob thousand
years without once getting the Sits in all
the tumblers together But the man who
knows Just how far to turn one way and
then how far back again according to the
combination numbers has no trouble at all.
The combination and numbers are easily
changed by changing the screws in the
disk. Many of the best safes and vaults
are now being provided with time locks.
Two and sometimes three clocks are inclOsed
in glass cases just inside of the safe door.
When the door is locked, no one can open
it again until the clock hands have Travelled
the set distance around the dial and touch
ed a little trigger which releases the bolts
More than one clock is used, so that if one
runs down the others will 90 on and per-
form their duty. In the big banks the
vaults are closed about o clock in the
evening and set to open little before 3
o clock in the morning. 1t is general
impression that an expert burglar can open
combination lock by listening to the
clicking sounds, but dealers say it is not
possible for any one to do it. If safe
owner forgets his combination. the safe has
to be bored into. There is no other way
of opening it.