The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-05-21
THE MODERN SAFE.
AN UP TO, DATE FIREpRooF AND
BURGLAR PROOF DEPOSITORY.

skiliful Workmanship Displayed In Its
Mnnufacture-Locks With Simple Mech
anism That Are Extremely Hard to Open
IL You Don't Know How,
The latest burglar proof safes and
vaults arc magnificent specimens of
skillful workmanship. Although the
doors often weigh tons. they swing rs
easily on their hinges as window shut
ter. After the first great door is thrown
back and displays its glittering array of
bright looks, its glass incased clocks
and its smooth steel bolts there Is an
other door almost as strong. with bolts
and locks Of its own When this is open
it reveals three other doors The upper
two arc 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 us. q pumpkin seed does to
the pumpkin. And it is not only burglar
proof but flreproof-warranted, in fact,
to stand for at least rs hours tho great
est amount of heat that any burning
building could give it.
Tho making Of safe of this kind is
complicated and expensive operation.
All the steel used comes in tho form Of
plates from the works After having
the necessary screw holes bored in them
they are heated to high temperature
and then tempered by suddenly miners
ing them in water. When they como out
they arc often little twisted and
warped, and have to be rolled cold and
sometimes polished clean by IL swiftly
moving emery wheel. Tho noise Of this
operation is ear splitting and so rasping
that man with ordinary nerves can
hardly endure it,. When the plate is per
fectly 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
quahtles-it cannot be cracked or bro
ken rs easily as steel, and tho steel i'm
parts hardness that defies the burglars
drill Tho screws arc also made of COM
bined 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 n
burglar to bore down through row Of
screws. The plates are also drawn very
close together, for if any space was left
between them safe blower might sue
ceed in getting his dynamite into it.
Between the interior and exterior
walls OF the safe large amount of hy-
draulic cement, combined with other in
gradients, usually according to O secret
recipe, Is packed sondly. In case of fire
the theory is that tho water in the ce-
ment-about 43 per cent-will, owing
to the heat of the outside covering, be-
come steam, partially, mt least, and be
driven close to the inner wall Here it
Will remain and furnish q blanket i'm
pervious to heat All the bolts arc cvlin-
1rical and from an inch up to two inches
in diameter
Combination locks are now used ex-
,lusively. The mechanism of most Of
them is extremely simple In one lock
there are number of round brass disks
or 'tumblers, each pivoted at the cen
Ter on small shaft which runs through
the safe door and connects with the lock
knob Each tumbler has slit in it Just
< of hn OF
The bolts and reaching nearly back to
The center. When all these Sits are to-
5cther 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
'andom over them AS these strike to-
5ether in turning the tunblers whirl,
md man might turn the lock knob a
thousand years without once getting the
Sits in all the tumblers together But
The man who knows Just how far to
urn one way and then how far back
again according to the combination num-
oers has no trouble at all
The combination and numbers are cas-
ly changed by changing tho screws in
he disk Many of the best safes and
vaults are now being provided with
lime locks Two and sometimes three
'locks arc inclosed in glass cases just in
,ide of the safe door. When the door is
locked, no one can open it again until
;hc clock hands have travelled the set
distance around the dial and touched
little trigger which releases tho bolts