Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1895-07-18
BATTLING BURGLARS
SAFES AND LOCKS WHICH ARE PROOF
AGAINST TAMPERERS.

There is no denying the fact that the
burglar Of today. who aims ut high
fame displays amazing ingenuity in
'no manufacture of scientific tools and
apparatus and also in the practical work.
ing Of the same.
Eat he Is completely out Of tho run.
uing when pitted against our safemak
trs and lUcksniiths, even though ho peri.
udically buys their wares for expert
mental purposes.
While the present writer was being
personally conducted" over the prem.
iscs of the greatest firm Of lockmakcrs
in tho world he acquired much interest
ing information concerning those won
rlrou' pieces of mechanism which pro.
tcct the vast riches Of palaces, banks
and stronsrooms, and which render it
absolutely impossible for thieves to
break in.
Perhaps the mort interesting depart
mcut was that one in which an eXhibi-
ton of the highest form Of the burglar 8
craft was being given. Skilled workmen
were seated before locked safes and
were u:iny tho almost irresistible fusing
apparatus OF the door in order to reach
IL; locks or were forcing gunpowdcr
through the kcyholcs by means Of q tiny
pair of bellows
Others were squirting corrosive chem
icals into the locks and noting the cf-
feet, while sturdy artisans were using
the drill and the wedge with a scientific
force and skill that showed they could
be dangerous enemies to society if they
were crilninally inclined.
Tho fusing apparatus consists of a
cylinder Of compressed oxygen gas,
which supplies u short section of pipe
terminating i'll all iron cup The latter
is pressed firmly against the door after
light has been applied, and % stream
of flame issues from the end of tho pipe
in its bottom. SO fierce is this ilumo
that it lnelts the metal in TIE safe door
and cats a Jagged hole through it in a
remarkably short space Of time.
1--WE turn out about 2SS, 600 locks ev-
cry year" remarked tho manager Of tho
works, land they range III weight from
quarter of ali concentrating key
20 22S pounds, tho respective values of
these extremes being Is cents and g.,
500.
Foremost among those locks which
protect enormous wealth Como those on
tho treasury doors OF the Bank Of Eng
land. Tho making CT each of these mar.
vels Of mechanism occupies three men
for six weeks and costs S375
'"Those little fluted pieces Of steel in
'steps'-arc nine in number and are ca
pable of 1862, $50 different combinations
IF a banker whose safe was fitted
with this lock CHANGED to lose his key, OF
If he had reason to suppose that a wax
impression Of it had been made, all
that would be necessary in order to baf
flo burglarious designs would be to un.
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.
1.-THE mechanism of tho lock would
instantly adapt itself to the changed
combination and could never be un.
locked by the former key.
'This, however, is not an unnixed
blessing. One afternoon q certain city
merchant was amusing himself by un-
screwing the steps Of both his keys
when it suddenly occurred to him that
no had forgotten the combination.
"As the keys III question were capa-
bic of thousands of combinations, there
was nothing for it but to set to work on
O system Of numbered tables and tick
of each combination as it were tried.
"'But that may take months, OBJ.
jected the merchant ruefully. Well, as
the only other alternative was to build
furnace round tho door Of the safe it
was decided to try the combination first
1--WE sent two men and an apprentice
with the printed tables-great sheets Of
paper several yards long-and after nine
days labor, during which about IS, 900
different combinations were arranged
and tried. the right one was hit upon by
accident, and the door opened Needless
to say, there was q 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 2H tons. Besides being fitted
with the above mentioned changeable
locks they have violence locks feet
long, each of which weighs 200 pounds,
and gunpowder proof locks, having
blowholes Oh every side, even through
the massive bolt. These blow holes al
low the gunpowder pumped in to escape
and reduce the force of possible explo-
sion to mere harmless puff.
1T is worthy Of note that there are
more than 10000 locks fitted in the
Bank Of England. Then comes the Sa
voy hotel with 1900, controlled by ono
master key. The manager Of each Of the
six floors at the Savoy, however, has n
master key which controls the lock Of
every room under his supervision.
"Her majesty's safe at Windsor cas-
tie in which tho gold plate is kept
weighs eight tons and is protected by
violence lock IS inches long, a change
able lock and gunpowder lock, all of
which can be mechanically covered by
an undrillablc steel plate, which rem
ders it impossible to insert even hair
pin into any Of the keyholes. London
Answers.
Guarding Royalty.
Fresh precautions have been adopted
IL, Eu~1onI nc o<Lo>, E,,ro,oc,, 1860.