The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-11-12
TO SCARE BURGLARS.
a FEW DEVICES SOMEWHAT OUT OF
THC COMMON RUN.

AheS May Happen to Brighten People Who
Afo Not burglars, but There Is No Doubt
That Most of Them Arc Colcp,ated IN
Scare Every Time.
nttlo party of women, brought to-
gether last week by family reunion
over III Brooklyn, had under debate q
communication recently printed in The
sun respecting domestic devices to serve
Us burglar alarms.
We believe i'll TIM" said one. "John
CUT little groove like half of an auger
mole across the tops of the front and
back doors, a few inches back from the
outer edge, and before we go to bed we
POKE INTO each one stick supporting
some old tinware OH tho extreme end.
"A leaky watering pot, with some old
TN cups inside, hangs ON one, and ON
the other an old dishpan, with q couple
OF baking tins tied to it, So long as the
door stays shut nothing happens, but if
IL Is pushed open the least mite of q
crack down comes tho tinware with
CHATTER fit to wake up everybody in the
ward. ~
That's all well enough for your
doors, but how about the windows? 4
h!ef can open one of these new tangled
Watches by pol.inS table knife up be-
tween tho sasEcs, as easy rs you'd say
scat
But that wouldn't open our wiz
doWS. John has bored holes slanting in
through tho window casing into the
sashes and put long iron pins in them
1t Is just rs if every window was nailc;i
last, and Il burglar, to got in, would
have to cut away the whole sash. -
Did any of you ever try ncwspa-
pers:" asked another "No? Well, let
me assure you, from my own experience,
there is nothing better. Lay one or two
dry newspaper sheets in tho lower hall
and pin couple on the stairs. 1t is i'm
possible to step on them without max
ing noise that, i'll tho stiffness %
night, would surprise you if you never
tried 1t before. And you can't pick them
up or fold them or slide them out of the
way or step over them without more
noise. AS for the ones OH the stairs,
they arc simply the thief's despair. Ny
husband laughed at me when / first put
them down, but within week, as it
happened, their efficacy was proved 1
was awakened one night by the rustling
of paper in the hall below and awoke
my husband. We lay quiet and listened.
Presently there was another rustic.
Then long silence. Then more rus
Ting, and as the sound of it died away
we could hear somebody swearing in a
whisper. Ii was so funny that my hus-
band burst into roar Of laughter, and
the fellow down stairs jcrked tho front
door open and fled. -
Il don't think soaring q burglar
away is enough punishment for him, "
commented an elderly woman. "Ho
ought to be hurt somehow Mr.. B.
thinks so, too, and his warm welcome
for the uninvitcd' is something that, as
he says, Just about fills the bill The
bolts OIL our front door and the arc light
before it free us of all apprehcnsions of
attack from that direction, but twice
our house was entered by petty thieves
through tho back door, which faces a
dark garden and is i'll tho shadow of
vine covered porch Tho second timo
inspired Mr.. B. with an idea. At one
side of the door, about the height of
mans face. he fastened TO tho wall
springy bamboo cane, with tin cup
wired to its free end. During the day
ii can be turned up on tic wall out Ct
tho way, but at night, when he sets it
ior business, it is sprung out about y
feet and held there by short stick and
figure 4 trigger SO set that opening
tho door will trip it. Tho tin cup, l
omitted to mention, holds good ounce
of cayenne pepper.
81
that continuance up nothing happened,
and he was getting low spirited over
the neglect of the burglars to take noto
of his new invention. Then, one night,
tho sharp 'spang' of the cane against
the wall rang sharply all through the
house and woke us up. That was fol.
lowed Immediately by language on the
back porch fit to make your blood run
cold. We got to the window in time to
see two men i'll the garden, ono leading
the other, who was bowling and swear
ing terribly. We fanced that some Of
the pepper had got into his eyes. Before
Mr.. b. could get his pistol they had
disappeared i'll the shrubbcry, and we
have not been troubled since. %
'Ti!at trigger, set to go off when the
uCuI "dH opchcu, Icinatheu anOlnef
woman, reminds me of horrid thing
my husband brought home with him
from trip ont west last year. 1t was
like pistol barrel, with Il long screw
Oh one side for fixing it to tic door
frame and Il long spring OH the other to
project over the edge Of tho door, A lit
tie touch would make the spring fall
hard on a cap and fire the thing off.
Tho first night after Jack got home,
aYhnn WIS Snttiuo Il chair INSIDE down