The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-09
SlFE.CRACKING NOT EASY.
r.yUFAcTURERs NAVE THE LEAD
orrR PURGLLRS JUST NOW.

.,..,-,c,,y Not Vet the BurEiar's Ready Part
s..-rrc,dents OF the Rivalry Between the
,.,L burglar ana tho earemaker-A re
,,re1 Burglars View or New Methods.
,-o rtcs safe. and arc burslar-proof vaults
~ against burglarsi 1t is certain that In tho
sh.tweeu the burglar and the safe manufac
-. tho manufacturer haa been forced to main
,stn a high rate Of speed in order to make any
sInc like A respectable showing. As fast as Inn
.-red processes in safe and vault construction
rorc brought into use, the ingenuity Of tho
.-rer,ckvr found some way TO overcome them.
yrhcn chrome steel plates were alternatcd
,,,h sheets OF boiler iron the utility Of the burg
,,r,, diamond. pointed drill was sadly circum.
,cribed, for, although tho drill could be forced
through the hardened steel. 1t came to grief
whom Il struck the soft boiler iron, and cloggcd
and broke. Then the blowpipe was used to heat
,e steel and take away its temper, so that the
crocksman's drill was once moro effective ; but
the shoemaker chcckmated this by using n sort
NJ spiegclizcd iron which could not be melted at
less than 3 500 degrees Fahrenheit, while ordi.
nary steel mclts at $500 degrees, and which,
after being subjected to the blowpipe's heat, re-
tanned is brittle hardness. Then came the
Ned,c ard the liquid form OF explosive, and
n,tro-glyccrine could be pumped with n syringe
into the smallest Of cracks and fred by tho aid
of A decorating fuse. This was a new art, for
hitherto the burglar had not learned how to use
the LIQUID explosive without blowing n hole In
himself as well as in the safe. 1t necessitated
steps and grooves In the safe doors, with joints
worked so true and fine as to leave scarcely
room for a needle point to enter.
Now came tho air pump, with which the air
was exhausted out Of the smallest crevice and
the explosive sucked in to fill the vacuum. The
h,ryl,r Ia entitled IN M credit for tho mir up,p
development. He did not invent 1t. A New
York safe manufacturer discovered the effect
iycncss OF cXhausting tho air. and a dishonest
employee betrayed the secret to tho crack8men.
To obviatc this new danger strips of thin rubber
were used on the step joints Of the safe door. and
il then became necessary to resort to the wedge
OF steel worked in by blows from a muffied sledge
In order TO make room for dynamite or nitro
glycerine. This took time. and was to that ex-
tent a victory for the shoemaker. for the most
he can hope to do in his struggle against the
burglar is TO delay and obstruct him as much as
possible. To keen him out altogether is past
praying for.
The invention Of the scrow door was regarded
as an important advance in safe-building. In
addition to the normal strength of a steel door
six to ten inches thick, n screw is cut which
unitcs the door to the safe by n strong thread.
and until the time-lock reaches its allotted limit
and releases n bar the door cannot be unscrcwed.
jealousy on the part OF a business rival found a
way to open a screw-door safe in two hours and
fft--sevcn minutes, but thus far the professional
burglars have not made much Roadway with
this style OF safe. and 1t seems to have served
its purpose of adding to the difficulty and the
tine necessary to effect an opening. Perhaps
the expert cracksman thus far devised is
iolnd in the form of a huge, globe Of
rolves sideways and locks and unlocks au-
,,omatically. according to the time attachment.
tents Of the inner chest are far in the rear, with
more than a foot Of solid metal between them
q and aa the SSur oT ssu ghe fST% Of b shs ssfe S SlhlGSs e. f
that no safe Of this pattern has been robbed. 1t
5000 to $4,000. according to size and Weight.
Placed inside OF a 1reproof vault, this In
ably give the burglar more trouble than any.
thing else he has ever tackled, But its time will
the immovable must eventually give way to the
irresistible; the steel and iron will surely yield
t, tom modem ID 1Im high an sTP Pi%s {: al i t + ne ,Sa sa = Sa aes
The chance that any, given safe or vault will
made the basis Of a system of insurance for
have valuable things in their safes. The poll.
cies also cover damages to the safes and vaults
Of premium are determined by the merit OF
the safes and vaults. their surroundings, The
p pre- ,Rd aso and safsgpards agsins. burglary;
is cheaper in New York than in Chicago;
Or Red Gulch. The principal : business in
thi. line Of insurance throughout the United
largest and finest of modern steel buildings is
owned and occupied by a company engage. in
lariOu6 riskS The ieValiera nf the TTnitad
States are organized into a national alliance for
protection against robbery. and the bankers also
operative purposes of defence. Both the bank
srs and Jewellers employ q private detective
II is said that. other things being equal, a burg
Jar Will choose for his operations an establish
I IS~e snS' Ali Rir a or the IS B hGI g %e assSaiS al eho
which burglarious assaults are followed up and
run down by these organizations.
The most recent and startling development in
safe burglary is the discovery that by the aid Of
can be penetrated easily and rapidly. A sensa-
non was created a few months ago by the an.
great potency was available in the burgisrizing
fb bank vaults and jewelry safes in the form OF
tRf s''ci fer 'I iisSsins s0n ssS By BY street the s s4ciiss
e the banks and iswelry stores; All
a slight knowledge of electricity. "a carbon
stick: a bunch Of wire. and thirty minutes
49, ~ Wv uhu. hO ihS hOlh " u
the contents Of any vault or, safe yet con.
structed. Bankers were shocked at the thought
shat the electric supply mains under the pave
ment or the WIRE service system in tho bank
building itself were to take the place Of the
Jimmy, the drill, the wedge. and tho high OK
plosives hitherto employed, and were to provide
the burglar with Il noiseless but invinciblc ally
IN looting the treasure in tho strong boxes.
The application of electricity to safe burglary
vas first effected in Chicago BY Samuel Rodman.
Jr.. IA graduate of West Point and an OK
Lieutenant in the artillery branch OF the regu-
lar army. Mr.. Rodinan was, operating as an
'xperimentalist, not as u safe-brcaker. The ex-
9eriments were, conducted in Chicago, and Mr..
'todman undoubtedly did succeed, by the aid OF
Electricity, In getting a. good-sized hole through
Eve inches OF wrought iron In less than half an
hour. The attention of electricians was directed
to the performance, and doubt was expressed
whether tho experiment was not conducted in
a laboratory rather than under the conditions
which a burglar must confront in attempting to
make use OF u street circuit. In reply to this
query Mr.. Hodman said:
As a matter of fact the experiment was not
mndc In u laboratory, but under exactly tho
rame conditions which in. practice would exist
and might be made uSe OF by an INSCRIPTIONS
person for a surreptitious purpose. That Is.
fcxible wires were connected with electric light
mains under the idewalk-th same as could lie