New-York tribune., 1897-01-30
PROTECTIVE ELECTRICITY.
4 NEW ELEMENT OF SAFETY FROM A MUL-
TITUDE OF OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
THE EXPERT BURGLARS SKILL
A BOON TO BANKS.

progressive ingenuity necessarily Keeps "e'
apace with the conditions affecting his peculiar
trade when burglar alarms stand between pooty
and capture those skilled mechanics who spend
the best days OF their lives in perfecting inven-
tons for the protection OF property. have not for
gotten the value Of electricity IN connection WIN
the end-of- -the-century safe.
The announcement can now he made that
protective electric safe Of An astonishing nature
will he put on the market at an early date The
inventor will not make the details OF his device
public at this time. nor will he permit the use o,
his name in connection with it for the present
but ii may be snid that the appliance is one that
can be attached to the best safes now on the
market.
There are safes that are even now reasonably
safe repositories. When the new electrical ap-
pllance shall have been brought into connection
with them, the entetprising burglar will find his
occupation much more difficult than 1t Is now.
even If he is not compelled to go out Of business
altogether
The general depression OF the las. year or two
has not affected the safe manufacturing business
to any great extent. People who have only few
vauables anxious to guard them safely as
those who have many And the demand for
safes Will grow in proportion to the improve
ments that made in them Thus. the predic-
tion is justified that when electricity is brought
into to battle completely the efforts Of rob-
bers. the safe-making industry will reach It's
fullest development
Fire and burglar-proof safes now consd-
cred a staple necessity. for TIE business man Is
rare indeed who leaves his books and papers
overnight To the chances of fire. and the bank
er vino would attempt to do business without
adequate safe security would quickly discover
his mistake. The export trade in fre-proof
safes has been steadily expanding, and the de-
mand for American safes comes not only from
South America and South Africa but from Eng
land and Germany. 1t can naturally be in
fcrred therefore. that there Is no American in
dustry which more thoroughly dehes all for
eign competition than the manufacture OF fire
and burglar proof safes. The iron boxes which
Europeans trust to for security are ridiculous
when compared with modern American safes.
and the reason for this is not difficult to dis
cover
The American burglar is the most skful, en-
terurising and desperate criminal in the world.
Nothing daunts him Life and liberty riskej
on a chance. but it must be said to the credit
Of the burglars shrcwdness that SO skilfully
does he minimize the chances OF capture that
he is not caught once in dozen times. To de-
feat skilled cracksmen therefore, burglar-proo
safes must be made impregnable to every form
Of attack whether with wedges jmmcs or high
explosives. This impregnabty will. it is
claimed he brought about by the application
OF the electrical invention to the highest
grade of safes as they are at present. There are
plenty Of bankers however. who still continue
to pin their faith to the old square-door system
Of safe-constructon. on the principle that what
was good enough for their fathers is good
enough for them. In consequence, according
1 Association there are Oh an average POO banks
robbed in this country each year. entailing an
estimated loss Of 81, 100000. The present per-
! fcctlon of reproof security in safes has been
attained by the endeavor to make safe which
will preserve its contents from loss by fire even
when the safe falls from the upper floors of the
highest buildings. 1t is generally admitted that
the safe made Of continuous plates. with solid
welded angles and round corners Is the strong
est and consequently the most secure. These
safes have been known to fall seven stories
bounding from iron girders in their descent and
/ suffer material damage.
There is fully S1OOOO.O0O invested in safe
manufacture in this country, giving employment
to many thousands Of skilled mechanics. All
the principal companies have salesrooms in
NewYork City, which is naturally considered
the centre OF the safe industry. Every great
, store in NeW-1 orh mas TelOiOHldH 'HdrdcteT-
istics which add greatly to its attractiveness
For instance. safe salesroom has a depart
ment fitted up 10 show every form of bank safe
construction from the earliest times giving the
visitor vivid idea Of the wonderful progress
made in burglar proof security, especially within
the last twenty years Here shown all the
principal makes of bank safes and altogether It
Is one Of the exhibits Of the city which visiting
bankers will find very instructive. The big solid
spherical bank safe in the front window of this
store has long been one of the attractions of the
City Hall district. 1t is considered to be not
only burglar proof. but proof against mob at
tack as well. AS if to show their absolute con-
fdence In this safe. its makers have placed in
the window Immediately before it elaborate
collection Of burglars tools captured from a
gang who raised havoc among Illinois bankers
for "A number of years. Added to this exhibit Is
bottle OF nitro -glycerne. lump Of putty. a
fuse and detonating cap. evidently intended to
illustrate the difference between the old and
methods OF operating upon bank safes. When
the different forms of construction are studied
one can easily trace how each invention of
the burglar was met by a new improvement on
the part Of the shoemaker up 10 the time that
the introduction of nitro-glycerne made neces-
sary radical change In construction. For
| many years burglar-proof bank safes were built
with square doors the body being composed OF a
number Of hardened and soft steel plates In al
| ternate layers screwed or bolted together and
the doors fortified by an elaborate system OF bolt
| work.
| The burglar could oniy effect an entrance into
| these safes by stripping off the plates one by
one or by drilling holes in them sufficiently large
| to contain enough powder which. when eX-
| ploded. would blow open the door. The door
| even in those days was always the weak point
| A favorite device OF bank robbers when they
were too lazy or lacked sufficient time to dr!l
| or strip a safe. was TO proceed 10 the residence
| of the banks cashier and force from him at the
| point Of a pistol the combination of the safe.
| To guard against such a contingency time locks
we're invented which permit Of safe being
lawfully opened only at the particular hour