The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-03

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forced into a crevice that will not permit
water to enter. The bank burglar then
discovered that by covering the crevlces
around safe door with soap or putty to
make them alright he could use an air
pump to advantage. He left an opening
In his putty or soap at the top and anoth-
er at the bottom of the door. The wedge
or dpill was used in the upper crevlce 10
make slight opening. A cup of putty
was made below the crevice
and the cup was filed with nj
tro-glycerine. An air pump was
applied to the open space in the putty or
soap at the bottom of the door and the
air was exhausted. The nitro-glycerine
rushed through the crevice above, a fuse
was attached to the crevice a match APP
piled to the fuse, and the burglar sought
safety in some protected portion Of the
building After the explosion they return
ed and helped themselves to the contents
of the safe.
In The matter of locks the battle be-
tween the safe companies and the burg
lars has been equally spirited. Combna-
ton locks operated by keys have been In
use nearly hundred years The keyless
lock has been used for forty years. When
the combination lock, as it is now known,
was perfected, the safemakers thought
they had outwitted the expert thief. But
knocked off the knob. punched the spindle
out, and blew open the safe with powder
or dynamite. Some exceptionally expert
safe-breakers drilled holes through the
door above the tumblers, and by using a
wire arranged them so that the safe door
could be opened. This prevented a noisy
operation, and did not wreck the safe. This
was the method first tried by Jimmy
Hope in the Manhattan bank robbery
n mt ona shat,
used the wedge and sledge. The safe
maker then devised a combination lock
without the spindle. A form OF inverted
Jackscrew was devised that pulled the
combination lock out OF the safe door and
left hole. in which explosives we're
inserted to blow the door to pieces. The
combination lock was beaten by the man
with an acute sense Of hearing BY NOV
ing the tumblers slowly he could detect
when they fell into place. and then open
the door. Next came the time lock, that
made 1t impossible to throw the combina-
ton until a certain hour arrived Fol-
lowing this came the automatic device, OPP
Grated by the clock mechanism, and the
burglar was nonplussed for time.
Safe experts tried TO beat rival manu-
facturers, and they were speedily follow
ed by the burglar He discovered that by
Earring the safe the bolts would fan back,
of which was 20 draw the bolts when the
clock mechanism gave the signal, helped
him unlock the door
In the meantime a ST. Louis man in
vented the screw door. This was regarded
as absolutely burglar-proof. The door
carried a half TO three-ausrter-inch
thread, that Atted into Complementary
groove in the jambs spring bolt locked
II securely. time mechanism was at
lnaA IfwN
tried, and at Elmhurst. ILL.,, a few weeks
ago, an expert with a railroad te opened
screw door IN fifty-five minutes, and he
was in no haste, desiring not to injure the
safe. A few weeks before this however
Mike Muidoon made a similar experiment
at Antioch, ILL., He turned the safe OH
its side, with the bolt on the upper side
He exploded a charge OF nitro-giycerine on
top OF The safe, the bolt dropped Mr. Mul-
doom opened the door and he and his
friends carried away the $500 that the
safe contained. At Independence, Mo-,
few months ago, burglars opened a screw
door safe. They removed the plate to
which the hinge mechanism of the door Is
attached. This was done easily, as The
bolts we're in form Of screws. The holes
in the door made TO receive The bolts were
filled with nitro-giycerine and the door was
blown. TO pieces.
An Experiment.
After the steel doors and time locks of
safes had been brought 70 Their highest
pesfection, and It was believed that no
drill known TO science could penetrate
The chilled steel p,ates, one fine day
young man from Englewood named c. J.
Coleman. walked INTO the salesroom Of the
Oldest safe concern In Chicago Tie was
shown the latest make OF safe and was
told how absolutely burgiar-proof II was,
how impossible 20 drill the steel plates.
thirty-six hours being required TO drill a
hole in the door OF the safe.
What would you think II were to tell
you that / can drill a hole through that
door in thirty mlnutes?" he asked.
Il would think you were crazy or jok-
ing" was the reply.
Then Mr. Coleman told the manager
that BY using the ordinary carbon burner
in an arc light. with a current OF cleo
tricity applied he could produce a heal
sufficiently intense to melt the hardest
steel plate and bore mole through II.
Subsequent experiments proved that he
could do what he claimed. An inch hole
has been bored through a steel and iron
door Of the best construction seven aud a
half inches thick in twenty-seven minutes.
Storage batteries Weighing not TO exceed
200 pounds will, it is said furnish suffi-
cient current to do the work. Steel burns
more readily and rapidly than iron.
carbon connected with storage battery
or electric plant can be pushed through