The times., 1899-02-12
SAFE BURGLARS
Study CHEMISTRY
crooks Keeping Pace With the
March OF Improvement,
Brain Action More Productive Of
Results Than Muscle.
Arisfocrnts of the Art of Successful
ThicScry-Knowlc of Drugs
Necessary in the business


few days ago robber knocked the COM
binatiun from safe in a Plum Street gro
Gerry in Cincinnati, Ohio. and got away
with quite a bunch of money and other
yaluables At the recent mce,inS of thost
Interested in the National Bureau of lden-
tification, at Chicago, the subject of safe
robbing was discussed at some length.
Safe breakers are the aristocrats of
crime. Their profession requires higher
intelligence and greater skill than does any
other walk in criminal society. The sue
cessful cracksman must know something
about the tensile strength and hardness of
metal and the use of chemicals and me-
chanical appliances.
During the last forty years there has
been constant battle between the manu-
facturers of safes and expert burglars The
one defensive. the other aggressive. 1t
has been scientific warfare between metals
and locking devices on one side and high
class mechanism and explosives on the
other. Millions of dollars have been eX-
pended in experiments. II is estimated
that safe companies have expended five
times as much money testing and perfect
ing steel plates and locks for safes as the
Government has for armor plates and mod
ern guns.
Crooks Posted in Chemistry.
and mechanics, vaults and safes were Sc
cure enough. When a robbery was intend
ed the burglar forced the cashier or presi-
dent of the bank to open the safe or vault.
This old time practice is still in vogue,
and was the method pursued in the North
ampton Bank robbery, which yielded $685.
coo in cash and negotiable instruments.
Forty years ago safes were burglar
proof simply because the burglar had not
become skillful in the use of the wedge, or
drill, or fuse. The burglar soon learned 10
use the steel wedge. He used a lead or
copper hammer, and made little noise driv-
ing the wedges. In few hours the door
was forced from its hinges Then began
the business of manufacturing burglars
outfits, and sets made from the finest steel
cost from 81 800 TO $4,000. This class of
tools was used by Jimmy" Hope in the
famous Manhattan Bank robbery in New
York. when he and his associates got 81
900 in bonds. notes, and cash.
The use of wedges led the safe manufac-
turers to make their doors in such man
ner that they could not be pried open, and
then the burglar began to use the steel
drill. When a safe tempted him he went
TO the nearest blacksmith shop. borrowed
drill, bored a hole through the upper edge
of the door, blew puff of powder from
paper funnel through the hole, and set a
time fuse. This was easier, though more
noisy, than the wedge process. Various
devices were resorted to to prevent the ex-
plosion attracting attention, such as hang
ing blankets over the safe. The safemak-
ers then conceived the idea of defeating
the use of drills by boiling to the iron
plates stripes of steel, car or wagon
springs being used But the burglar did
not give up his drill. He simply bored a
hole through the iron plate, and by means
of punch and hammer shattered the
inner steel plate. Powder introduced
through the opening did the rest.
Welding Iron and steel.
The safemakers then bolted together two
strips of iron and one of steel, and finally
invented a method of welding them. The
layers were increased to five three of iron
and two of steel. The plates were one
eighth of an inch thick, and when the Ave
plates were welded into one 1t was suppos-
ed that Mr.. Burglar could not drill through
it, but Red" Leary, Jimmy Carroll, and
other experts in the use of improved drills
and jimmies and wedges continued to get
the best Of the safes. The steel was chilled
and hardened and the plates were made
thicker. Crystal steel and Franklinized
steel were used, and new processes were in-
vented, until at last the present iaminated
plate an inch thick was produced This
plate is regarded as the greatest achieve
ment of the safemaker, and seven OF these
plates bolted together make a door believ-
ed 10 be impregnable TO the drill.
Mr.. Burglar had begun the use of ex-
! plosiVes thirty years ago, but powder ceas-
| ed to be effective. He began 10 study
chemistry and read up on dynamite He
still possessed the idea that the explosive
must be introduced into the interior of tn
| safe, behind the door. Dynamite could
| only be applied on the outside. Small safes
| could not be shattered by it. This was the
method employed by the Reno gang In the
famous express robbery in Brown county,
| Ind, twenty-five years ago. tro-glycer-
| inc is liquid and can be forced into a
crevice that Will not permit water to en-
. ter.
The bank burglar then discovered that by
! covering the crevices around a safe door
, with soap or putty to make them airtight
he could use an air pump to advantage
| He left an opening in his putty or soap al
the top and another at the bottom OF the
door. The wedge or drill was used In The
upper crevice and the cup was filed with
nitro -glycerine. An air pump was applied
to the open space in the putty or soap al
the bottom of the door and the air was ex,
hausted. The nitro glycerne rushed
through the crevice above, fuse was at.
tached to the crevice a match applied Il
the fuse, and the burglar sought safety il
some protected portion of the building
After the explosion he returned and help
ed himself to the contents of the safe.
Strif. %? Companies and Burglars
In the matter OF locks, says a Cincinnati
dispatch. the battle between the safe com
panies and the burglars has been equal!
spirited Combination locks operated b,
l..znTg how in lrls Hr.4gIr-
The keyless lock has been used for fort!
years. When the combination lock- as ii il
now known, WAS perfected the safemaker
thought they had outwitted the exper
thief But Mr.. Burglar came along will
a sledge, knocked off the knob, punchet
the spindle out, and blew open the SAT-
with powder or dynamite. Some eXcep
tionally expert safe breakers drilled hole
through the door above the tumblers, an'
hy using a wire arranged them so that tn
safe door could be opened. This prevente'
! q noisy operation and did not wreck tn
safe. This was the method first tried b,
Jimmy Hope In the Manhattan Bank rob
berry. He failed in his first attempt an'
then used the wedge and sledge.
! The shoemaker then devised a Combina
| tion lock without the spindle. form n
inverted iackscrew was devised that pule
| The combination lock out Of the safe doc
and left hole in which explosives wer
inserted to blow the door TO pieces. Tn
combination lock was beaten by the ma
with an acute sense of hearing. BY movin
the tumblers slowly he could detect whe
; they fell into place and then open tn
door Next came the time lock, that mad
| IL impossible to throw the combinatio
: until a certain hour arrived. FOllowin
: this came the automatic device operate
| by the clock mechanism, and the burgia
was nonplused for time.
| ~. fi,r