The sun., 1900-12-09

Oraiaasy Locks Yield ~ once. aaa The otAsss
Are Easily Persuaded.
From ne Chicago Chrorscis

|
| Whsn the household gets ready TO turn ont
the gas for tho night preparatory TO turning
| In he makes the rounds Of the house. turns all
the keys TO assure himself the outer doors are
locked and goes to bed confident that no burglar
can get in unless he saws q hole In the door.
| But the householder IL mistaken. Nothing,
| unless II be an open door gives an expert burg
lar less trouble than the average lock. Picking
| ~ lock has come tn bs such fine art that there
! are only a few locks, and those specially made
| TO order. which cannot be picked by man who
| knows his business. Some people think they
| can fool the lock picker by leaving the key In
the lock on the inside. so tho burglar cannot
| insert a skeleton" key. This only makes things
easier The man who knows how and has the
| proper tools can turn key Just rs easily from
| the outer side Of a door as though he were on
| the side where the handle OF the key projects
| 4 slender. strong pair Of steel pliers properly
applied will clutch the little end OF the key which
| extends below the notches and turn 1t easily
and silently.
| But that is not lock picking. That Is child's
| play. 10 open II door which has been locked
| and from which tho kew has been removed
| IA n different proposition but old policemen
declare there are very few II any doors on or
| dinary dwellings and nat buildings which are
secured by locks able to resist the advances
ION" keys are made like ordinary doorkeys.
| only the guards. which in regular keys contain
several notch"s OF different depths. are very
thin and delicate. In a bunch OF these Keys
each one has guard just 2 shade WIDER OF
| longer than the next one. and the burglar tries
them one by one until he usually strikes one
which will do the business. rase the Proper
,umbers In the lock and shoot me Doll DacS, S
the sort which are screwed 10 the door and are
! now found only In very old frame buildings
or in the cheaper class Of hotels, this IL easy;
| these locks must have discovered that almost
any old key he borrowed from the nsighbors Y boz,
ally do it. Any slight protection on a slender
rod which will raise the simple tuinbler In the
&oGk & VII allow 'he bolt 70 be removed. n all
| modern buildings. which are fitted into the edge
| 2r the door and leave nothing showing but The
brass plate on the edge and the two keyholes
are bit more Intricate in their mechanism and
| ar" likely 10 hold the burglar nonent or two
longer But they will eventually yield TO the
| gentle movements Of the expert lock picker
Wh-n several skeleton keys have been tried
and none Is found 10 be the proper one The
| duced These are slender bits Of steel with ono
turned up AZ night angle. resembling button
an L. The long end In the hand OF the burglar
Is so slender that several OF these can De IN
serted al once in TO the circular part OF NE
one raising tumbler and holding 1t up until the
| proper. number Of tumblers are raised. when
f There "9s IS SS scarcely lock in town on which an
! oxpert cannot perform this trick--that is. OF
the yarfy l ioGks Sr@n ShiS stSer sab sd. of
the door, With spring locks-or might latch"
lock-. as they are called.the work is & q biz more
formed with skeleton key than with picks;
| The expert burglar is provided with a pocketful
blaHts F' and iai each one having nosles shade
| different from the Others In the cheaper
grade Of night latches one OF these X keys is n. al.
| on tt,e key ring OF the householder, snugly
asleep inside II perfect confidence s 4 his Lock a ~
| one disturbed the folks say; "
I cant see how they Got H. f9F the n,nU dO0r was
locked and we fGnnd y locked sns nos tbe door
| behind him so as TO avert suspicion as long a.
possible.
| nals however. Some Of the most expert men
| In that line are practical locksinths and em-
ployees OF the big safe-makng trins, VINO havo
attacks save those Of the keys intended for
the makers Of hi empower shells aud the makers
| of armor plato is no more steadily waRed than
S ors. WRSs Sna s
and are intended 10 guard .alnabies Ihe So
called burglar proof safe Of twenty years ago
| The time lock doors OF a safe deposit vault,
| with their ponderous cranks and screw-thread
are the hshe pe &c Of bs snG
| proof against everything except earthGuakes
aud properly applied dynamite. But when
they get out OF order and refuse TO open at tho
| appointed time the lock expert is sent for ana
after an hour or two of gentle turnlnH and
| twisting and listening 10 the interior clchngs
| he swings open the door and the trick Is done.
Ordinary Office safes are easy for the eSpert
from the safe firm or even an old-timer in ths
locksmith's business Quite often through
| IL unknown TO the ofllce force, Perhaps the
| one man who knew T. has forgotten II or mas
| died suddenly without impartng the secret
| The safe must be opened without destroying
| the lock and the expert comes. Aiter more
or leas twisting of the knob and listening TO the
resistance 10 the knob a II turns under BIS
| fingers. he throws back the bolts and opens
| the door.
Roll-top desks are frequent cause Of trouble
in this regard. az the owner often locks ny.
keys inside the curtain" when he draws u
down FOR the night Next morning he sends
for a locksmith and when he aces how easily
that deft individual opens the desk he be-
grudges him the half dollar charged for the
oh Instead Of bringing with him an armful
his pocket q pair of pliers made oi very thin.
fiat steel These he slips under the roll TOP.
Immediately below the kevhole. the Jaws being
open. slight pressure on the handle brlnHs
the Jaws together and a. they press IN the niue
projections which keep the thing locked the
desk il opened
The night latch Is often opened by burglars
I'm a similar manner sually the door closes
against a thin strip OF wood nailed 10 the door
jamb or casing Immediately inside this is the
bolt of the spring lock. the bowel side out lhe
burglar has a thin blade of steel like cass
knife bat not so springv, which he inserts be-
tween the strip Of wood and the casing nnine-
diatey opposite the kevhole Pressing against
the bevcl edge of the bolt causes II 10 slide back
almost Ms easily as the pressure ot the Key, ana