Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1900-11-12

spindle is then inserted, and with one
sharp blow from a noiseless leaden
hammer the works of the lock are scat
tered into the safe. An ordinary piece
of bent wire is now sufficient to disar-
range the tumblers. and, the handle be-
ing turned, the safe is open to the
hands of the burglar.
According to Detective-Sergeant
Thomas Adams, who has spent busy
lifetime in the detective service Of
New York, no known device can equal
this innocent-looking piece of iron
junk. An additional advantage lies in
the fact that it can be carried in the
pocket of an ordinary coat. Just
imagine fassive, imposing and ex-
penslve contrivances Of the safe manu-
facturers yielding so readily to tool
the making of which, in the burglars
hands, does not cost over so cents.
One Michael Cody invented it by sit
ting down before the latest and most
improved pattern Of safe and studying
it's construction closely. It struck
him at once that the lock was the most
vulnerable part of safe, and from the
birth Of that idea grew the completed
invention.
Louis Lund, Frenchman, nick
named French Louis" burglar and
house thief, also has an invention to
his credit Of which Edison might be
proud. If any one criminal in the
United States can be said to have
made burglary science it is Lund.
He invented a safe-drilling appliance
that is almost perfect in it's way, it's
only weak feature being it's bulk and
the number Of parts Of which it con-
sists. This drill Lund used himself n
many robberies. but. not satisfied with
his earnings in that manner, he had
several of the instruments made, which
he loaned out on royalty to other bank
burglars less inventive than himself.
This instrument was one of many de-
signed by Lund for safe-cracking, and
it was while serving a term in Sing
Sing for it's use that he made the m
vention of which have already spok-
ca. 1t was to him that our prison
system owes the lever lock now in use
in every jail in the United States. By
means of this lock the mere shifting Of
a lever in the warden's Office securely
seals, instantaneously, every cell door
in the entire establishment Lund
gave his invention freely to the author
tiles. Had it been invented under or
binary circumstances it would certain
ly have brought fortune to it's maker.
Lock manufacturers have for years
been fighting, with more or less sue
cess, the skeleton key and the profess
sional lock picker. The lock of today
is infinitely more complicated than
that of fifteen or twenty years ago, but
the improvements in locks only seem to
call forth greater degree Of skill and
cleverness from the lock pickers. One
professional house thief, at least, has
fought the lockmakers to a standstill.
His name is Henry Klein, and it was
confined in Sing Sing prison that he in
vented and manufactured a set of keys
of most delicate workmanship and in
genious construction. The police are
now In possession of the set and re-
gard it with wonder and admiration as
the most complete lock-picking outfit
ever made. 1t consists of several dis
tinct shafts, with wards, removable or
extendable at will by turning screw
They can instantly be converted into
pivot or hollow keys and the size, posi-
ton and number OF the wards can be
altered into a large variety of combi-
nations.
Taking him altogether, the modern
burglar, bank breaker and swell cracks
man is a shrewd, inventive fellow,
skillful in his unlawful profession. He
would escape more frequently than he
does were it not for that kink in his
character which stamps nearly every
criminal. 1t is not what he does when
actually committing crime as how he
conducts himself afterward that fire.
quently gives the police the clew to his
capture. The criminals cleverness
and shrewdness ends and his reckless
AMa begiAs CAGE the job Is ever.