The suburban citizen., 1901-01-05
ART OF LOCK PICKING
ORDINARY ONES YIELD AT ONCE,
OTHERS EASILY PERSUADED.
Nothing, Unless It BE an Open Door,
Gives an Export Burglar Less Trouble
Than an Average Lock - The Use
of skeleton Keys and "Picks."

turn out the gas for the night prepara-
tory to turning in he makes the rounds
Of the house, turns all the keys to as
sure himself the outer doors nre
locked, and goes to bed confident that
no burglar can get in unless he saws
n hole in the door, says the Chicago
Chronicle. But the householder is
mistaken Nothing, unless It be an
open door, gives an expert burglar less
trouble than the average lock. "Pick-
ing ieck has come to be such fine
art that there are only few locks,
and those specially made to order,
which cannot be picked by a 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 that the burglar cannot 'n-
sert a skeleton" key. This only
makes things easier. The man who
knows how and has the proper tools
can turn a key just as easily from
the outer side of a door as though lie
were on the side where the handle of
the key projects. A slender, strong pair
of steel pliers properly applied will
clutch the little end of the key which
extends below the notches and turn
it easily and silently.
But that is not lock picking. That
is child's play. To open a door which
key has been removed is different
proposition, but old policemen declare
there are very few, If any, doors On
ordinary dwellings and fiat buildings
which are secured by locks able 10
resist the advances of the burglar.
What are known as skeleton" keys
are made like ordinary doorkeys, only
the guards, which in regular keys con-
tain several 'notches Of different
depths, are very thin and delicate. In
a bunch of these keys each one has n
guard just a shade wider or longer
than the next one, and the burglar
tries them one by one until he usually
strikes one which will do the business
raise the proper tlmblers in the lock
and shoot the bolt back. Where the
old fashioned rim" locks are used, the
sort which are screwed to the door and
are now found only in very old frame
buildings or in the cheaper class of
hotels, this is easy. Any one who has
locks must have discovered that al
most any old key he borrowed from
the neighbors would turn the bolt. A
buttonhook will usually do it. ANY
slight projection on n slender rod
which will raise the simple tumblcr
in the lock will allow the bolt to be
removed.
But "mortise" locks, the variety in
use in all modern buildings, which are
fitted into the edge Of the door and
leave nothing showing but the brass
plate on the edge and the two key
holes are a bit more intricate in their
mechanism and are likely to hold the
burglar a moment or two longer. But
they will eventually yield to the gen
tie movements Of the expert lock pick
er When several skeleton keys have
been tried and none is found to be the
proper one the picks" which give the
art it's name, are introduced. These
are slender bits of steel with one
turned up at a right angle, resembling
buttonhook with the 'hooll' straight
ened out to form an L. The long end
in the hand Of the burglar, is so slen-
der that several OF these can be in
serted at once in to the circular pact
Of the keyhole, and they are put in
one by one, each one raising q tumbler
and holding it up until the proper
number OF tumblers are raised, when
the bolt moves back and the door is
open.
There is scarcely a lock in town on
which an expert cannot perform this
trick-that is, Of the common variety
Of locks which can be opened through
n keyhole from either side Of the door.
With spring locks-or might latch
locks, as they are called-the work IS
a bit more difficult sometimes, and Is
more often performed with skeleton
key than with picks. The expert bur-
glar is provided with a pocketful Of
night latch keys cut from steel or iron
blanks" and each one having notchVs
a shade different from the others. In
the cheaper grade Of night latches onc
Of these keys is almost certain TO
prove a duplicate Of the one on the
key ring Of the householder snug,y
asleep inside in perfect confidence IN
his lock.
And after the house has been robbed
and no one disturbed the folks say:
II can't see how they got in, for the
door was locked and We found It
locked this morning"
The wise burglar takes care to close
the door behind him so as to avert
suspicion as long as possible.
Not all OF the lock picking is done
by criminals, however. Some of the
most expert men in that line are prac-
tical locksmiths and employees Of the
big safe-making firms, who have spent
years In peering into locks and devils
ing methods for making them p:oof
against all attacks save those of the