Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1902-04-23

fell a victim to modern science. He
was released not long ago from the
5 Clinton, N. Y, prison, after a five
years term for robbing the Mid ile>
burg bank, penniless, gray with age,
broken in. health and spirit. The sto-
ry of the mans life is like a romance,
and is full of chapters which one finds
T. hard to believe. In his prime he
was truly the greatest criminal in the
world. Ruloff, the butcher, VINO
fought his way to freedom scores Of
times over the bodies of his own vic
Tins, excelled him in daring perhaps,
but no criminal that ever livei had
his mechanical genius.
Sninburn is a German, was taught
the trade of a machinist and lock-
smith by his father, came to tlis
country before he was seventeen years
old, and had launched on career Of
crime before he was eighteen. He
lad wonderful skill as a locksmith
A Cup by two noted crimi-
george Bliss and Fairy" Nc
%. whom he met IN New York
the w They used him in
robbing New Jersey bank, and the
success of the venture was due pri-
marily to his skill. He progressed
rapidly, and as his ability became
known in the Crook world his SER
vices were in constant demand. He
probably engaged in twenty robberies
before his name became known to the
authorities. He had scarcely attained
his majority when he was planning
out big robberies for himself. At that
time the only safe in general use in
banks and business houses in this
country was that made by The Lilly
company. Shinburn figured that a
man who could master the secret Of
the Lilly combination lock could loot
every Lilly safe in the country.
He decided to go and work for the
Lilly company. Bliss and MCGUIRE
agreed to keep him in funds while he
studied. Such an expert machinist as
Shinburn had no difficulty in getting
the job he wanted. It took him over
year to obtain all the knowledge he
needed for the successful consumma-
ton of the series of robbsries he had
planned, but he kept at work with pa
tience. The most important discovery
he made at the time was that per-
son with acute hearing could, by put
ino fhn Nf 1ry
safe and turning the dial, discover
at what numbers the tumblers
dropped into place. He made a care
full study of difficult combinations,
and is credited with a discovery that
is alleged to have driven the Lilly
safe out of the market He removed
the combination from safe and then
placed an impressionable piece of pa
Per under it. Then he turned the dial
slowly and found that whenever a
: combination number was reached the
impression on the paper became more
distinct. By using a miscroscope
Shinburn was able to tell what the
combination numbers were. With this
mass OF valuable information Shin
burn and his associates plum 1ered
Lilly safes all over the country, finally
driving the Lilly company out of busi-
ness. Time and again the man was
arrested, and several convictions are
on record against him, but no prison
was ever strong enough to hold him
for long. With the police OF the coun-
try after him, Shinburn went to New
York city and invested large sum
of money in the stock market. He
was warned to fly, as the authorities
were closing In on him, but he calmly
waited to see how his investment
would turn out. A sudden rise In the
market brought him fortune, and