The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-02-01
THE GENTLE ART
OF BREAKING SAFES

In the eyes of most persons safe
breaking comes under the general
classification Of criminology. 1t is a
matter for the police to deal with, and
one in which the ordinary newspaper
reader takes only a casual interest.
But right here in New York there
are at least 100 upright and honorable
men, many of them respected citizens.
who are the most expert safecrackers
in the United States, and are proud of
the distinction. There are about thirty
more of them in Philadelphia. But
these safeerackers have control of their
trade this side of Chicago. Indeed, the
New York and Philadelphia experts
are such good craftsmen that they, are
frequently summoned across the Amer
lean continent and even to foreign
lands, to get at the contents of sares
that will not open up either to the
Workmen who constructed them or to
the use of dynamite, so far as it is safe
and judicious to use it in skyscraper
building.
To all intent and purposes there is
nothing SO simple and receptive to the
trained touch as the average counting
house safe, after a few instructions
concerning the necessity of remember
ing the combination. Almost every
clerk can introduce an innovation on
the combination and find the safe
easy" as the saying goes. But a more
useless and e-provok1ng piece Of
property than safe that bucks" as
they say in the trade, cannot be i'm
ag1ned. 1t blocks business, tangles up
accounts, and unless it is opened with
In thirty-four hours, causes more trou..
bic than can be undone in a week.
Skilled mechanics and men who earn
their living making safes are called
in, and if it is true that love laughs at
locksmiths, it is certain that locks
laugh at them, too.
OF course, there are safes and safes.
Some OF them, by no means cheap, look
quite formidable, and are very prettiIy
painted. But it is a matter of knowl-
edge to the firemen and the police that
they offer as little protection for money
or securities as the average tin cash
box that can be bought for 81. But the
modern timelock safes that guard the
millions of great corporations and
banking institutions are quite another
thing. No burglar or gang of burglars
would ever think of tackling, for in
stance, the storage vaults of the New
York clearing house. But the time lock
gear and combination protection in
these vaults are just as likely to go
askew some morning as the simple
safe in some business Office. What
is to be done?
The modern time lock is as delicate
In its adjustment as a beautiful watch.
The first time lock in the world was
made in Scotland somewhere about
1881. 1t was about twenty-five years
ago that Scotchman began the man
ufacture of them in New York, and now
the American time lock safes stands
without peer in the world.
Ever since time locks were first put
on safes there have been lockouts. In
1887 young man was working in the
machine snaps CT leading Pennsyl-
wanna toWn, manufacturing safes. There
were calls from customers Of the firm
two or three times a day, saying that
they were locked out of their safes and
that business was at a standstilI. One
Saturday afternoon, in a town sixty
miles distant from Reading, there was
q message from a banker who could not
unlock his safe. He was not cheerful
over the prospect Ct having to sit in
his office all day Sunday watching his
securities. He offered to pay for a spe-
eial engine if an ernploye could be sent
down from the factory tc make re-