The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1903-09-02
-BREAElHG so Elsf non.
Pinkerten Nan Says There are
Few Clever Burglars Left.

:.
Any safe IN the world that has a
square door can be opened In half an
hour, and all of the materials needed
are half pint Of ni5ro-glycerine, a
caSe Of laundry soap and a hye-cent
irse. s.
This was the opinion expressed re-
gently by T. H. Tollotson, western
division chief of the Pinkerton
agency, who has run to earth many
supposedly clever bank burglars In
the last ten years. Nj. Iollotson does
noe possess a very high opinion OF the
modern bank burglar.
g e no longer requires intelligence
ard executive ability to crack safe, 2
said he. There was a time when the
safe craftsman was the arlssocrat OF OF
theifdona. Nowadays he is as likely to
Z az 4 tramp as not. Z have picked
them of brakebeams with enough
nitro-gIycerine ia bottle IN their
POCKETS to have blown the coach to
atoms If it had fallen to the track
In the old days q bank burglars
s kisof tools was large and heavy. It
consisted of steel wedges, drills, sledge
hammers and screw Jacks. The door
Of safe had TO BE literally torn OFF
IN sections, with powder explosion
now and then 60 assist the operation.
N was an all-night job for three or
four men and they went after vaults
that had big money inside shem.
They have no counterlsarts nova
DAYS. The bank burglar of modern
times IS content with small returns.
Isolated country banks where there is
No polics protection and pursuit can
not be organized for hours are his
chief prey. Then big guns ofaquar-
ter OF a century ago would never kill
Adam Worth, whom the Pinkerton
agancy respects as the greatest thief Of
The century. never carried 8 revolver
and woum not associate with any crook
who carried one. HeSdid not care to
sace murder charge. The safe blower
OF today goes armed to the teeth and
ghcots TO Kill.
In the last three years we have
caught thirty safe blowers IN this sec
Eson and only two of them had police
records. This is because new method
sof cracking has been Invented and eV-
cry tramp in the country knows how
it IS done. I5 is sossimples q process
that hundreds Of hoboes go into the
business every year.
They travel In pairs ortrios. and
after-spotting CRIB gain all the In
formation they can about the habits Of
khe town marshal. They plan TO pull
Of the burglary iuss refore q freight
train is dine to start, or often they
steal a horse and buggy and have the
team ready to drive across country and
catch train. a tramp hangout, such
as Is found close to every western
town, is Headquarters, and this is far
enough away to keep out of sight OF
officers. Stormy nights are most
favored, when the wind is banging
shutters and otherwise making noise.
g Nitro glgcerine is not for sale In
stores, but dynamite is. The burglar
buys stick OF two; nnRraps It and
puts it il can of boiling water.
After It SINNERS for a few hours he
has neat batch Of the dope. nitro
g1ycerine. This, being heavier than:
water, sinks to the bottom. The
water is drained of and the nitro pour
ed into 8 bottle.
ess Tt is necessary that the bottle
1nust be filed TO the cork. Ii even a
small space is left for the mass to slosh
around it might blow up it's possessor.
The stuff lis highly explosive, so much
50 that if you stand bottle OF It on
8 table and shoot of gun in the next
room there viii be something doln'
right away.
s When the chap gees to town he
hangs this bottle isa q little bag tied
90 a strins; and hung next his chest so
1ha5 If arrested the stuff viii not be
fonnd. The remainder of his kit con-
sists of a cake Of soap, piece OF soft
Dutty, filse and some matches.
One man only enters. The others
stand guard and block of inquisitive
citizens reused by the noise. The
naan inside works IN the dark and
with rapidity. He pastes the soap or
putty all around the safe door, closing
she crack completely save at one spot,
at the top. Here he forms The soap or
pntty into a little cup and pours the
liquid nitro into It. This seeps down
md into the space between the door.
and safe, and the burglar keeps pour
ing until the safe is full.
Then he takes his fuse, a black
string the length Of lead pencil, with
q decorating cap on the end, puts this
cap into the putty cap at the top Of
the door and lights the other end. He
cronches behind the safe or on one
side Of II and awaits the explosion. If
the man understands his business it is
NOT loud one. In our Investigations
Ee have found that about one in ten
IS heard by people outside Of the bank,
even by those living upstairs.
But it makes terrific racket in
side. One fellow told me he was as
deaf as post for days after each
Hrecking. The nitro-glycerine simply
RPS the door TO pieces and opens
place for the burglar to reach in. he
lights piece of caadle oyeIhauls the
contents as swiftly as he can, makes e
bundle OF them and lights out.
The trick is so simple and quickly
done that not once in sen times are
5he thieves caught. Before daylight
comes they are miles away, hidden in
some wooded place. IF the haul is a