Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-07
BURGLARS BUNGLERS
SAFE LOCK EXPERT FEELS
sCoRN FOR THEIR WORK.
Never Saw q Good Job Done by .
Craftsman, He De
clares.

From the New York Sun.
There is an idea that burglars who devote
themselves to safe-breaking must be skilled
workmen in that line of business. lock-
smith OF long experience denies that such Is
the case. He regards all burglars as bung-
lers.
There may be a few experts he said,
but 1 have never had the pleasure OF
meeting any of them.
People have very peculiar Ideas on the
subject of safes. anyway. When q business
man forgets the combination OF his safe he
sends around to the shop for man to
come and open the safe. He usually be-
lieves that in a very few minutes he will be
able to get what he wants from 1t.
TT is true of course that locksmith
can sometimes hit upon the right combina-
ton by working definite system for an
hour or two, and SO running through the
combinations that are most commonly used.
For instance, II is favorte plan for men
who own safes to choose combinations on a
three-dal lock like 10, 20 and 80. or 90 40
and GO, or 50. 90 and 80. Other people treble
the first and second numbers like 6. Is
and 81.
These and similar ways OF choosing COM
binations are used because 1t makes the
numbers easier to remember than II they
had no relative significance. So there are
i combinations that are used by hundreds OF
men on as many different safes.
when locksmith fails to open a safe by
these means there is nothing left for him to
do but to bore small hole just above the
dials so that he may see the internal work.
ings of the lock. Then 1t is very easy
matter for him to unlock the safe.
But the boring of the hole is q long, diff
cult and laborous job. The drills used are
made of the hardest kind of steel. but as
a rule a part. II not ALL of the door Is near
ly as hard as the drills.
Drilling Hard Steel.
ut is a matter of several hours and some
times of many hours before the hole is drill
ed. Although the Roadway made is exceed
ingiy slow, the drills get dull fast enough.
One man is kept busy sharpening them
while another man dulls them.
Not long ago l had to make a hole in
big safe seven and a half feet high. The
outside casing of the door through which l
had to drill was two and quarter inches
thick, and l finished the Job in six hours.
"a few days later had to drill a hole In
much smaller safe. The outer part Of the
door consisted of two inches Of chilled iron
and five-eighths Of an inch of steel. 1t took
me thirty-one hours to drill the hole
Il have had many amusing experiences
with men whose safes 1 had to open. One
fellow. shoe manufacturer. supposed 1
was going to try all the combina tons that
1t was possible to make. l explained TO
him that a one-dial lock would have 100
combinations, a twO-dial lock, 10000 combi-
nations, and a three-dial lock- 100000.
This mans safe had three dial lock.
Another business man who had forgotten
his combination over Sunday took 1t f6f
granted that l would remember it because 1
had set the combination for him several
years previously. Persons frequently get
the numbers Of their combinations mixed,
and locksmiths are always on the lookout
for just that thing.
The proprietor of a Broadway store once
sent for me because the lock of his safe
was out of order. He told me the combi-
nation was II, "a, II. I tried 1t, but the
lock did not respond for me any better than
1t had for the owner. I.
l finally decided to reverse the last two
numbers he had given me, and try II, Il, "a.
When did so the lock responded.
Before l knew as much of human ma
ture as do now a manufacturing jeweler
In Maiden lane completely fooled me. His
lock was out of order, he said. He gave mo
the combination, but gained no results by
Its use.
Safe Owner Twisted.
when asked him II he was sure he had
given me the correct combination he was
greatly amused. Why, of course, he had.
Hadn't he opened that safe every day for
the last twelve years on that same combi-
nation?
II could only believe that he knew what
he was talking about. After I had spent
half a day boring hole in the door found
that he had made the same mistake the
other man. that of reversing two OF his
numbers.
I'VE never do any damage that we can
not repair. That is more than you can say
of most cracksmen. 1t is also the reason
why 1t often takes us such a long time to
open a safe
Some burglars use an explosive and blow
off the outside casing of the door, 80 that
they may get at the bolts. Others take a
sledge hammer and smash the door to
pieces. OF course they must do their work
more or less hurriedly.
Even when burglars do drill holes in
safes they usually make a bungle Of the
work in one way or another. Their drills
break Off in the hole or they bore the holes
so crooked that they are of no use to them
after they are made.
Although they occasionally manage their
work with sufficient success to get the
swag, l have never seen a Job done by a
lawbreaker that was not botch and which
could not have been executed more neatly
by legitimate workman
Yes, indeed. the cracksmen get their fun
share of credit from the public as being
skillful at their trade. l will admit that
there are and have been some exceptions to
the general run of bunglers, although /
never happened to examine the work done
by the really clever members Of the mask
ed fraternity"
ANSWERING LETTERS.