Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-09-09
Rock Island "reminiscences
A Side Art.
A Side Art.

I know of chance that escaped them.
One of the amusing incidents of my
experience occurred in an Iowa town
some time ago. The sheriff had de-
scended on a clothing merchant with
such suddenness that he had not time
to remove the cash from his safe The
safe was locked, and the sheriff
placed a Waterman in charge to guard
il. He then sent for me. When / ar
rived in town the owner was awaiting
me at the station. He called me aside.
and pleaded with me TO fail to open the
safe. IF you just give ii up, and say
it's too hard a nut for you TO crack, "
he said. I'll pay you twice as much as
the sheriff offers you TO open it,"
told him / could not do business that
way, that | had been called TO open
the safe. and that l certainly would
open il. He chung to me SO that
could hardly get away from him. When
| opened the safe the sheriff took from
il nearly 500 in cold cash. Needless
to say, the merchant was an angry
man.
Prisoner Not Guilty.
| was once called 10 Oxford Junction
to prove that a prisoner was not guilty
of safe breaking. A money lender
named Mcdonald asked the privilege
of leaving $1,000 in a merchants safe
over night. Hanson, the merchant,
agreed. The following morning his
stepson, named Barnhill. who slept in
the store. was found gagged and bound,
and the safe robbed His story was
that in the night he had. been awaken
ed by robbers in the store. They bound
and gagged him, he said and IN about
10 minutes opened the safe and made
way with its contents. The story was
regarded suspiciously, and Barnhill
was indicted for burglarizing the safe
himself. 1t being claimed that the safe
must have been opened by some one
familiar with its contents. In order
TO disprove this supposition. Senator
Farwell of Iowa City, who was defend
mfg Barnhill. sent for me. On arriving
at the court room. found the safe
there, a guaranteed burglar proof af
fair, and a formidable looking object.
The state had been given the right TO
lock the safe, and had the only key
to the combination. In IL minutes |
opened the safe, and by this action the
jury was moved to acquit the young
man without delay.
A case in which in opening a
safe | revealed n robbery occurred
some years ago on the steamer Helen
Mar, then passing up the river. | was
called at dawn TO open the steamers
safe. The clerk had disappeared at
Keokuk, leaving the safe locked, and
the combination changed | opened
the safe on the way from here to Lee
Claire. and it was learned that $500
had disappeared with the clerk. His
start enabled him to escape, however.
A more recent case was the West
Liberty Savings bank safes, which |
opened after its cashier, Arnold Beu
THEN. had died, leaving an empty safe,
and the bank short about $4,000.
could tell of hundreds of other
cases in which the need of an expert
has brought to my knowledge burgla-
ries, embezzlements, and carelessness.
In 50 years hundreds of these cases
have been turned over TO me in all
parts of the middle west.
Crncksmen's Invitations.
l have been invited TO join cracks
men time and again, but always indi-
rectly, for the man with intelligence
enough to be professional safe
breaker, knows too much to give him
self away. They hint broadly that
they have something worth consider
ing, but are not encouraged to eX-
plain
1t is seldom my experience to have
a complaint against the charges l make
for opening safe. but when this &C.
ours. | have a method of procedure
that is effective. | usually at once
lock the safe again, and before | will
reopen it | am guaranteed d price dou-
BILE my original charge
With reference to the popular con-
ception of the expert locksmith bust
ness, | will say that the story of a
quick. and thus being enabled to feel
acutely enough to detect the combina-
tion of lock. is all nonsense, as are
many other stories told about the meth
DDS of an expert safe lock worker. The
work requires a thorough knowledge
of the lock being operated upon, and in
addition patience, acute feeling and
hearing. and experience are required.
There is no secret formulas by which
10 WORK in opening a safe
CHARLES F1EBIG,