Bisbee daily review., 1907-09-03
GIVE THEM AMMONIA,
 SAYS CHIEF KERR Los Angeles Police Officer Would Stink Burglars
 Way from Safes,

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 2.-Chief of PciiIe Kern this morning turned over to the detective department an i'm pOrtant circular issued by the govern ment and picked up by Patrolman Gus Smith of the Arcade depot beat. So much importance has been attach ed to this information that a copy of it has been posted for the perusal of detectives and patrolmen, as sug- gesting a new line of thought for them in their work among desperate criminals this coming winter. Tlfe full circular follows:
 Consul Thomas H. Norton. writing from Chemnitz, says that the confi- dence of German manufacturers of safes in the resistance of their wares against ordinary safe-blowing opera tions has been rudely shaken by the recent achievements of a single un- aided robber in Dresden and other cities The details of his last opera tiOn are as follows:
 "In a hotel a room was secured, which was situated immediately above the office of a money changer At night a hole was pierced in the ceiling of this office. By the use Of a drill and saw circular piece of the flooring was easily raised. Benaeth lay a thick layer of cement A small orifice was made in this and an um- brella showed down into the space be low. The umbrella was firmly at tached from above, and when opened received without noise all the fTag- ments of cement which were dislodg- ed as the hole was enlarged so as to allow of the easy passage of a per son. By means of a rope ladder the descent was readily made into the Of- flee below. Curtains were drawn and With neavy DTanKeJs d tent was CUII- struCted around tine safe, 51 thick that no ray of light could pass through. Next the robber prOus ht down two cylinders of compressed oxygen and an acetylene generator charged with calcium carbide and water. With these he was able to produce a blowpipe flame of such in tensity that steel fuses in 1t like lead in an ordinary gas jet. It required but a brief space of time to melt away so much of the door that all the contents of the safe were ascessibl''. They were carried to the room above. At an early hour the robber left his lodgings and disappeared without a trace.
 "It is evident from this experience that the builders of safes must pro vide for new contingencies in their construction. The simple, light acct ylene generators, now in widespread use. and the equally simple oxygen generators, charge with water and so- dium peroxide. or the heavier cyiin- ders of compressed oxygen. place as the service of the intelligene crook the possibility of opening the strong est safes in existence rapidly and noiselessly, provided the operator can be screened from observation.
 Some large safes are so disposed that they are under frequent observa- ton by watchmen booking through the windows. Usually. this obserya- ton is confined to tue doors of bank vaults or the like, although in the case of the globular safes 1t practical ly extends to all exposed sides. In the greater majority of cases existing safes would offer no difficulty to a skiIlful cracksman if able to work without being seen. It is evident that owners will be forced henceforth to adopt such features as will reduce tc a minimum all possibilities of access to free-sanding, movable safes or the hidden sides of safes embedded il cement or masonry"
 By the use of very simple form of apparatus containing potassium cyanide and sulphuric acid a
 would expose himself to the deadly fumes of prussic acid" said Chi Kern today.
 Less dangerous, through possibili- ties of accident to those regularly us ing safe. would be the employment of substances crippling safe blow CT or forcing him to an Instantaneous retreat. The rehabilitation of a few drops of ethy-dichlor-acetate would