Arizona republican., 1909-02-27

son for the increasing efficiency of police and detective forces, is in or ganiZation. We have the law behind us and we are organized with the backing of the law and the right. But so far as the individual is concerned, the criminal is just as able and just as quick to take advantage of scienti fife advance as the man who is hunt ing him.
 Take, for instance, wireless teleg raphy. Its advent, of course, enabled us to communicate with ships on which criminals were attempting to escape, instead of merely cabling to the port of arrival.
 But, on the other hand, the inven- tion was also used to circumvent the law. In Chicago, for instance, when poolroOms had been closed in the city, a floating poolroom outside the three mile limit and thus beyond the city's Jurisdiction was maintained in the shape of a steamer on Lake Michigan for some time. The quotations and re- ports from race tracks were all re- ceived by wireless. Every advance in the science of safe building has been met with equal ingenuity by an ad- vance in safe-breaking. It is only or ganization that has enabled the forces for right to keep ahead of the forces for wrong"
 While this viewpoint may appear strange to the average person, it would seem to be borne out by the facts An analysis of the manner in which the criminal has met scientific ad vances in the field of invention, which appears in Appletons maga- zine, shows this clearly, and at the same time reveals his almost diabol- ical cunning. The description of the perfection of the modern safe and the latest methods for breaking it reveal some interesting features.
 Crime" says the Appleton article, keeps pace with civilization, changes in the habits and customs of man. kind lead to new offenses, while some good old stand-bys have be- come unpopular. First some cautious person invented an iron, burglar proof safe; immediately the cracks man invented himself. This declared a war of wits between the safe makers and the safebreaker The door to the original safe fitted in straight, like any ordinary door. They were so easy to open, by means of a jimmy, that they did not furnish the burglar with common amusement It was unsportsmanlike. The wedge shaped door was somewhat more diff ficult, until the cracksman found a way to manage it. Then Mir In ventor devised a combination lock, and thought he had utterly outwit- ted the thief. But the no less in genious thief bought him one, and mercilessly studied out it weakness. At first he did not attempt to break the lock, but devoted himself to blowing it open. This was child's play. He puttied up the crack all the way around the door, except a tiny hole at top and bottom. At the bottom hole he set a small shelf of very fine gunpowder. To the top hole he attached a vacuum pump. By eXhausting the air from the safe he created a strong current at the lower hole, which sucked in the powder. Then he fired the safe. That was all.
 'The safemaker met this advanced method by corrugating the door to his safe and fitting it with rubber. so as to make it air tight. The cracks man took another twist in his art, used acid, destroyed the rubber, and again blew open the safe. As safe doors were made harder and harder, so did MT. Cracksman make his drills of finer and finer temper. But all of these methods were accom- panied by more or less noise and the cracksman dislikes notoriety So he began to experiment with the com bination lock and speedily found a means to open it. The cracksman took the little finger on his left hand and kept it bandaged for weeks so as to make it highly sensitive to touch. Then he pared the nail down into the very quick, laying the nerve centers bare. Thus without drills or powder he was able to open a safe by placing the sensitive end of his finger against the lock, while he slowly turned the combination So keen and delicate had his sense of touch become that he could feel when each tumbler dropped into position. The safe would be opened, rifled and closed again leaving no sign to show how the trick was turned. The cracksman was tickled nightly with the mystery and be- wilderment he left behind him.
 The safemaker invented new safes, one after another, which could not be broken in the same old way; the high grade cracksman bought them, one after another, took them to his quiet workshop, studied every detail of their construction. and found new ways to break them. Neck to neck ran the armOr plate of protection and the high-power guns of attacks.
 Perhaps of all modern inventions the telephone has been the chief agent in the field of crime, it's com mission and detection. How it has served as a protective agent and a means of detection are well known. The ways in which it is used by the criminal to further his success are less well-known, while equally subtle.
 A common swindling trick made possible is thus described in the Appleton article.
 "Goldsmith & Company are rich jewellers in a very large city. Their telephone rings.
 Hello! Is that you, MT. Gold smith"
 Yes"
 This is MT. Millions. I want to