The Washington herald., 1909-02-21
INGENIOUS DEVICES ARE USED
Development Of safe Building and
safe Cracking Kept Pace Until Re-
centIy-OrEanizatiOn, and Not Sci
ence, Is Responsible for the De-
crease in Crime, Says Captain.

nowadays is not due 70 scientific advance
/ half so much as It Is 10 organization.
( The use Of every invention, like the
wireless OF the telephone. is as open to
I the criminal as the criminal hunter.
Where we excel-snd here you fnd the
( reason for the increasing efficiency OF
police and detective forests in Organi-
zation. We have the law behind US and
we are organized with the backing Of the
law and the right. But so far as the in
/ dlvlduaI Is concerned. the criminal is just
as able and just as quick TO take advan-
tage Of scientific advance as the man
who is hunting him.
Take. for instance. wireless teleg-
raphv. It's advent. Of course. enabled US
TO communicate with ships on which
criminals were attempting 20 escape in
stead Of merely cabling 20 the port OF
arrival. But. on the other hand, the In
vsn+ion was also used 10 clrcumvent the
/ law. In Chicago. for instance. when
poolrooms had been closed in the city
/ floating pooIroom outside the three-mile
limit ana thus beyond the city's juris-
dictlon. was maintained in the shape or
2 steamer on Lake Michigan for some
4 time. The quotations and reports from
( race tracks were all received by wire
/ less. Every advance in the science Of
ssfe-hriIding has been met with equal
/ Ingenuity by an advance in Safe-breakins.
II Is only organization that has enabled
/ the forces for right 10 keep ahead Of the
! forces for wrong
Criminals study Science.
I While this viewpoint may appear
strange 20 the average person. II would
seem 10 be borne out by the facts. An
I analysis Of the manner in which the
( criminal has net scientific advances in
the field OF invention. which appears in
/ Appleton's Magazine, shows this clearly
I and al the same time reveals his almost
/ diaboHcaI cunning TIE description Of
the perfection Of the modern safe and the
/ latest methods for breaking il reveal
some interesting features.
/ Crime" SAYS the Appleton article.
keeps pace with civilization Changes
n the habits and customs Of mankind
II lead 70 new Offenses. while some go0d
old stand-bys have become unpopular.
First. some cautious person invented an
\ iron. burgIar-proof safe; Immediately the
I craftsman invented himself. This de-
i cIared g war Of wits between the safe
4 maker and the safebreaker. The door 90
\ the original safe fitted il straight. like
any ordinary door. They we're so easy
10 open. by means OF a jimmy. that they
! did not furnish the burglar with com
mon amusement Il was unSpOrtsman-
Ike. The wedge-shaped door was some
what more difficult until the craCksman
found a way 10 manage IT,
Then Mr. Inventor devised a combi-
nation lock and thought he had utterly
loutwitted the thief. But the no less in
genious thief bought him one and merci-
iessly studied out its weakness At first
he did not attempt 10 break the lock. but
devoted himself 10 blowing IL open This
was chnd-s play He puttied Up the
4 crack all the Vav around the door ex-
! cept 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 exhaust
ing the air from the safe he created q
strong current at the lower hole which
sucked in the powder. Then he fred the
safe That was all.
Every Move Met.
The safemaker met this advanced
method by corrugating the door to his
safe and fitting It with rubber. 50 as 70
make Il air-tight- The cracksman took
another twist IN his art. used acid. de-
/ stroyed the rubber. and again blew open
] the safe As safe doors were made
harder and harder. SO did Mr- Cracksmar
make his drills Of finer and finer temper
But all OF these methods were accOmpa-
MED by more or less noise. and The
cTacksma1 dislikes notoriety. So he be
gan TO experiment with the combination
lock and speedily found a means tC
open IL
The CTacksman took the little finger OF
his left hand and kept II bandaged fol
weeks so as TO make Il highly sensitive
to touch Then he pared the nail dowr
Into the very quick. laying the nerve cen
tiers bare Thus without drills OF powder
he was able to open q safe By placins
the sensitive end Of his finger agains
the lock while he slowly turned the com
! bination. So keen and delicate had bis
sense OF touch become that he could fee
when each tUmbler dropped into position
The safe would be opened. riied, anC
closed again. leaving no sign to show
how the trick was turned The cracks
man was tickled nightly with the mys
| terry and bewilderment he left behind
, him.
The safemaker invented new safes
one after another. which could not b'
/ broken in the same old way. The high
grade cracksman bought them, one aftel
another. took them 10 his quiet work
shop, studied every detail Of their con
/ stTuCtiCn. and found new ways 10 breal
them Neck and neck ran the armOl
plate Of protection and the high-pOwe'
guns Of attack
Perhaps OF ali modern inventions tbs
/ telephone has been the chief agent in tbs
field Of crime. its commission and detec-
ton. How it has served as a protective
agent and a means OF detection are vel
known The ways in which it is used by
the criminal TO further his success are
less well known. while equally subtle.
Clever Trick Worked.
A common swindle trick made possible
is thus described:
Goldsmith & Co are rich jewelers. in q
very large city. Their telephone rings.
Hello. Is that yous Mr.. Goldsmith? p
Yes
This is Mr.. Millions want 70 give
my, wife 2 handsome diamond necklace
for a birthday present. say about IS 900
VIII you please send two or three o
them up to my house in order that sh,
may make her own selection
Certainly. Mr. Millions. certainly"
The jeweler Tubs his hands complacent
". An hour afterward a carriage drive.
up 10 Mrs. Millions house. Goldsmith
trusted clerk steps out with small pack
! age under his arm which contains per
shsps Slo0e90 worth Of diamonds. This ht