Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-06-24
DISCOURAGlNG THE YEGGMAN
Safe Makers Keep the Most Enterpris-
ing Burglar Guessing.

Safe Makers Keep the Most Enterpris-
ing Burglar Guessing.
| A safe has been built in England,
q recent cable dispatch said, for the
special purpose of holding radium
This safe did not have to be large,
but it had to be built not only to
keep out fire and burglars, but also
TO keep in the radium. The particular
problem of preventing the escape OF
the radium was met by putting in the
lining of the safe a three-inch layer
of lead. The capacity of the safe IS
! nlaced at 100 pounds radium, WITH
an estimated value of $4,000, ,OOO,OOO'
II is not expected that the entire
worlds supply Of radium Will be sui
/ fcient to overtax this capacity for
| good while to come.
| So far as is known, the problem VI
the construction OF a safe for lnis
particular purpose has not yet peen
presented to any American nallu!ai ,ie
turer. But the manufacturers on tnls
side of the ocean have done still more
wonderful things in the way OF pro-
ducing a safe or vault that Will not
weld to fire, earthquake or yeggmen.
| The manufacturers boast OF tneii
modern product that it is imperVlous
to any attack, and there are no data
| on which to base contradiction W
their boast. ,
safes are broken into now and then,
but in most cases they are or oioel
design or of cheaper constructor
than the high-class modern product.
The Baltimore fire and the san
Francisco earthquake and fire gave
tbe manufacturers some of their best
selling arguments.
For many years there has been a
continuous warfare between saie
makers and safebreakers, not unlike
that between the manufacturers Oh
heavy guns and those of armor plate.
But there is this difference: Sale
makers long ago took the lead anu
their opponents have not yet causn'
ND with them outside of melodrafna'
The contest is unequal. The man
ufacturers are able business men anu
engineers, the yeggmen for the most
mart are of a low order mentally as
we'll as morally. Now and then there
is talk about some extremely clever
safebreaker, but it usually is found
that he uses the same tools that MS
predecessors used. Scientific men are
continually making discoveries thac
might play directly into the hands Oh
the crooks; but long before the lattel
ever hear of them the safemaKlng eN-
perts have devised a means OF COM
batting those very methods.
Two great limitations opeIastt
against the bank burglar: He must
do his work quickly and he must ao
IL with such tools as he can easily
carry about with him.
The mechanism Cf a big modern
ca fe in a Providence bank went wrong
not long ago and the safe refused "
omen. The makers were notifled anu
experts were sent to Providence at
once They carried complete working
drawings of the safe showing every
detail of it's construction, and tney
were supplied with every TOOL that
could be of use. Furthermore, tney
did not have to do their work quletiy
or secretly. 90
It took them just twelve days to
force their way into the safe. A
veqgman. without interference, would
have been working at the job yet.
In the old days a safe could be at
tackled from almost any side. A hole
was made through the steel wall WITH
the drill and through this the locks
we're manipulated Then the makers
began using steel that could not De
drilled by any implement which tne
burglar would have at his command,
and the attention of the safepreakers
was directed to the doors.
Safe doors of the old type seldolh
fitted snugly. So when ne was pLe
vented from using the drill the opera
for took I'D the wedge as his imple-
ment. driving it into the crack along
side the door and forcing the door OIL.
Or. working through the crack ne
could saw the bolts. system OF
overlapping flanges and interlocKlns
lambs put stop to this practice.
Then lock spindles were attacked
and an effort made to drill them OF
drive them in or pull them out, so
as to leave an opening through Whlcll
the locks could be reached. rms was
quickly stopped by change In con-
Struction. 49,
Then came what one expert on the
lawful side terms the era. OF nitro
plvcerine The drill again was
brought into use where the metal OF
the safe would admit, and where the
drill could not be operated the method
of "souping" was devised.
By this method a cup of putty or
similar substance is applied to the
crack and is filled with ro-glycer-
in. The explosive is thus allowed 10
run in through the crack ana SO
reaches a point where It's explosion
will be sufficient force to drive the
door off its hinges or at least u
knock out the bolts
Rut the safemakers knew of nitro
glycerin and it's adaptability even be-
fore the burglars and began building
a safe on which the explosive can
make little impression when USED py
any method yet devised.
The door of the older safe anu of
the small safe which is used by me
average tradesman, say, Is painted;
Even if the maker has been unklad
enough to fit the door fairly close
all the yeggman has to do is to scrape
off the paint and he has a crack
ready for his soup the moderh
safe door not only fits tighter than
the old-time maker dreamed a door
could be made to fit, but fits steel
against steel-there is no painted sur
face to be scraped off. This fitting
of the door is one of the most I'M
portant operations in safe construc-
ton. The door is so hung that II
closes parallel with the jambs, whlch
means that there is no necessity lor
allowing closing space. The surfaces
thus brought together are made as
perfect as modern machinery can
make them, the door being ground
into place. In addition the edges of
the door fit into the jambs on an
angle, so that when the door is closed
by the mechanical compressors on
the outside it is wedged tightly
against the jambs.
There is no crack or crevice of any
kind to admit even the liquid soup.
The favorite test for the tightness OF
these doors is to arrange a sort OF Vat'
of which the front of the safe forms
one side, and to fill it with water.
The experiment is continued for SIX
days, and if at the end of that time
no moisture has made its way into
the safe the safe is considered tight
One of the later ideas of safe build
ing is that of the round door. This,
the manufacturers say, is best where
space about the vault is sufficient to
allow it to swing. 1t necessarily is
larger than the rectangular door.
The chief advantage of this door Is
that its shape admits of its being
ground into place more tightly.
The door of modern vault is a
very complex piece of mechanism, OF