Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-04-07
Making Nitro aIycerine.

crumble 1t in piece of cloth, and
warm water. We keep constantly re-
newip; the warm water, which gives
the operation the name of cooking
| the SOUP
"As the glycerine comes out of the
| dynamite, 1t being heavier than the
water, it drops to the bottom of the
can, and when we have sufficiently ex-
tracted the glycerine, we draw off the
water from above the explosive by
J means Of syringe. The glycerine Is
then strained, for we have to get out
all particles Of dust, in order to make
it safer in handling and also for bet
ter results, when we use it on a safe.
"One man will carry the bottle Of
glycerine and the tools, which consist
Of few cakes of soap, drills and i'm
plements, but generally speaking, we
do not laden ourselves with tools, for
we always find a blacksmith's shop,
or a railroad section house at some
point convenient to the job, which we
ODcil anu BCl luc DIdCCp SlGuBC
hammer and a few chisels or crow
bars to prize the outside door Of the
bank or postoffice and then to operate
with on the bank or vault.
I'm going to the place we all do not
go together. One or two will make
some other point nearby, that the sus-
picions of the conductor and train
crew may not be excited. We drop off
the train as near together, however,
as we can and then we make the point
of rendezvous, generally in the woods
at some point already agreed upon.
Much of our success depends upon
eluding the railroad people and town
authorities, and this is not easy when
a train Is in charge Of such q man as
Conductor Blanchard, to whom Is more
due than any other person that the
| bank of st. George was not robbed, as
was testified in court a few days ago.
A wide awake conductor will come
near to putting off our job at any time.
THE time Of operating is between
midnight and 2 o'clock in the morn
ing. We time ourselves to begin work
about IL o'clock. Well, the first thing
we do, upon coming from under cover
and by the way, we don't bother to
| disguise ourselves with false boards
and all that sort of thing, usually held
in the public minds to take a stroll
through the streets about the bank or
postoffice. We look carefully. 1t may
be necessary to catch a watchman, gag
him and tie him up, but watchmen like
to sleep when everything gets quiet,
| and things are quiet in the average
country town at midnight. We get
the tools, and IL our keys do not At the
locks we then break open the door and
reach the safe or vault. Two men stay
on the outside to watch, while the 9TH
er two, with an electric flash light, or
dark lantern, get to work on the safe.
THE importance Of the men on the
outside is shown by the breakers wait
ing on their signal for the blowing Of
the safe. When the holes have been
drilled and prepared for blowing Is
the men on the outside who give the
| signal for the act, on the principle
that If any suspicious movement OF an
officer or neighbor has been noted, the
noise of the explosion may be deferred
until things again become quiet. The
report Of glycerine Is sharp and
quick noise which especially commends
it's use, for hardly does It take place
| IL fo oil an1 ~ IN Qhnl1d he
heard by anybody in the neighborhood,
| they soon turn over in their beds and
go back to sleep, believing that they
dreamt Of the report.
"A safe is a pete in the parlance
of yeggmen. The two men on the In
side get down on their knees before 1t
and begin work. They thoroughly
soap the crevices Of the outside door
and then begin to drill the hole Tor
the cotton, saturated with the glycer-
inc. The hole is drilled between the
combination and the handle, close to the
combination, first with a quarter-inch
drill, then, with five-eighth and next
with a half-inch drill. Into this hole,
after the nitro Is poured, Is placed the
saturated cotton, connected with a cap
and fuse, which are held in place with
soap which also deadens the sound.
Then, everything is ready for the sig
nal from the outside.
1T is given and the explosion takes
place in the lock box on the inside,
breaking the lock and sometimes forc-
ing the door off the hinges. The oper-
alton of blowing the safe requires just
| a certain amount, for too heavy
charge Of glycerine might knock on
the handle and jam the door and give
trouble Once the outside door Is ON
then the yeggmen turn their attention
TO the inside sheet door, which Is
called the keister' in the language
of the safe blowers. This Is the hard
est door to open, and the blowers are
sometimes at their wits end to get on
the inside. A hole Is drilled and the
explosive Is inserted. Another explo-
sion takes place, and probably only one
sheet of metal comes off. A bolt Is
loosened or knocked out of place,
and into this opening another charge
of glycerine is inserted, and this opera
ton Is continued until the door Is H.
nally down and the cash drawer Is
rified.
THE work of blowing safe re-
ouires about an hour and a half, and
Immediately at its conclusion the gang
makes off as soon as possible. we
strike across country unless con-
venient freight train passes, never
however dividing the booty until day
light on the next morning. Sometimes
we have to bury the treasure, or a
part of it, and the tools have to be
hidden sometimes, too. When we take
the train we never ride more than
about twenty five miles. when we then
strike across country, putting further
distance between us and our pursuers.
In burying the tool bags or treasure,