Omaha daily bee., 1911-07-05
MAKERS AND SGFE-BRRAKERS
Long Dramatic Duel Between Forces
Of Construction and Destruction.
SUCCESS AND FAILURE ALTERNATE
Contest BxteaainE over Entire Pe~iod
Of Modern Busfneas--status of
cOntendinE Forces at
Present.
Present.

The international rivalry between srmor
plate and the big guns. In which each OF
the great world powers lie hopefully seek
ing TO evolve a species Of the former that
VIII beat a species Of the latter. and vice
versa. has its analogy in the world Of
business. where there IL being fought
and for a century has been fought, the
battle between the makers of safes and
the breakers Of safes. The safes are the
arnor plate. representing protection; the
safe-breakers, the guns. representing as
sault- And the story OF this latter con-
fiict that has been going on since the
first receptacle for vaiuables was designed
about 100 years ago. shows forth as brill
liant picture OF tint between two glasses
OF society a. times records have ever
shown
'There is nothing made by the hand Of
man that cannot be unmade by the hand
Of man" 1t IL this familiar quotation that
the makers of safes, since thu first safe
was made ana opened. have sought TO prove
fallaoious; and II IL this same quotation
that tho safe-breakers, since one of their
number broke open the first safe, have
sought 70 prove correct. And although to-
day the defensive powers appear to have
the decisive upper hand. that upper hand
has been gained only after a struggle Of
wits attending over the entire period OF
modern business How long. moreover, the
hand win correctly bear its present ad-
! jective remains for the newspaper of to-
morrow or the day after tomorrow 60
chronicle-maybe. indeed, for tonights spe-
cial edition. ,ga
First Plan of skin.
The first safe. as we know safes, was
as.~.- = =
named Fitzgerald. and opened by a man
: named Reim. Or to be more exact, a
duplicate OF the initial safe. serving its
purpose in financial establishment, sue
cumbed to the cunning OF the initial safe
breaker. This first safe In the records Of
the safe-malxer versus safe breaker battle
+ was, Judged from modern standards, a
clumsy affair indeed, and yet II marked
the first step in the increasingly intricate
campaign of the concealing of valuables
The Fitzgerald safe was made Of iron and
was built square It was q formidab BILE
thtng to look at and appeared invulnerable
as far as the powers of the dark were
concerned. II attracted worldwide atten-
ton. and was proclaimed to be the un-
doubted herald of a new day in the pro-
lection Of property Imagine, then, the
subsequent CONSERVATION when 1t was dis
Braia- had opened 'the safe land hauled
away Its contents) by the simple method
of drilling hole In the side and opening
the lock from within, Here was something
the shoemaker had not taken into con-
sideration. He, had worked on lock that
could, not be opened from the outside, but
had not thought about the possibility OF
opening It from the inside. AS a result,
there came about the second stage In the
tilt We must make the walls of the
safe OF some metal that cannot be drilled, .
decided the makers Steel was employed,
and temporarily the breakers were non
plussed, But one might there came along
,ascrimipal Prainrswith anew kind of drsn.
and safe number two fen before It's cum
mag. Science. however, camo to the aid
OF the safe-maker. steel OF another kind
was made whichpwould withstand the drills.
and again the safc-breaker was baffIed
Era of the Wedge.
After fighting intellectually with their
tools against the walls OF these newer
safes the safebreakers-about sixty-five
years ago-figured It out that the makers.
In thsr effort to perfect the walls OF the
safe, had failed to keep pace in the mat
ter Of improving the door OF the safe. And
the Criminal Brain at once began 10 sceeme
had seemingly forgotten in his haste 10
make the sides unassailable Then came
the era Of the wedge. At this stage OF
the tilt the tiny cracks above and be-.
meath the safe door were hit upon as the
lines OF least resistance, and, by the use
OF muffled hammers drills and wedKes
the safe-breakers managed either to break
open the door, by widening the crack above
or below IL. to insert saws and separate
IL from the bolts. No sooner had the
Criminal Brain hit upon this method, how
ever, than its foe the Inventive Brain, de-
signed an interlocklng door. seconded by
q series OF protecting flanges that eilmi-
mated the dangerous cracks. With the body
OF the safe proper thus protected against
his skill. the safe breaker was again
eaffled, until one OF his number figured
out that, while the body OF the receptaoIa
itself had been safeguarded In every wav
by the makers the central object OF the
tnvenuon-the Iock-stil remained vulner-
able And as result. the era of lock-
attack came about In those days the
lock was built out and was a thing apart
from the body" OF the safe. II afforded
comparatively easy attack for the Grim
inal Brain. which declared that IL was
- not TO be opened in the manner in which
lock is usually opened but that IL was
10 De attacked as an object separate from
the body of the safe, Drills were brought
into play. the lock spindles were broken.
and. the safe was opened. Then the locks
were made part OF the body Of the safe
and FOR Approximately ten years, the safe
makers had the safe-brealers outwitted.
beginning of Explosives.
This brings US to about fifty years ago
and 20 the melodramatc beginning Of the
more modern phase OF the conflict. 10 the
introduction into the battle OF explosives
on the part of the criminals. In the period
OF ten years during which the Criminal
Brain found itself beaten by the Scientific
Brain II did not stop working planning.
experimenting and schemlng; ana the re-
suit OF all Its scheming took the form Of
ritroslycerin Here. again. was an ele-
Hent the shoemaker of those DAYS had
sailed to take into consideration and for
many year subsequently the battle be-
tween the two sides became fIercer and
more complex than ever. Finding that tools
alone would avail them nothing against
the sturdy structures OF steel that the
Ssfe-makers had invented. the safe break
srs enlisted, by way OF what a prominent