Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1916-08-04
BOLD CAR Thieves
Tricks Of the Clever Crooks That
Steal Automobiles.
DARING IN THEIR METHODS.

DARING IN THEIR METHODS.
One Of Their Pet Schemes i. to Dis
suise Themselves AZ Repairers and
Openly Tow tho Car Away-ordi-
nary Safeguards Are Joke to Thorn.
The man who steals an automobile is
one of the cleverest mechanicians in
the country. He knows every make Of
car from the steering wheel to the tires,
and there is scarcely any precaution
taken by the owner of the car to safe
guard his property that the automobile
thief cannot beat. ~.
Some car owners fondly imagine that
when they chain the wheel Of their car
with fairly thick steel chain they
have made it impossible for any crook
to move the auto from its anchorage.
The simplicity Of this safeguard must
cause hilarity among the motorcar
crooks, for the ordinary steel chain can
be cut in second with the appliances
that the motor thieves carry in their
outfit.
But most car owners consider they
have made the car immovable by mere
~ locking the switch box. 1t will inter-
est them to know that the car thieves
can beat this precaution very easily.
The clever mechanician who makes a
business Of stealing cars can cross
wires so as to cause ignition and move
the engine without bothering with the
switch box at all. A method that is kin
dergarten to the car thief is to connect
wires from the dry cell battery direct
to the ignition coil, thus starting the
motor without difficulty.
Some cars have devices by which the
gasoline supply can be locked, and this
is regarded by some owners as placing
: hopeless barrier in the way of the
thief who would run off With the
standing car. For how can a car be
moved when the supply of gasoline is
shut off? Nothing easier. The motor
car thief carries with him his own sup
ply of gasoline in a flask. With this
gasoline the automobile thief can nego-
! tate good run with the car by con-
Meeting his flask of gasoline direct to
the carburetor. Feeding the gasoline
! to the carburetor through a rubber
hose, the automobile thief can send the
; car sufficiently far to enable him to put
! the gasoline tank and the car in regu-
lar commission and speed where he
will to safety and sale.
] But the commonest and therefore the
safest trick OF the automobile thief re-
Quires no expert mechanical knowl-
edge. 1t simply requires nerve, which
these thieves possess to an unusual de,
gree. This trick is the old one of driv-
ing up in an auto that looks like a ga.
rage repair wagon, hitching a rope tc
the car that is to be stolen and towing
| it away. The thieves dress for the part
in oil soaked overalls. When they have
selected the car to be stolen, picking
one that is in side street and not like
" to be under the eye of policeman
who may have been tipped to watcE
the car, the thieves come up to the
scene in their old car, looking like the
ordinary crew sent for from the garage
to repair car that is in trouble or ISM
working as well as it's fastidious owner
would wish.
They alight from their own car ant
make a great pretense of examinin}
the car that they intend to spirit away
They remove the hood and scrutinizt
the motor. They get out kit of tool.
and tinker for awhile with some par
OF the machinery. If any one SHOULD
happen to be watching them or lookin:
on from a neighboring window all tn,
men do has the appearance of natura
work by honest workmen from tn,
repair shop. Presently the n; n holt
a consultation pointing to some par
) of the motor machinery, and apparent
1y come to the conclusion that the ca
cannot be started with the tools a
their commando Then they hitch s
rope to the car and tow it away at thu
end of their own car. Could anythin.
be more simple?
How can you beat such a game a!
this? Carrying away part of the ma
chinery does not prevent the thieves
from towing the car away. One sur,
, way to prevent robbery is to have tn,
car watched. The policeman on tina
patrol will keep an eye on it if 70,
are only going to make a visit to som
. Office building and coming back in
short time. But If you keep your ca
) in the street the entire day no one cal
, watch it. You are simply taking
/ chance with the car thieves.
) There are other ways Of making tn
, path of the motorcar crook as steer
and difficult as possible One motor
list believes he has solved the THE
, problem by having a slot cut in tn
clutch pedal shaft. Through this b
passes a bar which he locks. So ia