The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1923-12-13
By THEo. R. Won keller.

MS automobiles were stolen from
their perplexeG and furious own
ers during the twelve months of 1922.
At least that is the approximate total
given by the various insurance compa-
MES in the United States who either had
20 make good the losses in cash or re-
cover the stolen cars. How many thou
sands Of cars were stolen but never re-
ported to the insurance companies or the
authorities of the various States because
Of the owners illegitimate business or
doubtful right Of possession is problem
that never will be solved.
If this enormous annual loss were d.
vided proportionately among all the H.
100000 automobile owners of the country
each would be taxed 1884; but as the
rural population is practically free from
the ravages Of the professional automobile
thief, it follows that city motorists must
foot the greater part Of this bill.
That a man who had been involved in
this automobile stealing industry" and
who could be induced to open up and
give a few tips to owners might tell an
interesting story started me to look for
such a man, and after little difficulty l
succeeded in locating him in the Vermont
State prison, where he is serving ten
year sentence. This particular expert"
in the fascinating game of driving off
with other peoples automobiles claims
to speak with some authority on the sub
ject.
rrI,s. cd nTffn fhIGf
claims that more than one-fourth of all
the owners whose cars are lifted Win
locking devices suffer from loss of mem
DRY when they leave their possessions at
the street curb or in front of their homes
in the suburbs.
That scores of men whose names are
quite we'll known in financial and social
circles in Boston and in New York city
should actually pay professional auto
mobile thief to steal their cars would
seem too improbable for any one to be-
lieve Yet this old-timer in the business
declares that not only had he stolen an
average Of twenty cars year for twelve
years by order of their owners, but that
other thieves in the business have had
equally broad experiences in this field!
A certain wealthy club member in Boston,
for instance, communicated with gang
of automobile thieves. told them where
his car would be at certain tfme-with
the key sticking in the ignition lock-and
paid the representative of the gang $500
in cash to steal his car.
Another man wanted his car stolen
from in front of his home during dinner
time, the car being chained to water
tydrant The half-inch steel chain was
Topped around the side frame member of
the chassis and it seemed next to impossi-
BILE to steal such car. The thieves, be-
ing accurately informed as to the nature
of the chain and the lock, simply brought
u pair OF steel pliers along with which
they snapped through one link Of the
strong chain, driving off with car, lock
and chain. AS soon as the owner heard
the motor roaring he came yelling out of
the house, where dinner guests had as
se71hled. and the insurance company paid
81 0G0 q few days later.
II.
asked my professional" He smiled.
safety device? Bosh! There is no lock-
ing device that can't be beaten in some
way. Some are bit harder, it's true,
Ufdb HOInSlos puI AOAAS " IASiAA 10 ASeSANJ
'aSta"
Taat information being bit too gen.
eral [ pressed him for details "You say
they are all useless?"
'sNo, not exactly useless. Most of them
delay us bit. But 1 can drive away with
any car no matter what safety device is
on If know in advance the kind Of lock 1t
has, and that, of course, is something we
professionals always look out for. We
rarely steal car on the impulse Of the
moment; we know where the owner is
and what model and make it is before we
go after it; and most of the time we
know what kind of a lock they've got"
"All right. Let's have few examples.
What do you do if the car has first
class ignition locking device?
Ignition lock? Ha-ha-ha-ha! Say,
you do make me laugh! That amt lock
at all. All you got to do in that case is to
ground the positive wire and connect the
two wires outside the regular switch. A
real thief always has few lengths of
extra wire in his pocket"
How about a closed gas supply?"
That's cinch. A medium sized hot
water bottle filled with gas; length OF
rubber tubing, and you can connect 1t up
with the intake manifold and drive away
as neatly as if you had the gas tank right
on top of the motor"
"How about closed cars when the doors
are locked with Yale keys?" l thought
had him stumped that time.
'eWell, I've let the window down and
crawled through several times, and once
| went through the windshield after l
had doubled it up"
"And what do you do when the clutch
is Iocked?" / had always considered a
clutch lock very satisfactory safety de-
vice.
"A clutch lock is pretty hard to beat
same as a steering post lock, which goes