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AMAJORITY of the heavy store and safe burglaries perpetrated in this country have been committed between Saturday night and Monday morning. Thus the cracksmen had plenty of time, a day and two nights, to wrestle with the intricate combination of a strong vault, or select, gather and pack up for removal the most costly goods. These rogues are but a grade below the bank burglar, and an expert store-safe robber is always looked upon as a most important acquisition by those men who band themselves together for the purpose of plundering the coffers of moneyed institutions. Some store burglars are men of fair education, but those who spend their lifetime operating in the lower degrees in that line are coarse and dull, still in planning and executing a theft they display considerable shrewdness. Thieving to this class seems to be simply a natural trait, and they are not at all anxious to rise to the higher grades of crime.
When the store-safe burglar ascertains that a certain business firm is in the habit of keeping a large sum of money in their safe he determines to rifle it. Before the establishment closes on Saturday, one or two members of the band manage to conceal themselves in an empty room or packing-box on the premises, and when the building has been closed for the night the men leave their hiding-place and admit their confederates. The door is locked again and the cracksmen lose no time getting to work upon the stock or safe. These robbers vary in their manner of operating. Some prefer to steal silks or velvets, others have a fondness for silverware, jewelry and diamonds, and still others have a preference for only coin or greenbacks. The sort of plunder taken indicares the standing of the thieves. In the carrying off of bulky booty great risks are run, but the men who steal cash have but little to fear except discovery just as they are leaving the scene of their crime. This rarely happens, and should they be afterwards arrested for the burglary there is but little chance of ever legally fastening the offense upon them. The most reckless of the safe robbers use explosives, but the patient and careful operator either manipulates the combination or noiselessly wrecks the vault by leverage. The men who resort to explosives are known to their associates as “blowers.” They are daring and desperate fellows and acquainted with the use of the drill and high explosives. It is a hazardous undertaking to shatter a safe in a large city, for the noise which follows an explosion makes the “blower’s” chances of success slim and detection many. In sleepy country towns, where there is no police patrol system, these men still manage, however, to make an occasional haul.
The rattle made by a train on the Third Avenue Elevated railroad one night. seven years ago, deadened the noise made by the blowing off the doors of two safes in a post-office station along that line. The noise made by the jolting of empty milk- cans on a cart, which was purposely driven through a down-town street, led to like results. In a neighboring city, but a few years ago, on a Fourth of July, a gang of “blowers” undertook to shatter a safe in a jewelry store, while a confederate was exploding several packs of large fire-crackers for the amusement of a number of children who had assembled in front of the place. Too large a charge of powder had been placed in the safe, and when the fuse had been ignited a tremendous explosion followed. The panes of glass were blown out of the front windows and the vault was badly wrecked. The explosion, which was louder than expected, instantly attracted attention, and the robbers ran away in the hope of escape. They were pursued and captured.
The “breaker” requires in his work a number of tools, and as they are all made of the hardest steel, a complete outfit is quite expensive. He is generally a cool, calculating criminal, who quietly and deliberately perfects his plans, and, after securing the booty, takes great pains to destroy all evidence that might lead to his detection. With the aid of diamond-pointed drills he is able to bore holes into the hardest known metals. Through these small openings he inserts the pick, but if the lock cannot be sprung in that way, the cutter or crook of a ponderous jimmy is next inserted. Then the tearing begins, and the leverage being immense, the safe is unable to stand the strain and finally yields. Some of the leading store-safe burglars use tools known as the “puller” and the “hydraulic jack.” A gang of “breakers” made many thousand dollars last winter robbing post-office and store safes in all parts of the country. Their manner of operating demonstrated that they were expert cracksmen. In all their robberies they drilled a small hole through the door of the safe near the combination, and through the narrow opening they inserted some instrument which never failed to slide the bolts back. The entire operation was marvelous for its neatness and dispatch.
Concerning the doings of that class of criminals who make a business of manipulating combinations, this has been said of a successful offender at present serving out a term of imprisonment in an Eastern prison: “Give him but twenty minutes alone with a safe and he can open the most intricate lock that ever was devised, and if you will tell him merely the name of the safe maker, he will tell you instantly all the parts in the lock and give you a diagram of its mechanism. He never breaks a lock; he simply finds out inside of twenty minutes the combination in which it sits, opens the safe, and takes out what he wants and relocks it, and when the owner returns he finds the safe apparently just as he left it. To accomplish his work he needs, in addition to his quick wit and mechanical knowledge, three ordinary wires, which he forces into the lock about the handle in such a way that the number of the combination is reduced to twenty-four. He reasons that all persons in locking a safe make a certain number of moves, and a knowledge of this fact enables him to further reduce its probable combinations to two or three movements. These two or three movements he finds out by actual trial, which consumes the greater part of his twenty minutes. In the case when the safe is in an apartment that is in full view of the street, he drops a little quicklime on the floor, pours water on it, and the steam that arises effectually cloaks the windows. In three instances he unlocked safes, abstracted the contents, relocked them, and made off in the time that the men who were in charge of them were at their dinner.”
In several of the principal cities of this country there are old offenders who have tired of operating and occupy their time experimenting and teaching young thieves the art of safe robbing. These men are practical machinists who have learned the mysteries of the craft and the weak points of safes while in the employ of money-vault manufacturers. They plan many, if not all, of the out-of-town jobs, sometimes months before they are executed. Upon a percentage of the proceeds of the nefarious work they are able to live well and keep beyond the reach of the law. They never permit any of their pupils to operate in the city in which they dwell, but direct their movements throughout the surrounding country. Whatever plunder the young rogues secure has to be converted into cold cash before they are allowed to return to their old haunts. There are other men who spend their time taking impressions of store locks, and for a duplicate key to a business establishment demand a percentage of the plunder. One of these men in a simple sort of a way, some years ago, made the robbing of a broker’s safe quite an easy matter, and yet a deep mystery. He learned that the confidential clerk employed in the place was infatuated with gambling, and made his acquaintance at the green baize table. One night the crafty rascal said that he had forgotten his keys and was anxious to unlock the drawer of a desk in the place. On the top of the desk lay a sheet of blotting paper that had been saturated with water. He borrowed the bunch of keys from the unsuspecting clerk, and while the latter was interested in the deal the fellow pressed the flat part of the key into the blotting paper, and also pressed it sideways. In that manner he secured a perfect impression of the key and also its thickness. Then he handed the keys back to the clerk, who thought no more of the matter. From the impression thus secured a duplicate key to the safe was manufactured, and with it, a month or so later on, the vault was easily plundered. A large haul was secured in that case, and for years suspicion pointed to the gambling confidential clerk as the thief. He was not arrested, however, and it was not until years after that the robber, while boasting about the theft, revealed the manner in which the duplicate key had been obtained. The clerk was then questioned, and he recalled the incident of loaning his keys to open a drawer in a desk in the gambling saloon.
The burglars who steal velvets, silks and silverware, take considerable time planning the robberies before they undertake the task of plundering the establishment. In some cases they scrape up an acquaintance with an employé, or send a confederate to price the most costly goods in stock. In that way they learn the shelf or shelves upon which the articles they are in search of are kep„t, and when at last they feloniously enter the premises they know just the place where they will find the most valuable goods.
The names and aliases of a number of the most expert store and safe thieves will be found in the following list:
John Anderson, alias Little Andy (see record of No. 63).—Martin Allen (see record of No. 164).—Thomas Kelly, alias Blink (66).—Fred. Benner, alias Dutch Fred (81).—Wm. Beatty, alias Burke (85).—James Burns, alias Big Jim (165).—Joe Rickerman, alias Nigger Baker (195).—Louis Brown, alias French Louie (204).—Oscar Burns (151).—Jimmy Brown (see record of No. 4).—Brummagen Bill (see record of No. 196).—Dave Cummings, alias Little Dave (50).—George Lockwood, alias Cully (75).—John Curtin (169).—Patsey Carroll (see record of No. 66).—James Campbell, alias Shang (107).—John Connors, alias Liverpool Jack (see record of No. 86).— Denny Carroll, alias Big Slim (147).—Jack Cannon (101).—Daniel Watson, alias Dutch Dan (23).—Dave Mooney, alias Little Dave (173).—Pete Emmerson, alias Banjo Pete (90).—Charles Fisher, alias Purdy (41).—Billy Forrester (76).—Frank Russell, alias Little Frank (see record of No. 75).—Gustave Kindt, alias Marechal, alias French Gus (77).—John Green (see record of No. 80).—Fred. P. Grey (73).—Geo. Havill, alias Cook (15).—Robert Hovan (179).—Wm. Hague, alias Curly Harris (196).—Frank Reilly, alias Harrison (79).—Michael Hurley, alias Pugsey (88).—Geo. Hall, alias Porter (see record of No. 23).—Andy Hess (see record of No. 85).—John T. Irving, alias Old Jack (86).—Michael Kurtz, alias Sheeny Mike (80).—John Love, alias Wells (68).—Ned Lyons, (70).—Andrew McGuire, alias Fairy McGuire (78).—Thos. McCarty, alias Tommy Moore (87).-—Eddie McGee (167).-—John McMahon (170).— Bill Morris, alias Gilmore (see record of No. 23).—John McKeon, alias Kid McKeon (see record of No. 61).—Milkey McDonald (see record of No. 61).—Wm. Ogle, alias Billy Ogle (13).—Wm. O’Brien, alias Billy Porter (74).—Pete Lamb, alias Dutch Pete (181).—August Palmer (63).—Joe Parish (84).—Herman Palmer, alias Dutch Herman (189).—John Pettengill (198).—Wm. Pettibone (see record of No. 61).—Michael Quinn, alias Shang (82).—Joe Real, alias Hoggy Real (67).—Joe Otterberg, alias Oatsey (69).—John Tracy, alias Big Tracy (28).—John Talbot, alias The Hatter (see record of No. 66).—Joe Whalen, alias Wilson (65).—John Williams (see record of No. (24).—John Wilson, alias Dutch Chris, (see record of No. 80).—James Wilmont (see record of No. 80).—Gilbert Yost (see record of No. 74).—Westley Allen, alias Wess. Allen (164).
See regular index for others.