LOCKS AND SAFES.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20862, 23 May 1933, Page 13

LOCKS AND SAFES.

CARELESSNESS AS HELP TO BURGLARS. SOME POPULAR MISCONCEPTIONS, Safe-breakers and burglars are not usually so skilled in handling locks as most persons think them, according to Mr H. Sturge, of the locksmithing iirm of Handisides and Sturge. In an interview yesterday Mr Sturge stated that criminals of this type would not be half so successful as they were if persons were not careless in what they did with the keys of safes or negligent in fitting good locks to doors. At the same time he discussed some of his more amusing experiences with locks that had failed to yield to tho efforts of their owners. "It often seems that persons must think* locksmiths are magicians," said Mr Sturge. "When they lose a key they send us a drawing of the outside of the keyhole to indicate the nature of the new key they want. They say tney want a key lor a safe, an 'ordinary safe,' and when we investigate we find they want a kev for the meatsai'e. One woman wanted a key tor a box. When she, was told more information was necessary, she wrote that it was for a Jong box, painted in black enamel. And not one person in a thousand knows what his own doorkey looks like, nor can he pick out a similar one from a dozen placed before him.

Five Men Baffled. "Once I opened in three seconds without a key a safe that had resisted the united efforts of five men for an hour and a half," he continued. "They had tied a rope to the handle, and had tugged on it all together; they had tried screwdrivers, but they haa failed to lind out if the safe was really locked. It was not. All I had to do was to turn the handle the right way," he said. "Another time I was called to a factory where the whole staff was shut.out one morning because the door key nad been lost. Yet there was a porthole in the door which anybody could have opened, and by reaching his hand round have worked the lock from the inside. Another time I was called to open a combination safe because the owner had forgotten or lost the number of the combination," said Mr Sturge. "It would have been a difficult job to open the safe, but I examined it carefully and found the number had been chalked on the back. I rubbed it out, worked the dials correctly so that the safe could be opened, and the owner thought I was a wizard." These incidents were illustrations of the way in which persons were "beaten" by a lock. "Persons call us to places miles away, and when wr get there we find that the lock that has held them up is a ninepenny padlock that they could wrench off with a screwdriver," said Mr Sturge. They have two keys to a safe, and carefully leave one inside it, so that it will not be lost. Then they lose the key they have been carrying about with them, and have to call in a locksmith's aid to open the safe. On one occasion a safe was brought m to the workshop to be opened and the first old key I tried opened it. I was lucky, but the safe had nsver been properly locked. Only too often person.* fail to turn locks properlv home, and then feel surprised when a burglar opens them easily."

Illogical Behaviour. People were very illogical in their behaviour about locks, said Mr Sturge. They saw to it that their front doors, on which usually no burglar could operate without being seen from the street were fitted with good locks, but they were careless about the back door. There they nearly-always haa a much less effective lock, although any sensible burglar would go to the back, where there was leas chance that he would be observed. The'same thoughtlessness was shown about garage doors. Generally the owner used a good padlock, but its usefulness was considerably diminished because the staple.was flimsy or wan attached with ordinary carpenter's wood screws. A few minutes work with a screwdriver would enable the staple to be removed, or the door to be taken oft its lunges. '. When a burglar managed to open a door,, whether of a house or a safe, he -was generally credited with unusual cleverness, but in nine cases out of ten he.epuid never have beeq-suc-cessful but for carelessness on the part of the owners. People carefully locked their backs doers, but left a note to say where the key could be found, or even if they did not leave a note, they left the key on a nearby window ledge or hid it under the mat—all of which was very helpful for burglars. Experience of Firms. Carelessness of this type was not confined to householders. A Christchurch warehouse was broken into, and the safe was rifled by a burglar, whose skill in safe-breaking consisted in using the' key, which had been left hanging on a nail nearby. That seemed to be a too common method of guarding the contents of a safe. Another firm kejst the keys of the main safe—a really strong safe, that would have been very difficult to break into—in another very simple small safe in the office. The man who broke in knew where the keys were kept, and had no trouble in breaking open the small safe. After that his job was easy, and yet he was credited with unusual smartness. Casbboxes, especially the cheaper sort, were not much protection, for a tin-opener made the burglar's job easy, and in any cas<» they could be carried away and operated on elsewhere at leisure. "If a good mWera safe is "properly locked and the key is not available, the only way tq open it is to turn it open with acetone," Mr Sttoge continued, "That is a job for a specialist who knows the .construction of safe locks, and not for- any welde? random. Similarly, iujl knowledge is necessary to blow a safe properly- In nine cases out of ten when explosives are -used the safe is not opened,' and the only result is to tangle the bolts of the lock. Usually it is a fluke when a burglar succeeds in opening a safe in this way. Helped by knowledge of a particular type of lock, it is not a long job to open a .jafe with acetone. It took me ten to burn open the door of a bank strongroom, the key of which had become jammed in the lock."

Skeleton Keys. Misconceptions about the nature and use of skeleton keys were common, and people thought locksmiths Had a master key that would open all kinds of locks. That was entirely wrong, for any particular skeleton key would fit only one series of locks, and there was no such thing as a skeleton key for a cylinder lock—the type which was commonly referred to as a "Yale" lock, though that name was popularly used to cover many different makes. To illustrate his point, Mr Sturge produced a score of skeleton keys for the ordinary type of house locks, and added that he was constantly finding locks which none of these keys would open. The modern type of lock used on' safes could not be opened with any skeleton key, for a matter of a thousandth of an inch would be enough to prevent the levers operating. Combination safes were also the subject of misconceptions. The familiar dodge of the "movie" criminal, of listening for the click of the combination as an aid to working such a lock, was based on error. The clicks made when the dial was operated might mean anything, and rarely indicated that the right combination of numbers had been found. It was a very simple matter to open some cheap combination safes. If the door was given one crack with a hammer some part of the lock would usually fracture, and the safe could be opened.