BAFFLING BURGLARS.

Northland Age, Volume IV, Issue 48, 20 July 1908, Page 2

BAFFLING BURGLARS.

HOW BILL SIKES IS CAUGHT

TRIPPING.

Crooked but ingenious to the way of Bill Sikes. Owners of property are bringing their keenest brains to bear upon the endeavours to protect their property. The doors of the Bank of England for instance, are so finely balanced that any one of the clerks, by pressing a bell under the desk, can close the outer door in the building instantly, which doors cannot be opened again except by special process.

Thus, he would be a bold thief who ventured to rob the famous institution during business hqurs, but he would be a bolder one still who would try to gain access to the bullion department at night. This department is nightly submerged under several feet of water, into which entrance cannot be effected without setting off an alarm connected with the manager’s sleeping apartment. So jealousy does the Bank guard its golden sovereigns that were some one to take as much as one from a pile of, say, one thousand, the whole place would immediately sink, and a pool of water would arise. Although all arrangements for the reception of Mr. Sikes are not so weird as those of the Bank of England, still they are ingenious enough, as occasionally to catch the wily William tripping. A device that often prevents robberies in secluded spots is by means of an electric alarm. Wires are so fixed in the casements that directly a window is flung open an electric current is sent right through the house, unceremoniously announcing the presence of an undesired visitor. A country gentleman has perfected a clever scheme, whereby to ensnare thieves. A barbed wire, rising in height from one foot to three feet, encircles the house. The danger lies not in tho wire itself, because any self-respecting cracksman worthy of his profession can easily clear any three foot obstacle, but on the other side qf tho fence. Here a pitfall of a couple of feet in depth is cut, at a distance nicely gauged to be the length of a man taking a running leap. So, when the burglar runs away with his booty, he falls into the pit and breaks or dislocates his ankle.

Burglary to-day has developed into a fine art. The cracksman is usually a highly-educated man, with a bent for science. And he wilj tell you that he owes much to such people as Sir Hiram Maxim and Mr. Thomas Edison. A case is reported from Germany. At a hotel a stranger secured a room which was situated over that of a money-changer. Before the next morning dawned everything of value had been taken from the moneychanger’s office. This is how it was done.

.The stranger pierced a hole in the flqor of his room, then, with the aid of a circular saw, raised a portion of the flooring. Beneath this lay a thick layer of cement. A small orifice was made, and an umbrella shoved down into the space below. The umbrella when opened received, without noise, all the fragments of cement, By means of a rope ladder, the burglar made a descent below, around the safe he constructed a tent of heavy blankets, so thick that not a ray of light should pass through. Next, the robber brought to his assistance two cylinders of compressed oxygen and an acetyline generator charged with calcium carbide and water. With these he was able to produce a blowpipe flame of such intensity as only required a brief space of time to melt away so much of the door, that all the contents of the safe were accessible.