LOCKS AND KEYS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19239, 1 August 1924, Page 4

LOCKS AND KEYS.

THE PROBLEM OF OPENING. SKELETON KEY FALLACY. SAFE-MAKERS AND SAFE-BREAKERS. ‘‘Love laughs at locksmiths” is an adage, tho truth of which has been verified on many occasions, much to the chagrin of fond fathers and loving mothers, who have found—alas, too Lato—that their precious daughter lias eloped with “that terrible young man,” heedless of parental threats. But it is not love alone 1 hat laughs at locksmiths. The latter have been forced to do some hard Blinking in order to devise means of thwarting tho modern burglar whose “kit’’ contains ingenious devices for forcing bolts and bars in order to ensure success in his nefarious operations. With a view to ascertaining tho reason why the complicated mechanism of stout locks is often futile when attacked by an expert cracksman, a Daily Times reporter interviewed a well-known locksmith of this city. THE SKELETON KEY. >, “Locks are of various designs,” said the locksmith, “warded, levered, and cylinder. Ordinary locks for wardrobes, cupboards, etc., are warded in most cases, and are very easily opened witn a skeleton key of a particular type. - > common idea is that a skeleton key will open any lock, from (hat of a jewel case to an office door or safe. Although erroneous, the impression is a fairly general one, and locksmiths are frequently asked for the loan of skeleton keys by persons who.wish' to open several different types of locks. In dealing with the common warded locks, the locksmith must know the make and size of the lock before he is able to make a skeleton key to open a lock of that particular size and make only. If the lock is smaller or larger the same key will not open ili even if it is of tho same make. Each size of lock and each make in all warded locks must have its particular skeleton key. “MASTER” AND “GRAND MASTER.” “Another type of lock in gcnral use is the ‘lever’ lock, which is levered from one up to as many as 12 levels. Locks with fewer than five levers are mostly used on chests, desks, cash and deed boxes, doors, etc., and a capable locksmith is able to open locks _of this type in a very short time. It is practically impossible for a locksmith to supply a skeleton key to open this type of lock at a minute’s notice, even if the customer mentions the class of lock which ho desires to bo opened. Good quality levered locks are designed by the makers in one particular pattern, and are all levered differently, yet provision is marie in their construction so that one ‘Master’ key will open them all. However, the difficulty is to secure the ‘Master’ key. “In some of these levered locks, and particularly those in use in banks, it is possible to tell instantly whether a false key has been inserted and turned m the lock as soon as the proper key is used. By turning the proper key in the opposite direction to that in which it is turned to open the lock, any minor fault caused by tho insertion of a false key may be remedied. ‘ The most up-to-date combination cylinder door locks now in general use are each made differently, unless it should happen that one is altered to match another, and it is impossible for any locksmith to open a lock of this particular type with a skeleton key. These locks are made so that no two combinations are alike, and the key of one lock will therefore not fit another of the same type. In the case of a caretaker or N ‘watchnian possessing a key for a main door lock this may be so constructed that it will not open until the manager or a senior member of the firm has first turned his key in it. Such a key is known as the ‘grand master’ key. If one pattern of such a lock were made, and locks with different key combinations were fitted on the doors of every house in Dunedin, or in the whole of New Zealand for that matter, the one ‘great master’ key would open them ail, but it would be very indiscreet to ask any locksmith for such a key. SAFE-MAKER AND SAFEBREAKER. “First class safe and strongroom locks are never made with less than six levers, and good makers never construct two alike. Thousands of different combinations may be made with these levers by putting tnem in a different order of rotation, and it is useless for a locksmith to waste time in attempting to fit a key to these locks, tho quickest way to open them being to resort to other methods known in the trade. “The term ‘burglar-proof safe’ is misleading, ansd especially so in any safe with a keyhole, because if the burglar is in a hurry he inserts a quantity of gelignite in the keyhole, and fires the explosive by means of a time fuse. Some years ago it was a comparatively easy matter for burglars to break into safes in this manner, but now that modern safes are ‘built in’ it is a much more difficult task to open them, and a heavy charge of gelignite must bo used to blow the safe door partly off. The necessity for Making cover’ ait some distance roin the safe and the loud explosion which occurs render the. risk of detection much greater, and the possibility of being caught redhandod on returning to ascertain the result of his handiwork often makes it perilous for the burglar to complete tho job. “There is great rivalry between Hie safemaker and the safe-breaker, as to who has command over tho safes with regard to (heir opening, and tho safe-opener is as yet an easy first., and no matter what material the lock or the safe is made of, it is not burglar proof. But in 99 oases out of ICO when a looksmith is called in ho is able to rectify the damage done by the burglar. A PECULIAR FACT. “The maker of tho most expensive type of lock of a certain variety did not make it for security as it is only secure as far as tho inside of a building is concerned, and, strange to say, it is an easy task to manipulate if from ihe outside and gain an entrance to buildings which in some oases contain thousands of pounds worth of goods of various descriptions. In making a building secure the locks should be selected a/cording to the type of building and tho purpose for which it is used. In some cases the proprietors of large buildings containing valuable goods aro quite satisfied that they are secure in spite of tho fact that the locks used, though expensive, afford no odequate protection. i ‘ 'Locksmiths aro frequently asked by customers: 4 You remember the key you made for mo the other day? MTU you make mo anotlier Idee it?’ Tho locksmith, however, makes a key to a sample or to a lock, and that is tho end of it so far as ho is concerned. He dees not keep a copy of the keys lie makes, a sufficient reason being that his shop would not be large enough to store the thousands of keys which ho makes iff a year; and, for another reason, a very great proportion of tho keys would not be asked for again. If replicas of keys and broken samples are loft by customers they are destroyed.” REMINISCENCES. MTie locksmith then lapsed into a reminiscent mood, and related several interesting episodes in connection with his trade. “About 20 years ago,” ho said. “I responded to a challenge made by a ‘handcuff king,’ who was appearing in Dunedin, and who claimed that he could open any six lever locks produced. I took a lock of that pattern on to tho stage, and, on the ‘magician’ finding that he could not open it, m spite of his claim, ho offered mo £5 for a loan of tho key, but I refused to be a party to hoodwinking the audience, greatly to his annoyance.” “I recently received a telephone call from a residence some distance away from my shop,” continued tho locksmith, “in order to open a trellis door. The time occupied in (ravelling by tramcar and in walking to tho house was three-quarters of an hour each way, and, on my arriving with about 20 keys of various types and a number of tools, 1 found to iny intense disgust that the trellis door was attached to a wire-netting fowlrun, and it would have been tho simplest, matter for tho householder to have cut the wire near tho lock with a pair of pliers, when Ihe door would have swung open easily. “Another instance of lack of common sense occurred some years ago at a house about two miles and a-ha!f from Dunedin, where the key of a padlock, which could then be purchased for Is, had been mislaid, and consequently tho fowlhouse door, which it secured, could not lie opened. 1 was called in, and in addition to my trainfare, my time liad to bo paid for. and, although labour was cheap then, this lack of enterprise cost the householder 6s fid. Of course, tho obvious tiling to do was to smash the lock and procure another at a cost of Is. “I may say.” concluded the locksmith, “that it is quite a common thing to find people who, on leaving their homes at holiday time, imagine that their property is quite safe if the house is locked and the gate secured by a small chain and a cheap padlock. On their return they are usually surprised and pained to find the chain and padlock, if they have not been stolen, lying on the lawn, where they have been oon-