HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1949-12-22, Page 7They've Cracked
10,000 Safes
Safes are getting safer and tough-'
ar, but they still hideno secrits from
the world's finest safecrackers, 68 -
years -old Dave Worrell and his in-
ventive son, Ronald.
In a backstreet workshop in the
City, of London, the Worrall family
boast that they know more about the
snaking and breaking of locks than
anyone else in the world, Neither
criminals nor police can equal their
astonishing skill and ingenuity,
Honest cracksmen, who exercise
theirextraordinary talents for legi-
timate purposes only, they recently
celebrated the opening of their
10,000th safe—strictly in the course
of business, writes Roger 13tinyan
in >"Tit -Bits."
For .test purposes they have' even
cracked open the Jewel, Room its the
Tower: of .London, home of the
Crown Jewels.
"Could you break open the, locks
in the Bank of England?" 1 asked
these key men recently.
"I think so,", Dave beamed. "I
fittest them!"
War Office Booby Traps
Inheriting two centuries of fanny
skill as locksmiths, the Worralls
have also installed -and sometimes
cracked -safes in Bucicingham Pal-
ace and the Royal Mint.. During the
war they supplie the War Oftice
with .a list of possible booby -traps
in connection with safe -opening -and
trained Commandos in safe -breaking.
After a thief has unsuccessfully
worked all night, they have been
known to open the damaged lock of
a safe in five minutes with nothing
more than a spindle of hard bent
wire.
One of Dave's more difficult jobs
was when he had to pry open the
toughest safe -door in the world, a
mass of multiple -layered metal
which alone weighs 10 tons. We
operate on some safes by ripping
off the back like the crackstnen in
•
Action," Dave told toe, "We use a
blow -pipe, oxy-acetylene flame or
electric drills. Oxy -acetylene cuts
through steel like butter. But this
30-tonner, made of tough steel
alloys; could resist a 4.7 gun at 50
yards."
All in the Day's Work
Using every process known t�
science, the Worrals worked 120
hours on the prototype safe at the
maker's request, testing its safety
in the only practical way, Subse—
quently, the makers guaranteed it to
resist attack for that time, No safe
is every completely impregnable. It
is immune only for a limited period,
Many average safes resist the
Worralls for less than, an hour.
Opening vaults that have jammed
accidentally, or safes for owners
who have lost the keys or forgotten
the combinations, are all in the
day's work. In their workroont re-
cently stood a safe coated with dried
slime and adhering seashells. It had
been retrieved from the strongroom
of a sunken ship. Father and son
have treated safes crushed in earth -
or seared by explosives.
During the bombing days, Dave
often found safes too hot to handle.
They lay glowing in caverns of
steaming bomb wreckage and they
had to be given time to cool down,
if the contents had been suddenly
exposed to normal temperatures,
they might have been ruined.
Working against a time -switch
can sometimes prove a matter of
life or death. Not long ago a night
employee was locked in a fur stor-
age vault. Using an emergency tele-
phone fitted within the vault he had
telephoned for help. When his res-
cuers reached the scene, 'phone
calls to the vault were unanswered,
Set like an alarm clock, the time
lock drops a tripper that springs
back only at the predetermined time,
The combinations cannot be work-
ed while .the tripper is in position.
Fortunately the trapped man had
read the emergency iustructions and
sprung tate tripper before slumping
unconscious. All the key men had to
do was find the combination.
"If you ever happen to be trapped
r
A HUNGRY BOY'S DREAM—A ragged Italian waif, living its the wake of
war, dreams of food. Today he'll receive a glass of Canadian milk from the
United Nations Internationnal Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). Canada
and a score of other United Nations countries are helping the sick and hungry
children of Europe and the East. The postal address "UNICEF, OTTAWA"
is accepting funds from Canadians to buy Canadian food for such ragged
babies as these. Six million children need help.
in cold storage," warns Worall,
"lift the tripper—or it may take us
12 hours to get you out instead of
20 minutes."
During his career Dave has seen
safes improved to the pitch of being
crime -proof, yet his locksmith's skill
has kept pace with progress. In his
apprenticeship days burglars were
still desperately attacking old-
fashioned safes by cutting the locks
away, or blowing them off with
gelignite. The strongroom experts
designed a combination -controlled
shutter and then went a step farther
and developed the keyless combina-
tion lock.
Aso safebreaker in criminal his-
tory has ever successfully manipu-
lated a combination lock with fingers
sandpapered to super -sensitivity, in-
tently listening to the click of the
tumblers. This scene annoys a 'Wor-
rell workman whenever he encount-
ers it in a thriller. The super lock-
smiths readily find the first and last
symbols of a combination, but work-
ing out the center ciphers is a
mathematical task requiring infinite
patience.
"Magnified Can -Openers"
. Combination safes, however, fail
readily enough if a custodian is
forced to reveal the secret at re-
volver point. Some craclesnten
have bludgeoned safes into surrender
by ripping off the back with magni•
fied can -openers or pouring nitro-
glycerine into the door joint and
blowing the door off. So the tech-
nicians next evolved a watertight,
airtight safe with no hairline gap
between the jamb and the door. To-
day, fitted in .its frame by the
mechanism known as the crane
hinge. the door of an average big
bank model may be controlled by
as many as four time -locks. In ad-
dition, since the advent of photo-
electric cells and infra -red rays, bid-
den wires linked with police head-
quarters give warning of intruders.
Similarly, there are trick locks de-
signed ,for ordinary bureau use
which raise- an alarm if the key is
turned to the right instead of to the
left opening a jammed or damaged
safe. a craftsman rarely resorts to
explosives. Using a fine drill, Dave
Worrell makes an incision little
larger than a pinhole and drives the
drill straight to the pivotal levers
forming the heart of a lock.
When the owner of a safe dies
without revealing a combination, the
master mechanic prefers to pit his
-- By Harold Arndt/
tbei
41M -NINE
QUA D
FACING .A
SPOKED HAND-
WHEEL- WITH A
CARD BOARD
GUARD REDUCES
THE CHANCES
OF INJU(ZtNG A
CHILP'S FINGERS.
<3%
skill against the safe without using
force. As Dave explains, "When you
call a cabinet-maker in for your
furniture, you don't want it broken
up!"
A Load of Diamonds
On one occasion a safe full of
diamonds was travelling from Kim-
berley to Cape Town when it fell in
unloading and was buckled. Master
mechanics in South Africa attempt-
ed to open it in vain, The jammed
safe had to travel all the way to
Britain, where Customs officials re-
fused to allow it to pass unopened.
Eventually representatives of the
Customs, the diamond owners and
the shipping company had to assem-
ble in the Worralls' workshop to
sec the safe opened. It tools 25
minutes.
Perhaps the best tribute to today s
safe -makers is the fact that, despite
greatly improved explosives and the
increase in crime, safe-hreaking is
steadily on the decrease, Like John
Dilliuger, who boasted be could
clean out any bank in four min-
utcs, the majority of bold -up nien
prefer the technique of rapid sus
prise. One of the Worralls' little
gadget surprises is a drawer which
greets its friends in silence but
raises an alarm at the first sign of
hostility. If valuables are removed
in one particular way, all is well. If
they are taken out in any other way,
an alarm is immediately transmitted,
Keeping Their Secrets
But the Worralls seldom discuss
their family secrets. If they make
even a key for a customer they
never keep a replica, nor even a
record of the address for which it
was ordered. Yet special boolcs em-
bodying mostof their trade secrets
have already been printed. With full
working drawings of every kind of
lock and safety device, intricate
tables of figures cover every known
combination. They would perhaps
be worth a fortune to a modern
raffles.
At Scotland Yard, as well as the
offices of the tprincipal safemakers,
the few copies in existence, are kept
in safes—safes, that, setting aside
the combinations, only the Worrals
can open.
Took The Tip
A temperance lecturer had warm-
ed.up to her subject.
"Who has the most money to
spend?" she thundered. "Who drives
around in the finest car? The tavern --
keeperl Who has the fittest fur
coats?? The tavern keeper's wife!
And who pays for these pleasures?
You do, my friend!"
Several -days later' a man and bit
wife who had been its the audience
stopped the lecturer in the street
and thanked her for her advice,
"I am glad indeed," she said,
"that you have give up drink."
"Oh, we haven't: done that," said
the nem. "We've bought a tavern."
Helpful Hints
For busy Women
Badly shrunken .sweaters make
the most wonderful, warm, and at-
tractive mittens,, Starting with the
knitted band of the sweater es
cuff, I trace, a pattern of the band
with the fingers together and thumb
spread apart. Machine -stitch on the
outside and buttonhole the edge
with bright yarn.
* * *
A housewife, going about .her
daily dusting, can, easily get at over-
head cobwebs if she'll bind an•ordin-
ary paintbrush to the top of her
broom handle. This gives her a very
effective "two-way" sweeping unit,
* * *
To entertain . small children in-
doors on wintry days,- snake finger
painting of cleaning powder and
cake coloring. Let them paint the
porcelain table or the bathtub. They
will love it, and you will, too, when
you see how easily their art work
washes off.
* * *
Work sha vines and scraps from
the workshop are put to excellent
use at our house. We save them in
paper -bags, tie the necks of the
bags tightly, and use this packaged
material as kindling in our stove
and fireplace all winter long.
;,:: * * *
To keep my galoshes frotn getting
mixed with with others, I carry a
snap clothespin with my name on it
right in my handbag. When I clip
this onto my pair, it not only keeps
them together, but helps me spot
them in a minute, no matter how
many nearby galoshes are exactly
like them.
* * *
To patch boys' snowsuits, sweater
elbows, or trouser knees, try But-
ting a round or oblong piece from
an old leather purse or jacket. Sew
it on by hand. You'll find you've in-
creased the garment's wear—and
even pepped it up—with the decora-
tive patch.
* * *
Your rolling pin will be just where
you want it—yet carefully out of
the way—if you try this simple idea.
Into the underside of a handy shelf,
screw two large hooks spaced to
support the rolling -pin handles. Set
the pin on the hooks when it's out
of use and it will be ready and
waiting right there when next you
need it.
5 * 5
Keep a "basting -thread' 'spool at
your sewing machine, When you've
used all but a yard or two from a
spool of thread, wind it onto the
special spool. You'll find that no
natter what the color, it conies in
ever so handy when you have bast-
ing to do.
* * *
Here's a trick I've found to keep
the tot's wax crayons from break-
ing easily while he colors. I wind
the stern of every crayon with cellu-
lose tape. Then as the point wears
down, 1 simply peel the tape back
a bit.
"Oe the road ahead," reports a
roan who recently did a lot of driv-
ing through the mid -west, "some-
thing showed up like a dark blur--
just a little thicker than the sur-
rounding night. I stepped hard on
the brakes.
* * - *
"Then my headlights caught the
cndgate of a farm wagon. No .lan-
tern. No reflector. Ahead, a tractor
was pulling that wagon along to-
ward the barnyard.
* a: *
"Nobody was hurt, But I was
scared to death. And I have wonder-
ed since how many accidents and
near -accidents occur just because
somebody forgets to put a lantern
on the endgate."
* n g:
And that traveller ntay well won-
der. It's so easy to relax proper
precautions when one is on familiar
roads; close to home. Which might
be as good a time as any to remind
everybody,-youtts and old, of some-
thing that a lot of us know we
should do, yet so many of us
neglect,
• * *
It's this; if walking along a high-
way after dusk, BE SURE AND
WEAR SOMETHING LIGHT;
AND IF YOU HAVEN'T ANY
LIGHT COLORED CLOTHING
CARRY A WRITE HANDKER-
CHIEF IN YOUR HAND, SO
THAT IT WILL CATCH THE
EYE OF AN ONCOMING
MOTORIST. (Of course you al-
ways walk on the left side of the
road, towards oncoming traffic; at
least I hope you do.)
* * *
Now that I've started on the sub-
ject of safety and accident, here's
something along the same line that
might be worth calling to your at-
tention. It's about the best way to
cut down the number of hunting
fatalities which take up so much
space in the papers during the fall
and winter. Here's the way an Edi-
torial writer in the Agricultural
News tells about it.
e
A hunter creeps stealthily through
the-forest,A twig snaps in a thicket
, ahead. He freezes in his tracks, his
ears cocked. Dry leaves rustle. An-
other twig breaks. Something moves
in the alders, A deer? It must be.
Heart thumping wildly, he pulls up
his rifle and lets fly at the moving
shadow.
* * *
A human cry is heard almost
simultaneously with the crack of
the rifle. The hunter rushes forward.
What he sees chills his blood. A
fellow hunter is sprawled in the dry
leaves .. , dead.
This scene, with variations, was
repeated many times in the woodu
this 'past fall. Hunters were acci-
dently killed because they were mis-
taken for game; Hunters were killed
because fellow hunters tripped and
discharged their weapons. Hunters
killed themselves while climbing
over fences and their guns went off
accidently.
*
Out of all the investigations ic,to
such tragic deaths. onefact came
out with stride clarity. No trigger-
happy hunter belonged toa national
shooting organization. This is borne
out by the National Rifle Assnia-
tion in the L.S, which claims spat
in the unary years for whirl snnis-
tics were compiled none of its 200.-
000 members had accidentally slat
anyone. A senior .official of tltr Ca-
nadian Small Bore Association (onto
the Canadian Civilian Association
of Marksmen) maintains that for the
15 years he had been connected with
it, not one of this group has been
responsible for an accidental killing.
This revelation is highly signifi-
cant. It obviously indicates that
safety rules drilled into one ou the
target ranges are observed in the
bush. It gives the answer to how
accidents with firearms can be dras-
tically reduced. That answer: join
your local shooting club or organ-
iae one if there isn't one already. Be-
come an active member and practice
aafetly regulations until they be-
come part of your instincts. if
every would-be hunter did this,
hunting would indeed become a safe
sport.
* *
Which should be about euougt,
for just now -except to pass alr.ng
A very ancient tale, which I hada':
heard for many years until a friend
revived it the other day. Probably
you'll recall it—the one about the
stingiest man in town, who was too
mean to buy his kids any Christmas
presents, but was worried about
what kind of excuses to make to
them when they awoke and fount,
the hung-up stockings empty.
* * *
So a bright thought sante to bite,.
Very early Christmas morning,
while it wad' still dark, he sneaked
out of the house carrying his shot
gun. Right outside the bedroom
window he fired a shot. Then tee
rushed into the house shouting, "Olt,
children, isn't it just to had, Poor
Santa Claus has just committed sto
cide—did you hear the shot?"
* * *
Not so hot? Well, 5 don't Mink so
either. So I guess I'd better sign
off, wishing to you and yours all
the Compliments of the Seasoi,.
Now, Santa Will Colne—Soft coal miner Joe Siol:a and his wife, Naomi, 111.11,
telel:n'ate the fact that Santa isn't dead. Jolrtt.t... Lewis' order permitting the trainer.; to nm -k•
three days a week greatly improves' chances. that the Slokas and thnnsnn,.l,t 111:, 11,0n, a 1!
enjoy a merry Christmas.
Alk
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