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TREATISE ON FIRE & THIEF-PROOF DEPOSITORIES
AND
LOCKS AND KEYS
BY
GEORGE PRICE
1856
ON FIRE AND THIEF-PROOF DEPOSITRIES
Chapter IV
What is Required in an Iron Safe to make it Secure against Thieves and Fire.
In deciding upon what means to employ to secure our valuables from the house-breaker, we must not forget that as improvements take place in the arts and sciences in the same proportion does lie increase in ingenuity and intelligence; and, therefore, even the improved safes and locks made and in general use up to a very recent period, have been found faulty and wanting, when operated upon by the present race of skilful and scientific burglars.
An iron safe, to be really secure against fire and thieves, must possess the following merits:-
First - The iron should be of such thickness as to prevent the safe or chest being broken open by violence, or injured by its fall from an upper storey in a fire, or by building materials falling upon it; and the plates forming the body should be so put together, that no violence or ingenuity could easily get them asunder.
Second - The door should be so carefully fitted that no instrument could be inserted between its edge and the outside of the safe for the purpose of forcing it open, and the iron should be so prepared that it should resist the effect of drills when employed to make an opening for the purpose of either taking out the small lock, or of conveying gunpowder to it, or into the lock-chamber in which the large bolts work. The lock-studs, by which the lock-case is secured to the door, should not be seen on the outside or front of it.1
Fourth - The large lock, the bolts of which are thrown by a knob or handle,2should be well made, and of simple construction, so as seldom to require the case to be taken off after it is once fastened to the back of the door; and so contrived, that in the event of one or more holes being drilled through the door, there should be no space inside the chamber sufficiently large to contain enough gunpowder to blow it open. There should be bolts at back and front; and in large safes, or those with double doors, there should be bolts allround - top, bottom, and at each side.
Fith - The case at the back of the door containing the lock and fire-proof composition, should fit the interior of the safe as tightly as the opening and closing of the door will allow, so as not only to keep out the external heat, when in a fire, but also to prevent the escape of that moisture evolved by the vaporizing material, by means of which the contents are to be preserved.
Sixth - The inside case forming the chambers for the fire-resisting material should fit the inside of the outer body quite tight, so as to prevent the undue escape of vapour when in a fire, and should be so secured to the outer frame, that no violence exerted upon the door should force the removal of such lining.3
Seventh - The non-conducting and steam-generating composition placed in the chambers or inside casings, and t the back of the lock chamber, should be prevented from having any injurious effect upon the iron; that when subjected to the action of fire, whilst the vapour would preserve the contents from combustion or damage of that kind, it should not injure plate or specie, or effect the writing upon, or substance of, papers and books. The thickness or quantity f the composition should be in proportion to the risk or probable duration of a fire.4
Eighth - The small lock, which secures the bolts, should be one that, from its construction, would be easy to use, not liable to disarrangement, likely to wear well, gunpowder-proof, and above all, one that could not be picked; and the key should be small enough to be carried without inconvenience in the waistcoat pocket.
Although iron safes are not required or expected to be placed in a drawing-room, yet they should be of such a design, and so neatly finished, as to please the eye and be an ornament to the counting-house.
Safes possessing all these qualities, and obtainable at such a price as to place within the reach of every shopkeeper, is a desideratum which has long been wanted.
Mr. Granville Sharp, in is article on "Safes" in the work before referred to, says:-
"It must, however, be observed, that the 'Safes' of the Great Exhibition, (1851,) as a whole, are distinguished rather by ornament and beautiful workmanship, than by strength and practical utility for banking purposes; they are to small, and they are too handsome, and, as a consequence, they are (proportioned to the accommodation afforded) far to too costly."
1 Safes constructed on the above plan can be opened by any ordinary mechanic with a chisel, punch, and hammer, in a few minutes. There are hundreds in daily use made in this objectionable and insecure way, many of which are the productions of those whose "life-long experience" in their manufacture ought to have discovered and remedied such a palpable and serious defect. By removing the moulding from the front of the door the rivets are at once seen.
2 "Whenever practicable, even in locks of moderate size, the bolts should be moved by the knob of the door, and secured only by the lock" - Granvile Sharp.
3 On no account should solder be used in the manufacture of fire-proof safes, as it melts at a comparatively low temperature, and thereby allows the escape of steam.
4 To be of any value at all, it must be from two to six inches in thickness on every side of the safe, according as the risk of a continuous fire is small or great.
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