A look at safe breaking in Australia back in the day.
Picking a padlock or manipulating tumblers on a combination lock was generally confined to a few experts with sensitive fingers and acute hearing. It wasn’t easy, and of course the contents could be disappointing to say the least.
And then there was the matter of a clean getaway, which in the case of the Sydney’s Adams Hotel robbery (1930) was a major fail. It was also rather entertaining.
59 year old David Martin, a career criminal, booked a room in the hotel on the night of March 7 he crept downstairs in his pyjamas, (yes, very odd!) entered the office and locked the door behind him. He then picked the lock of the safe, and filled a chaff bag with parcels of money totaling over £1,100. Unluckily for Martin, night porter Arthur Twine heard a noise and tried the door. When he found it locked he hid nearby until Martin emerged and went upstairs. Presumably he was intending to dress, then go back to pick up the loot. Meanwhile Twine had the external doors guarded and called the police.
Still in his night attire, Martin escaped by climbing through a window. He led police on a movie style chase across the rooftops until he was captured by the dome of the Palace Theatre. Seven shots were fired at him, but not one hit the mark. There was a lot of blood on his pyjamas, but that was only due to the scrapes and knocks of his flight.
I think his defense should have been that he was sleep walking.
The cruder method of simply blowing safes up was by far the most prevalent means of breaching them, but it had its own challenges.
TOO MUCH ‘JELLY’ TO BUST THE SAFE
Burglars attempted a daring robbery early yesterday morning, when they broke into Bexley Council Chambers, and blew the safe. So much gelignite was used that the door of the safe jammed, and could not be opened. (Daily Telegraph March 17 1926)
The amount of explosive employed by robbers at Sydney’s Mosman Bay wharf in 1922 caused the door of the safe to sheer right off. It flew up and punched a hole in the ceiling of the shop. Meanwhile the blast caused a fire that set alight bags of mail. The crims found only a measly few quid for their efforts, but hastily loaded up their car with drinks, smokes and lollies.
NOT MUCH CHOP!
Muffling the noise of detonation was another issue for burglars. Hessian bags, pillows or old clothes were pressed into service (pun intended). However, when a Sydney butcher’s shop was targeted, thieves used whatever was to hand;
Packing meat around the safe to minimize the sound of the detonation, safe-breakers last night cracked a safe in a butcher’s shop in Pitt Street, within a few hundred yards of the detectives’ office….They added insult to injury by taking some of the choicest meat to deaden the sound of the explosives. (Townsville Daily Bulletin, February 10 1936.
NO STAMP OF SUCCESS 😎
I almost felt sorry for the robbers in this case; ‘A safe that was taken from McLennan’s Terminus Hotel, Albury, early on Wednesday of last week, was found by police in a creek off Mowlong Road, about 3 miles from Albury. The doors of the safe, which was in 10 feet of water, had apparently been blown off with explosives. The only article of value to the thieves that the safe contained was £1 worth of 2d stamps. (Moree Gwydir Examiner, April 28 1938) The pub’s proprietor had another piece of good fortune, because his hotel license and other private papers were found floating on the water.
THE HEAT’S ON
ADELAIDE -Thursday. The ironmongery and furniture establishment of Wiesner and Co., at Eudunda, 65 miles from Adelaide, was to-day destroyed by fire. The damage is estimated at £10,000.
A back door of the building had been forced, and a safe blown open, but there no money in it. (Daily Telegraph, October 4 1929)
FUNERIAL GLOOM OVER AN EMPTY SAFE
The following incident must qualify as the biggest waste of time for safe blowers ever. And what on earth possessed them to target an office at Rookwood Cemetery?
SYDNEY – Monday. Cracksmen used a quantity of explosives to open a safe in the Presbyterian cemetery office at Rookwood this morning, There was nothing of value in the safe. The robbers, however, overlooked the fact that the safe was not locked. (Daily Express (Wagga) March 18 1930)
EPILOGUE…A SAFE BREAKER’S LAMENT
When thieves broke into the Double Bay branch of the Commonwealth Bank in Sydney, they were carrying oxy-acetylene gear; ‘Attacking the 6ft safe door with the oxy-flame, they cut out two plates of steel, 18 inches square, but struck reinforced concrete and abandoned the attempt. The bank manager, Mr Petford, who lives in a flat above the premises, today found chalked on the damaged safe door, “Next time you buy a safe, don’t buy one with cast iron guts!” (The Sun, March 19 1942)
TO SEE HOW A SAFE LOCK WORKS, CLICK HERE