e, in which the risk is
very great, and the plunder in proportion. His peculiar "racket" is to
break open some first-class business house, a bonded warehouse, or the
vaults of a bank. The burglar class has three divisions, known to the
police as Safe-blowers, Safe-bursters, and Safe-breakers. They are said
to be less than 250 in number, those of the first and second class
comprising about seventy-five members each. The safe-blowers are
accounted the most skilful. They rarely force an entrance into a
building, but admit themselves by means of false keys made from wax
impressions of the genuine keys. Once inside, their mode of operation is
rapid and systematic. They lower the windows from the top about an inch.
This is usually sufficient to prevent the breaking of the glass by the
concussion of the air in the room, and not enough to attract attention
from without. The safe is then wrapped in wet blankets, to smother the
noise of the explosion. Holes are then drilled in the door of the safe
near the lock, these are filled with powder, which is fired by a fuse,
and the safe is blown open. The securing of the contents requires but a
few minutes, and the false keys enable the thieves to escape with ease.
This method of robbery is very dangerous, as, in spite of the precautions
taken, the explosion may produce sufficient noise to bring the watchman
or the police to the spot. Experienced burglars only engage in it, and
these never undertake it without being sure that the plunder to be
secured will fully repay them for the danger to be encountered. This
knowledge they acquire in various ways.

The Safe-bursters are the silent workers of the "profession." Like the
class just mentioned, they enter buildings by means of false keys. They
adopt a thoroughly systematic course, which requires the combined efforts
of several persons, and consequently they operate in parties of three and
four. They first make the safe so fast to the floor, by means of clamps,
that it will resist any degree of pressure. Then they drill holes in the
door, and into these fit jack-screws worked by means of levers. The
tremendous force thus exerted soon cuts the safe literally to pieces, and
its contents are at the mercy of the thieves. The whole process is
noiseless and rapid, and so complete has been the destruction of some
safes that even the most experienced detectives have been astounded at
the sight of the wreck. Such an operation is n