Padlock

“ The puzzle-lock is generally in the form of a padlock, which is opened and closed without the use of a key, and which has certain difficulties thrown in the way of its being opened by any one who is not in the secret of the person who closed it. It is, in fact, one of the locks in which the doctrine of permutation is made to contribute to the means of security. The key to open it is a mnemonic or mental one, instead of one of steel or iron. Two centuries ago, the puzzle-lock attracted far more attention than any other. ”

“ Since it was gone it was obvious that it must have been removed on a vehicle. His next point was to see how that vehicle got in, and if it had left any traces. And first as to the coach-house door.
He picked up the padlock and examined it carefully. It was an ordinary old-fashioned four-inch one. The ring had been forced open while locked, the hole in the opening end through which the bolt passes being torn away. Marks showed that this had been done by inserting some kind of lever between the body of the lock and the staple on the door, through which the ring had been passed. ”

“ A strong iron collar was closely fitted by means of a padlock round each of our necks. A chain of iron, about a hundred feet in length, was passed through the hasp of each padlock, except at the two ends, where the hasps of the padlock passed through a link of the chain. ”

“ Where these locks are exposed to moisture or to the weather, they should be of bronze or of brass, with all of the interior construction of the same material. If required for great security, that is, for places where they are likely to be subjected to violence, they should be very heavy, and preferably provided with steel shackles. Padlocks constructed on the cylinder-lock principle may be obtained, and should always be used where a series of locks that are operated by separate keys and controlled by a master key is employed. ”

“ Ida, Elsie, and Brian improvised musical instruments out of the fire-irons, and Mrs. Ormond brought up the rear.
"Now," said Mr. Ormond, when the library was reached and the band ceased its triumphal march, "suppose you strong young men lift the box out into the middle of the room, and then we'll commence operations."
Guy and Brian soon had the chest in the position indicated; the lamp was put close by on an adjoining table, and boys and girls gathered round, one and all on the tip-toe of eager expectation.
"The first thing will be to get these seals off the padlocks," said Mr. Ormond. ”

“ He must therefore request her Excellency to have the kindness to order that the padlock and other obstacles shall be removed, and he will be obliged by this being done before eight o'clock to-morrow morning—at which time Lord Lynborough intends to proceed by Beach Path to the sea in order to bathe. Scarsmoor Castle; 13th June.
The reception of this letter proved an agreeable incident of an otherwise rather dull Sunday evening at Nab Grange. The Marchesa had been bored; the Colonel was sulky. ”

“ This is the key of 84, Camford Street. The lock is high up on the left-hand side of the door. There is no keyhole. You will see a green spot. Press the key against the spot and it will enter the lock. Push home as far as it will go, then jerk upwards, and the door will open. Don’t try to enter when anyone is looking. Directly you get it, tear off this label and burn it. Then pass the chain about your waist, underneath your dress, and snap the padlock. If you lose the key, or let it go for a moment from your possession, may the gods burn up the marrow in your bones. And they will. ”

“ In one place it was slightly damaged. There was a peculiar cut or scratch on the metal face, and I noticed that this cut was visible in the impression on the seals we broke just now. That could not have been imitated, and I'm quite convinced in my own mind that the box has not been opened."
By Saturday the keen edge of the disappointment had somewhat worn off, though Elsie had hardly recovered her accustomed spirits, and still grieved for the pony which she had quite made up her mind was to have been a black one, with white socks, and a white star on its forehead. ”

“ His next remark on the subject is a sensible one: “Notwithstanding the large size of these locks, and all the apparatus with which they are provided, they correspond but ill with the solidity of the rest of the coffer. If we have given a representation of one, it is chiefly to shew how little confidence one could have in such a lock, and what are its defects, in order that we may avoid them.” It is not difficult, by tracing the action of the several levers, to see how one movement of the key, in the centre of the lid, would act upon all the bolts. ”

“ Details of Rowntree’s tumbler-lock.
A A is the plate which encloses the whole mechanism of the lock, and fastens it to the door; B B is the bolt, guided in its motion by sliding under the bridges C D; E E are pillars [51] which support a plate covering the works; F are the circular wards surrounding the centre or key-pin; and a shews the position of the key, which, in turning round, acts in a notch r in the bolt, and propels it; G, the tumbler, is a plate situated beneath the bolt, and moving on a centre-pin at d ”

“ The walls of steel or iron which separate the security parts from the tumblers, and the cylinder which revolves with the key, present formidable barriers to all descriptions of pick-locks, and render the lock a most positive and reliable security. The tumblers consist of rolled very smooth steel plates, in which the fire-crust has not been filed away, partly in order that the lock might not need oiling, as all these parts are very smooth, and partly that the [96] combination pieces might not easily rust, a thing to which the adhering fire-crust is not favourable. ”

“ The springs, which by the turning of the key must be raised together with the tumblers, are attached to levers, and press upon the latter at their centre of gravity, in consequence of which all crowding towards either side is prevented, and the key can be turned with facility, in spite of the many combination parts which it has to raise; and the springs themselves are by their positions so little called into action, that their strength can never be impaired by use.
The lock has also another very complete arrangement in the detector-tumbler, which is attached to the cap or covering of the lock. ”

“ The lever x, which is firmly attached to the barrel, represents the web or bit of an ordinary key, and which being carried round with the barrel, takes hold of the bolt in the notch, which it releases by lifting up the tumbler, and projects or withdraws in its revolution. But as circumstances might, by possibility occur, where ingenuity could gain access to the tumbler and release the bolt without attempting the principle of security, Locks are now fabricated in the manner shewn at Figs. ”

“ P P are the pallets working on a pin at S as in the dead-beat clock escapement; the pallets carry a lever L which can vibrate between two pins B B. R is a disc carried on the same axis with the balance, and it carries a pin I, which as the disc goes round in the direction of the arrow, falls into the fork of the lever, and moves it on and withdraws the pallet from the tooth D, which at once moves onwards and gives the lever an impulse as it passes the face of the pallet. ”

“ Rowlocks are forked pieces of metal in which the leather of the oars rests while pulling. Swivel rowlocks are movable, a pin on the rowlock fitting into a socket in the gunwale.
Thole pins are pins set vertically in the gunwale and are used in place of rowlocks.
The steering rowlock is a peculiar form of swivel rowlock (fitted near the stern of a boat) in which the steering oar is shipped. This is sometimes called a crutch.
The painter is a rope secured in the bow for towing or for securing the boat.
Boat-falls are tackles made with two blocks and a length of rope; used for hoisting boats. ”

“ Marco took the paddle from Forester's hand. He had never seen one before. He said that they always used oars, not paddles, in New York harbor. A paddle is shaped very differently from an oar. It is much shorter and lighter,--though the blade is broader. A paddle is worked, too, differently from an oar. An oar acts as a lever against the side of the boat,--the middle of it resting in a small notch called a row-lock, or between two wooden pins. But a paddle is held in the hands entirely. ”

“ From this she was somewhat suddenly and forcibly awakened by the apparition of a stalwart form, not in the least ethereal or dream-like, with a gun on his shoulder and two brace of snipe in his hand. He had, moreover, emerald green on his stockings, a tan waistcoat, and a pale green tie instead of a terra cotta one that had raised such objections in the morning; and whatever Paddy or anyone else might like to say, he formed as pleasing a picture of a typical young Briton as any one need wish. ”

“ They have been too simple to require it, and too little varied to permit it. That some such fastenings must be employed wherever doors of any kind are used is sufficiently apparent; and there is a little (though only a little) information obtainable, which shews the nature of the fastenings adopted in early times. The bolt, the hasp, the chain, the bar, the latch, the lock, all were known, in one or other of their various forms, in those ages which we are accustomed to consider classical. Travellers, generally speaking, do not descend to locks, or rather they do not think about them ”

“ Newell, as has been noticed in a former page, to the invention of the triple-action or parautoptic lock.
The mechanical principle, as applied to the picking of a tumbler lock, is nearly the same whatever form of construction be made the medium of experiment. When a pressure is applied to the bolt sufficient to unlock it if the tumbler-obstructions were removed, the edges of the tumbler bite or bind against the stump of the bolt, so as not to move up and down with such facility as under ordinary circumstances. ”

“ Paddy Blake jammed the tall hat on the back of his head, unbolted the door, and whisked through the bar-room with such speed that the shipmaster’s long strides could hardly keep up with him. They turned into the street that led to the water-front and hastened to a lighted corner of the bund where stood several ’rickshaws. Paddy darted at the drowsy coolies who were squatted on the pavement, cuffed a couple of them, and gave an order in pidgin English. They jumped into the shafts, the passengers climbed aboard, and the vehicles went spinning along the thoroughfare. ”

“ There is a mechanism of springs and levers to shoot the bolt when the pins in the plate are rightly adjusted. The arrangements in respect to the key are singular and somewhat awkward. The teeth which lock the bolt are not the same as those [63] which unlock it, the user having to change ends and adjust the bit to a socket-handle. This is one among many examples in which a lock embodies several principles, the inventor having set himself the task of combining the excellences of many diverse locks. ”

“ Spring the firelock briskly to a recover, as soon as the left hand seizes the firelock above the lock, the right elbow is to be nimbly raised a little, placing the thumb of that hand upon the cock, the fingers open by the plate of the lock, and as quick as possible cock the piece, by dropping the elbow, and forcing down the cock with the thumb, immediately seizing the firelock with the right hand, close under the lock ”

“ These are a kind of grapple, by which the bolt is confined as well in its active as its passive station, and rendered immoveable, till set at liberty by the key. One of these instruments is commonly introduced into all Locks that are of any use or value; it is lodged behind the bolt, and is governed by a spring which acts upon the tumbler, as the tumbler acts upon the bolt. The application therefore of any force to the tumbler, which is superior to the force of the spring, will cause it to quit its hold, and set the bolt at liberty. ”

“ Joe and Blake, who had gotten all the pictures they wanted of the approach to the lock, stopped grinding away at the handle of the camera long enough to look at the chain.
These chains, for there are several of them, each designed to protect some lock gate, consist of links made of steel three inches thick. They stretch across the locks, and any vessel that does not stop at the moment it should, before reaching this chain, will ram its prow into it. ”

“ They found many rusty keys, which they tried in vain.
“We must break it open,” said Herold.
He sent Unity for a screw-driver, and during her short absence looked through the papers in the baskets on the table; but they gave no clue. Unity returned, and locked the door again behind her. Once more they wrenched and jerked the drawer, and this time it gave sufficiently for the edge of the screw-driver to be inserted. And at last the woodwork broke away from the lock and the drawer flew open, and there lay the bright revolver on the sealed envelope just as Unity had described. ”

“ The right-hand pallet forms no essential part of the escapement, but is simply a safety pallet, designed to catch the wheel in case of accident to the locking-stone during the time that the left-hand pallet is beyond the range of the wheel. The escape wheel carrying the seconds hand thus moves once only in each complete or double vibration of the pendulum, or every two seconds. ”

“ I think Jem Bottles won the match, for he had the advantage of being known as one of the most dangerous men in southwestern England, whereas Paddy had only his vanity to help him.
"'T is all arranged," said Bottles pompously. "Your devil will come forth as quiet as a rabbit."
We ordered our horses, and a small crowd of obsequious stable-boys rushed to fetch them. I marvelled when I saw them lead out Paddy's horse. I had thought from what I perceived over my shoulder when I left Bristol that he would never be able to make half a league in the saddle. ”