Locks and Keys

communal outbreak. He was reelected later, and became minister of commerce (1886), of education (1888), and minister of marine (1895-6 and 1898-9). He is an authority on naval matters.

Locks and Keys. Primitive fastenings consisted of intricately knotted thongs, seals, or the branch or plain wooden bar placed across the inside of a door. From the horizontal wooden bar, made at an early period to slide in staples on the back of the door and to fit a hole in the door-post, has arisen the modern lock. To move such a bar through a hole from the outside, or to release whatever held it, a cranked or curved piece of metal with straight handle would be suitable. Such hook-like or sickle-shaped keys have been found in many parts of northern Europe.

It is obvious that the simplest method to prevent the bolt or bar from sliding would be to bore a vertical hole into it through the top of one of its staples, and to insert a dropping peg into the hole. In this case the function of the key would be first of all to remove the peg by lifting it up, thus giving freedom to the bolt. The Egyptians fashioned their locks upon this idea, introducing a cluster of such dropping pegs or pins. They made the portion of the bolt into which the pins dropped hollow, so that their lower ends could be reached by the key from below; and the key they fashioned had pins upon it to correspond with those holding the bolt. Their lock or bolt was fastened upon the outside of the - door. A lock like that of Egypt, but not quite identical with it, is found widely distributed in many out-of-the-way places in Europe (Fig. 1). The illustration is made from one on a barn door near Thun, Switzerland, and shows its back, after removal. In this, A is

FIG. 1.

the staple or case, and B is the bolt sliding across it. The bolt is secured by flat dropping pins, which fall into notches cut in its edge. The pins are squared in section, and to lift them the key c is provided with projections. The key is inserted through the side of the staple, and not into

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the end of the bolt, as in that of Egypt.

The commonest form of the Roman lock is essentially based on that of Egypt, but the bolt is now a small one, often of bronze, and the dropping pins that hold it are round, square, or triangular in section, and are pressed downward by a spring. The projecttions on the key are shaped so as to correspond with the ever-varying shapes and positions of the pins. The keys introduced do not pass into the end or side of the bolt, but into a casing, as in modern locks, and catch the bolts on

FIG. 2.

their lower surfaces. When the key has been introduced through the keyhole and has been given a quarter turn to push up the pins out of the way a horizontal extension of the keyhole allows the user to slide it sideways and so move the bolt into its unlocked position.

The Romans, however, had many other varieties of locks, prominent among them being those in which the bolt was kept locked by the projection of an expanding spring or springs, the end of which butted against a stop. In locks based on this principle, the function of the key was to pull back or compress the springs, and when these were flattened the key itself moved the bolt to and fro. This mechanism was largely adopted in their padlocks, and we now come across a very curious fact-viz. that the present-day padlock of China and Japan (Fig. 2) is made to act exactly in the same way as the Roman. As Roman togas probably had no pockets, keys which had to be carried on the person were often formed with finger rings on their stems (Fig. 3).

Early English and medieval keys of bronze have their 'bows' formed in ecclesiastical shapeslozenges, trefoils, quatrefoils, and the like. Their shanks are round, and the projecting 'bits' that work the bolt are stepped and cut as if to avoid fixed wards inside the lock case. The shanks were either hollow or terminated in a solid point, thus allowing them to work in the lock on a fixed centre. They were, in fact, the direct mechanical ancestors of the keys of the present day.

The lock bolts of the period have a notch, technically called a talon,' in their lower edge to receive the nose of the keybit,

Locks and Keys

and thus be moved to and fro. There now also appears, presumably for the first time, a pivoted tumbler or lever in place of the early dropping pins; this dogs' the bolt, and has to be moved up out of the way by the key as it rotates, before engaging with the bolt.

But from an early date, and onwards to the close of the 18th century, the chief method adopted to attain security (with the exception of the letter padlock) was the use of fixed internal obstructions in the lock case, the bit of the key being formed so as to escape them as it was turned to reach the bolt. The keyhole was generally covered up and masked by a secret spring escutcheon forming part of the design on the outside.

The French workers excelled both in key and lock fronts, many of the latter being so artistic and valuable that their owners removed them when changing residence.

Before dealing with modern locks, it should be stated that

་་་་་་

FIG. 3.

about the time of Charles II. there was quite an export of ornamental keys from England to France. The bows of these were flat and thin, the steel being pierced all over so as to leave graceful scrolls, ciphers, and monograms, and often the coronet of the noble owner for whom they were made.

The first advance in the mechanics of modern lock-making Iwas made in 1774, by Barron, who placed two pivoted catches or tumblers to guard the bolt, instead of one only.

This was followed in 1784 by the Bramah lock. In this a thick disc of metal is housed in a casing or barrel, and when free to turn, actuates the bolt of the lock by means of a pin on its under side. But it is normally kept from turning by several sliding steel strips or feathers, which lie in slots cut around its circumferential edge. These sliders, as they are called, are pressed up

Locks and Keys

ward by springs, and have to be pushed downward by the key. Notches to fit the sliders are cut in the end of the key-barrel. These notches are of varying depth, and consequently push some of the sliders in more than others-hence the different combinations. When they have all been pushed down their correct distances, little side openings in them match the edges of a fixed diaphragm, and they are free to pass round the inside casing together with the central disc that carries them, the turning of which is also done by the key.

The Chubb detector lock was originally patented in 1818, and has been altered, added to, and improved many times since that date (Fig. 4). In its simplest form it consists of a bolt A, into which is firmly riveted the projecting stud or stump B. The movement of the bolt A is governed usually by six double-acting tumblers called also levers-c working on the post D, and always pressed downward by the springs E. The tumblers have internal openings or racks,' two of which are connected by a passage or gating' wide enough to allow the stump в to pass. The 'gatings' are in different positions, so as to accord with the varying heights of the steps on the key in relation to the tumbler against which each step works. After the key has been introduced into the lock and turned about ninety degrees, it commences to lift the tumblers; and by the time its bottom or bolt step is in contact with the talon' (see ante) of the bolt their gatings' all coincide, thus providing a clear passage for the stump в to pass along. The keyhole is protected by a barrel and disc F, which entirely closes it up while the key is being turned. The detecting mechanism is explained by the spring G, the projecting portion on the bottom tumbler H, and the pin 1, which is also mounted on the bottom tumbler, and so placed that all the other five can operate it if they are lifted too high. If a pick or wrong key is introduced into the lock which lifts any one of the tumblers beyond its proper height, this motion is communicated to the bottom one through

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the pin 1, and its projection H gets caught on the spring G. In this condition the lock cannot be opened in its ordinary way, even by its proper key; and the owner, therefore, is notified by the lock itself that some unauthorized person has been tampering with it. To put it once more into working order, the owner has to turn his key the reverse way as if to lock it. This lock has passed out of use except in a few of the Spanish-American countries. The principle, however, is appled in a number of more simple locks.

The Yale lock was invented about 1860. It consists of a barrel which turns in a cylinder to move the bolt. It is a tumbler' lock, having three to five divided pin tumblers which are gradually raised by the key until they are all exactly to the line between the barrel and the cylinder, both the small flat key and the keywork having a peculiar form of cross section, making these parts interlocking throughout their length. Little change was made in these locks for about twenty years, although different makers used different irregular forms of key and

FIG. 5.

keyway, all designed to afford a special degree of security against picking tools. Recently a master cylinder and doubly divided pins have been introduced to produce a lock which may be operated by an individual key and also a master key. The master is made to operate different pin tumblers from the individual. Thus a master may be made to operate all the locks in a building, while the individual will operate its own lock only. Ball bearings are sometimes used to faciliate the insertion and withdrawal of the key in a Yale lock, particularly where one or more master keys are required. The Yale lock lends itself readily to use as a door-latch where a knob is employed on the inside and a key on the exterior.

The lock chiefly used on safes in the United States consists of concentric discs or wheels, each

A most important development in recent years has been the application of watch or time movements, SO as to regulate the period during which an obstructing bolt is to be kept in its locked position. In a suitable case mounted on the inside of the safe or strong room door are three-sometimes four-distinct chronometer movements.' Each 'movement,' instead of having ordinary clock hands, possesses a simple dial divided into seventytwo hours or three days, and is arranged to make one revolution in that time. Each disc has a pin projecting from it, so placed as to move or slide a simple rod when the time has come for unlocking, the rod in its turn releasing the obstructing bolt; this then falls down by its own weight out of the way (Fig. 6). In setting this lock, it is only necessary to wind up each movement' for the predetermined number of hours that the safe door is to remain shut, and this precludes the use of any other locks with which the door may also be fitted until the proper time for opening has arrived. Any one of the movements' is capable of alone putting the lock off guard,' but three or four are provided in case of a possible breakdown on the part of one or two. Where it is wished to have no hole whatever of any kind

FIG. 6.

through the safe door, the large main bolts that keep it shut are worked by energy stored in springs, and these are tripped up and allowed to come into action by the 'timer' at the predetermined hour.

Lockwood, BELVA ANN (1830), American lawyer and reformer, was born at Royalton, N. Y., the daughter of Lewis J. Bennett of that place. She was married, first. in 1848 to U. H. McNall, who died in 1853, and, second, in 1868 to

Lockwood

Dr. E. Lockwood, who died in 1877. Mrs. Lockwood engaged in teaching from 1857 to 1868, having meanwhile graduated (1857) from Genesee College, N. Y. She then took up the study of the law, and graduated (1873) in that subject at the National University, Washington, D. C., and was admitted to the Washington bar. She became prominent as a woman practitioner, and obtained congressional action in favor of the admission of members of her sex to the U. S. Supreme Court, and was herself admitted to practise in that court in 1879. Her activity in temperance and woman suffrage matters caused her nomination in 1884 and 1888 as presidential candidate of the Equal Rights party, and she held numerous official positions in Woman's Rights and Peace organizations, also serving on government commissions. Mrs. Lockwood frequently wrote and lectured on the reforms which she advocated, and she gave much attention and personal service to the rights of Indians.

Lockwood, HENRY HAYES (1814-99), American soldier and educator, was born in Kent co., Del. He graduated at West Point in 1836, but resigned the next year to engage in farming in Delaware. In 1841 he was appointed professor of mathematics in the U. S. navy, and took part in the capture of Monterey, Cal., in 1842. He was appointed professor of natural philosophy in the U. S. Naval Academy in 1845 and served also as professor of artillery and infantry tactics (1845-61), and of astronomy and gunnery (1851-61). He en

a

tered the Civil War as a colonel of Delaware volunteers and became brigadier-general (August 8, 1861), had charge of the defences of the lower Potomac, commanded brigade at Gettysburg, commanded the Middle Department, and took part in the Richmond campaign. In 1865 he returned to his duties at the Naval Academy, and from 1871 until his retirement in 1876 was attached to the Naval Observatory. He published Exercises in Small Arms and Field Artillery (1852).

Lockwood, JAMES BOOTH (1852-84), American explorer, was born at Annapolis, Md., where his father, Gen. H. H. Lockwood, was professor at the U. S. Naval Academy. He was educated at St. John's College, Annapolis, and studied railway surveying, preparing himself for service in the U. S. army, in which he was commissioned second lieutenant, Oct., 1873. After several years' service in the West, he joined the Arctic expedition under Lieut. A. W. Greely to Lady Franklin Bay, sailing in the Proteus in the sum

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mer of 1881. In May of the following year, after several notable sledge journeys, he, with Sergt. Brainard, reached the farthest northern point up to that time attained-an island on the Greenland coast in lat. 83° 24′ 30′′ N. Lieut. Lockwood died of privation at the Cape Sabine camp two months and a half before the rescue of the Greely party by Commander Schley. See Greely's Three Years of Arctic Service (1885).

Lockyer, SIR JOSEPH NORMAN (1836), English astronomer, born at Rugby; entered the War Office (1857), acted as secretary to the Royal Commission on Science (1870), was transferred to the Science and Art Department (1875), and became director of the Solar Physics Observatory, South Kensington (1879). He independently originated (1868) the spectroscopic method of daylight chromospheric observation, and led nine eclipse expeditions (18701905). Theories of celestial dissociation and sidereal evolution from meteor swarms were advocated in his Chemistry of the Sun (1887), Meteoritic Hypothesis (1890), The Sun's Place in Nature (1897), and Inorganic Evolution (1900).

Locle, LE, tn. in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel, and 5 m. s.w. of La Chaux de Fonds. The town is now one of the chief centres of the watchmaking industry, which dates from 1681. Pop. (1900) 12,520.

Loco-Focos, a faction of the Democratic Party in New York in 1835-7, more properly known as the Equal Rights Party; also, in popular usage for some years, a designation of the Democrats in general. The Loco-Focos were, for the time, essentially radicals. They advocated 'hard' as opposed to paper money, opposed monopolies of every kind and the granting of special privileges to any corporation, and in particular were hostile to banks, the system then prevalent for chartering them having given rise to many scandals. The party cast a large vote, and, though it never carried the state elections, it exerted a considerable influence, and several of its principles were incorporated in the state con

stitution of 1846. Pres. Van Buren having expressed in his message of Sept. 4, 1837, views which conformed with those of the Loco-Focos, the latter, regarding him as their spokesman, returned to the ranks of the Demo

or

was

cratic Party. The name, nickname, of the faction given to it in allusion to an incident in 1835, when in a contest for the control of a meeting between the Equal Rights faction and the regular (Tammany) fac

Locomotive

tion, the Tammany men turned out the gas and withdrew, whereupon the Equal Rights men again lighted the hall with candles and Loco-Foco matches and proceeded with the business of the meeting. See Byrdsall, History of the LocoFoco or Equal Rights Party (1842).

Locomotive, a self-propelled vehicle, operated by steam, compressed air, electricity, or gas from volatile oils, running on rails and capable of hauling loaded cars. This article refers only to steam locomotives; their development during the past seventy-five years is the development of modern transportation on land. See RAILWAYS.

Although the first twenty years of the nineteenth century saw several attempts to operate selfpropelled vehicles on trams or rails by steam, yet the year 1829 really marked the beginnings of the locomotive, when the 'Rocket' (Fig. 1), built by George Stephenson, demonstrated at Liverpool, England, its ability to haul trains with such certainty and at such speed as to make the operation of railways by steam locomotives a commercial success. Within two years of this time, locomotives built in England were imported and used in the United States; and among these engines were the John Bull,' for the Camden and Amboy Railroad in New Jersey, and the DeWitt Clinton (Fig. 2), for the Albany and Schenectady Railroad in New York state. These were both built with the boiler resting on a frame supported by four wheels, no flexibility in the running gear being provided. The supply of wood and water was carried on a separate vehicle or tender. Soon after this, M. W. Baldwin of Philadelphia, the founder of the present Baldwin Locomotive Works, built locomotives with a pivoted frame or bogie truck, mounted on two or four wheels for supporting the forward end, and to enable them to pass safely around sharp curves. Very similar engines were built also by Hinkley of Boston, Rogers of Paterson, N. J., and others, a type being gradually evolved best suited to the needs of the American railways of that day, built as they were with uneven track of the crudest sort on dirt roadbeds and located with sharp curves and steep grades. Gradually, and about 1850 to 1855, the American locomotive assumed the form shown by Fig. 3, with two pairs of coupled driving wheels and a four-wheel leading swivelling truck.

'Eight-Wheel' Type.-The period from 1850 to 1880 witnessed the steady adoption and use of this so-called 'Eight-Wheel American' type for both passenger and

Locomotive

freight service, larger and heavier engines being built to accord with the requirements of traffic and as roadbeds and bridges were built to carry heavier loads imposed.

Other Types.-In addition, where tractive power rather than speed was required, as in freight and mountain service, modifications of this design were built, such as the Mogul, Ten-Wheel, and Consolidation types, as well as engines for switching or yard service mounted on four or six driving wheels with no truck, types of which are shown in the accompanying illustrations.

Foreign Practice.-In Great Britain and continental Europe the evolution of the locomotive led to fewer and rather different types, as, owing to the straighter and more solidly built railways in those countries, the need of a truck or bogie was not so urgent, and therefore most engines were built without a truck and mounted on two or three coupled axles, thus having a rigid wheel base. Furthermore, the cylinders were usually placed between the frames, under the smoke-box, and the connecting rods turned the wheels by means of cranked

the corresponding figures repsenting the most recent practice, of 1906, as shown in Table I, shows the enormous increase in size and power of locomotives during the last few years. Given a boiler with a certain area of heating surface, or steam-generating capacity, and cylinders

effort to turn the wheels should not exceed one-fourth of this amount. Otherwise, the force of the steam acting on the pistons in the cylinders will cause the wheels to slip, i.e., make them revolve without moving the locomotive ahead. As greater tractive power is required, therefore

other types were evolved. Within the last six or seven years several new types of locomotive have come into use, such as the Atlantic, Pacific, Prairie, Mastodon, etc.; and the various local names applied to almost identical designs have led to so much confusion that a system of classifica