A safe in Changhua County’s Fenyuan Township (芬園) that had baffled locksmiths has been opened after the township office raised the reward for opening it from NT$5,000 to NT$10,000.
The safe was cracked by an 80-year-old locksmith from Taichung surnamed Wang (王), who used a skeleton key that he said he has been using for 30 years.
Sitting on a folding seat in front of the safe, Wang alternated between working the combination lock and tapping the safe in different areas with a mallet. He managed to open the safe after 40 minutes, but found it to be completely empty.
Photo: Tang Shih-ming, Taipei Times
“There had been rumors in the township that the safe contained gold bars, so some people were quite disappointed that this was not the case,” township Mayor Lin Shih-ming (林世明) said.
After the office doubled the reward, news spread fast.
Wang said that friends and relatives approached him, telling him to take on the challenge.
He said he expected it would be no easy task to open the century-old safe, and brought a variety of tools to try, including a file, needle oiler, a mallet and his skeleton key.
After getting the safe open, he immediately made a video call to his daughter to share the news, he added.
He has been working with locks and safes since he was 13 years old, and has unlocked many safes and ATMs, Wang said, adding that he has a safe at home similar to the one at the township office.
“Nearly 10 people tried to unlock this safe before Wang, but they all failed,” Lin said. “Although people were disappointed that there was no gold or money in the safe, it was still a joy to see the inside of it after all these years.”
The safe, which had been used by the township office during the Japanese colonial era, had been exhibited with other historical items used by the office.
Seven senior faculty members, including the principal, of a high school in Taichung were temporarily suspended from their jobs on Friday, pending an investigation by the Taichung Education Bureau into alleged bullying and abuse that led to the suicide of a student last month. The city’s education officials were too slow to suspend those involved, the student’s father told a news conference on Wednesday, at which Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) and members of the Humanistic Education Foundation were also present. The boy had been a good student and a high achiever during elementary and junior-high, and had
TECH PROGRAM: A US official said that an important part of the delegation’s trip would be to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co executives The US is to send officials in charge of chip development to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea to promote cooperation in the global semiconductor supply chain, the US Department of Commerce said on Tuesday. Chips Program Office Director Michael Schmidt announced the visit, which marks the first time officials from the office are to visit the three nations since it was set up in September last year. “As semiconductors and technologies continue to evolve, the United States will keep working with allies and partners to develop coordinated strategies to ensure that malign actors cannot use the latest technologies to undermine our collective
Taiwan does not exclude the possibility of having formal diplomatic relations with countries that also have formal ties with China, regardless of Beijing’s stance, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Sunday. There was speculation in 2012 that Honduras was attempting to have simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China, an idea that then-minister of foreign affairs David Lin (林永樂) rejected. Honduras severed formal ties with Taiwan on Sunday morning after establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing. President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has taken a more practical approach to relations with like-minded countries since assuming government in 2016. Previous administrations took the
ORIGIN UNKNOWN: The Leofoo Village Theme Park and Taipei Zoo have accounted for their baboons, as authorities continue a 12-day capture attempt Authorities in Taoyuan are searching for a non-native baboon, possibly of the chacma species, that has been spotted several times in the city’s Pingjhen District (平鎮) over the past 12 days, and was most recently seen in coastal Sinwu District (新屋). The baboon was first spotted near a local factory on March 10 in central Taoyuan, Jhensing Borough Warden Huang Chih-chieh (黃志杰) said. Huang said he requested the Leofoo Village Theme Park’s help after a second sighting on Saturday. In other sightings, the baboon raided fruit and vegetable gardens on private property, and has evaded one capture attempt via a tranquilizer dart. Media reported
RSS