A BUNGLED BURGLARY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 58, 8 March 1913, Page 13

A BUNGLED BURGLARY.

Thanks to the modern safe the way of the modern burglar is hard. To achieve distinction- in his profession he has first jof all to become a capitalist, for the | stock-in-trade of a really high-class artist is expensive, and for a really big j job -the necessary outfit is not only ! costly, but cumbersome. During the last week-end a gang of burglars made |an effort to deprive Mr Rubin, the j famous London pearl merchant, of the I stock of pearls and precious stones he had placed in the custody of the big safe which adorns—not too conspicui ously—his .office at St. Andrew's House, ; Holborn. The safe, an up-to-date coni tra-ption of three-inch steel—a sort of ] "super-Dreadnought" among safes —conj tamed something like £80,000 worth of I gems, chiefly pearls, for Mr Rubin is one jof the foremost figures in the world's ■ pearl trade, and owns, or has large in- ' terests in, Borne of the most valuable | fisheries of Australia, India, and other : parts of the world. Mr Rubin had faith ;in his safe, for the "housekeeper" comi monly to be found in all suites of | offices, did not sleep on the premises, ■ and no special guard was placed upon ! the pearl merchant's office. Mr Rubin's faith was not in spite of being able to bring the most powerful of burglarious ordnance to bear upon the "super-Dreadnought" for many hours, all the burglars had to show for their labours was a hole about four inches wide by two inches deep, and a | few other smaller holes. They were, acI cording to experts in such matters, still several hours' work away from the safe's contents when they abandoned the fight. How the would-be thieves got into the premises, and why they left before their work was crowned with success, is not known. That it was a carefully-planned job, executed iv its initial stages with great cleverness is, however, quite certain, as is -the fact that the attempt was made by front rank men in their particular line of business. Also it is clear that they were disturbed, and badly scared by the disturbance, for they cleared out and left all their outfit behind them. And what an outfit it was. All told it weighed fully half a. ton, and included 20 cylinders containing oxygen and acetylene, each about two feet long and weighing quite 501bs. each; an oxyacetylene "flare" used by expert safebreakers; a "tent" of black cloth supported on bamboo poles; blowpipes, drills, pincers, files, saws, and hammers of all sizes, telescopic "jemmies," two •padre of felt boots, three pains of leather "fingerprint proof gloves, and an electric Tight outfit "for lighting up the inside of the tent while itfhey were at work. That they should -have been able to get such a collection into St. Andrew's House without attracting any notice ,wb.atever is a matter for surprise, for the City police are particularly inquisitive regarding the doings of people in and about offices and warehouses after business hours, and especially between the hours of 2 pjm. on Saturday and 6 a.m. on Monday morning. Once inside with their outfit the burglars set to work in a systematic fashion. They erected a tent of black American cloth et-etehed upon bamboo poles across the part of the room in ■which the 6afe was placed. This would screen their movements from outside observation and prevent any light being shown in the windows of the room, which face Holborn Viaduct. From the electric battery they produced their own light inside the tent, and- set to work on the side of the safe with a brass blowpipe, .which enabled them to concentrate an intense oxo-acetylene flame on one particular spot. While ait work they smoked a number of cigars, for the "butts" were found' upon the floors when the police were called in by a charwoman at 6 o'clock on Monday morning.

The police value the burglars' "kit" at anything between £60 and £100, and declare it to -he.the finest ever seized in the Old Country, the items in it being of the best possible quality and mostly "brand new." What an advertisement for -the oafe-makerl