A BURGLARY EPIDEMIC.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXII, Issue 8258, 26 December 1911, Page 2

A BURGLARY EPIDEMIC.

Two Arrests Made. Within the past fortnight a number of shops and other establishments in Christchurch have been broken into, and small sums of cash stolen, while in other cases attempts have been made to enter shops, and have been abandoned . presumably because 1 the burglar or burglars were disturbed in their j operations. In every case the front door of the shop was attacked with a jemmy. The first cases occurred on December 13, when the office of Mr M. Donnelly, solicitor,' was entered and a sum of money stolen. The Tautaki billiard rooms, above Mr Donnelly's office, were also entered, and here again money was taken. On the same night the rooms of the Merivale Football Club were broken into, and money was stolen. On December 15 Messrs Hunt and Taylor's billiard room, occupied by Mr W .J. M'Cbnnell, was broken into and £5 12s was taken, Mr Spencer's grocery on the corner of Manchester and Armagh Streets being also entered, and money abstracted. On Christmas Eve unsuccessful attempts were made to break into the premises of four tobacconists —Messrs SchuTiz (Manchester Street), Ross (C'ashel Street), Boatwood (Armagh Street), and Neat (Manchester Street) —being the object of the attentions of the person with the jemmy. For some time past the police' have, had a strong suspicion as to the authorship of this series of burglaries and attempted burglaries, and yesterday Detectives McLeod and Snow apprehended two young men oil* charges covering the whole of the series. One was brought in from Richmond at 11 a.m., and the other was arrested at New Brighton at 4.30 p.m.