BURGLARS IN LUXURY.

Auckland Star, Issue XXXVI, 21 October 1905, Page 13

BURGLARS IN LUXURY.

A WEEK ON A MIIAJOXAIBEr'S irANSIOX. Several attdaciojis burglaries have been perpetrated at the homes of wealthy Sew Yqik people -ecently. The most remarkable was the looting of the residence of the millionaire lawyer, Mr Jose Aymar, i where three burglars lived a whole week, helping themselves to the old wines in the cellar, and removing the valuable household effects nightly, jewels and paintings to the value of over £25,000 being taken away. It seems Mr Aymar and his family had been spending the summer in Canada, trusting to the vigilance of the police to protect their home. The burglars effected an entrance through the basement. After taking an iron door off its hinges by means of a crowbar, they established themselves in a back bedroom on the second floor. Sleeping during the day, they used an arlarm clock to awaken them at seven o'clock every evening, and then commenced their work of plunder. The caretaker of the adjoining house heard the alarm clock several times, but thought that some of Mr Ayniar's servants had returned home. Her suspicions were aroused a week ago, and she notified the police. The burglars, however, had decamped before their arrival, taking nearly everything of value which they could carry away. They cut twenty pictures out of their frames, and many of the household effects were removed 'n waggons.

Another daring burglary occurred at the home of Mi- Seymour Wiilard, a Wall-st. broker, whose family was also absent. The thieves entered through a skylight in the roof and carted away a van load of paintings, bric-a-brac, and silver to the value of many thousand pounds.

Several other residences have been robbed with similar audacity, and burglars left notes behind taunting the policed It is believed that all the robbers are members of one gang, and the value of the goods stolen constitutes the largest amount in any one week in the history of New York. The police are without a. clue, and although the city maintains a force of 8500, at a cost of £2,400,000 annually it has been almost at the mercy of robbers for several months.