STOLEN GELIGNITE.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 225, 21 September 1921, Page 4

STOLEN GELIGNITE.

DID CKIMINAZiS GET IT ? BUNDLE OF 25L8 AT LARGE. A DETECTIVE'S VIEW. Thefts of explosives from places which do not appear so well protected as they should lie have been fairly common. The last instance was the removal one night recently oi 251b of gelignite from" a magazine at the City Council quarry, Mount Eden. Gelignite is a very useful adjunct to the business of burglary, and the police have no doubt that in" the majority of cases of safe-blowing the explosives "used have been stolen from quarries or roatl works.

A detective stated this morning that the haphazard methods of storing explosives was a source of continual worry to the police. "Why," he said, "anyone could go .by night to one of these quarries or to some other site where excavation work is being carried on and get enough gelignite to blow up the Kind's wharf. Supposing a mischievous revolutionary person got busy in creating chaos, a nice mess he could make* in this city."

"The way they store tnese explosives is a joke," continued the detective. "In a quarry they cut or blast a hole in the cliff and put their gelignite in that. But instead of a proper strongroom door to lock it up safely, they have a bit of flimsy timber, with a foufpenny padlock, which a boy with a knife could open in five minutes. I have frequently complained about this menace to the public safety."

The gelignite recently stolen from Mount Eden, concluded" the detective, might have been taken for explosive fishing or something less serious than blowing up safes or buildings: but, on the other hand, it may have been stolen for some very nefarious purpose. Leavintr explosives so unprotected was eertainlv an inducement to dangerous persons to put them to dangerous use, anyway.