BURGLARS AT WORK.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 190, 6 May 1908, Page 7

BURGLARS AT WORK.

ROBBERIES AT AUCKLAND. CHEMIST'S SHOP ENTERED. OVER £30: STOLEN. , ■ (BT. TELEGRAM.— SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) ■ ■'. ■■■•.I Auckland, May 5. ' ; A mosfc impudent ease of breakup and enwring occurred m Queen Street on Sunday night,'when a member of tho light-fingered fraternity turned Jus unwelcome attentions to Mr.' F. Whyto's chemist's shop, and assumed charge l of cash deposited therein totalling the sum of £31 14s. Mr. Whyto had just returned during the week trom To Aroha after an illness, and on making up tho nc- . counts on Saturday lott a considerable sum of*; money, together with two cheques, in tho safe'in the dispensing room. On Sunday. evening tho shop was opened , as usual from' 7 to 9 p.m., and the proceeds of sales, , amounting, to £3 45., were lett jnitho till. | When :-tho ■ assistant left, at 9 p.m., every? ; thing: was apparently, m perfect order. The youth returned to tho shop at B'a.m. the next morning, but* noticed nothing unusual until' about an -hour later, when he had occasion to go to tho till to ,procure change, and , found to his astonishment that the drawer had been forced/ and that the con- 1 - i tents, instead of being £3 45., amounted to just 6d. .in coppers, which the late visitor had evidently considered beneath his notico: Mr, ,Whyte,' ; on being informed of tho discovery, • went 'at onco to the safe,' and found it. unlocked, The two cheques were still but the cash, consisting of £28 10s. in notes and gold, had disappeared. - Mr.. Whytei considers that the. thief must have made his entry-through jthe .fanlight .over' the jhain . door from Queen Street, this constituting tho only.practicable mode of gaming the interior of;the shop. The fanlight was/open, and ai number of finger-marks were plainly discernible •in- the dust on and around the . glass. - The only : other traco, 'lies in the sybsequent; discovery. outside of the box which, had oontained the. cash in tho safo. It-is supposed that tho work was that of at ■ least two men, as assistance would have been required rin entering by the fanlight. Mr. Wi|yte,. states that the safo which was m the dispensing room could have been operated on for hours' without fear of observation. ■ The matter is in the hands of the police. • ?/. fIESIDENCE RANSACKED. MONEY AND JEWELLERY TAKEN. . 'Another case 0f... burglary • occurred at , I)arn«ll.: ,\Whilo Mr. and Mrs. A. Pavitt, of ; St.: Stephen's Avenue, were visiting friends , in Ponqonby on Sunday night last, a burglar / entered their,, residence, ransacked ! it from , top to. J)ottom, and went away.- loaded with odds and . ends that. had caught his fancy— j some , ten golden , sovereigns, £15 or £16 worth .of. jewellery, and. sundry articles. Mr. ■ ■ Pavitt,: who >is the : local manager .of the s Royal Insurance ■ Company, • states that ho ■ and Mrs.:'Pavitt left their house about 5-30 ■ olclock •to visit their • friends. in . Ponsonby, ■ and, returned about. 10.30. . Tho back door ■ wast open,, and on entering' the house the : rooms'were found in chaos: v All the drawers fj had .been ■ ,ransackcd -'and "'their contents scattered- on ■ tho <, floory when , an in- j vojitory,' came to-be made hip* it nwas "found ( that cash and jewellery to tho value of about f . £13. wore missing. ■ Mr. Pavitt. took a Jjeen 5 •interesttin.athletics;jand'.medals' presented to f himby the Melbourne Cricket Club and < rowing clubs were amongst his most tren- j surod. possessions. . • These could be of no j great- intrinsic value:■"■■■ to\ anyone but tho 1 owner,, W..the thief.. nevertheless appro- J priated: them, and Mr. Pavitt states that, ho ( would: not < mind tho robbery so much if the < thief would only return him his trophies. ' In fact, ho went so far as to' insert in the i local papers an advertisement to this effect; j The burglary , was immediately reported to j the police, who are■ investigating the mat- J ter. . . According to the 1 neighbours the thief 5 disdainedto work in the dark, About nine ' o'clock they, noticed a ' light in; the house, / imagine'for a moment that anything ' unusual was happening, and it was only wheii ,tho burglary -became known that the incident assumed any importance in'their A minds. ••••,•. Mr.; Pavitt is inclined to tho be- ( ; lief that; it was tho work of .an expert rather than •an amateur. i ; , i SERIES OF BURGLARIES. Hawera, May 5 f •A series of burglaries took'placo on Monday: night. Tho Qontral Hotel, . Cudby's c boot shop, ■ and .the :Egmont Hotel wore all s vjsited and: articles taken. ■ A man was arrested, ind the stolen goods recovered from a drain.