AUCKLAND’S “CAT” BURGLAR

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 226, 20 June 1929, Page 10

AUCKLAND’S “CAT” BURGLAR

—4. LATEST ESCAPADE CLIMBS 20-FOOT DOWN PIPE Dominion Special Service. Auckland, June 19. Agile and active, Auckland’s “cat” burglar was at work against last evening, after having had a night off. He was trapped, but by means of an appropriated rope, sure hands and feet, and with the resource he has shown in nearly all his escapades, he got away. Strangely enough, he seems to work in a very small radius from Queen Street. Last night his choice was the Auckland Tire and Rubber Company’s threestoried premises in Fort Street. He gained an entrance from a blind lane at the rear of the building by his usual manner, climbing a six-inch down pipe, which led him to a window on the first floor, 20 feet from the ground. The window was bolted, but he soon forced it open. He then walked downstairs to the firm’s offices. These he thoroughly ransacked, forcing open drawers and cabinets which were left securely locked. Money must have been his one and only objective, for he left postal notes and negotiable cheques, and a valuable gold fountain pen, in addition to other articles on one of the dcskSa He next visited the offices of Mr. L G. Smithers in the same building, but secured little in the way of cash. The burglar found it. difficult to get out of the premises, but did so by the aid of a stolen rope. This, with a weight attached, be threw over a forty foot concrete wall and scrambled to safety.