[PRESS ASSOCIATION.] BURGLARS IN AUCKLAND

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 150, 25 June 1912, Page 3

[PRESS ASSOCIATION.] BURGLARS IN AUCKLAND

AUCKLAND,- 24th Jun«. Burgkus and rumours, of burglars continue to agitate civil and official winds of Auckland. This morning the discovery was luade that some time after Saturday evening the back door of Mr. Brooks-'s butcher'b shop,, on the Auck-laud-ioad at Oueliuiiga,. had betu burst open. Llntiauce having thus- been ob1 taiiied. the intruder pioceeded to the ; fchojj till and forced that open-. The effect, however, was only to reveal the emptiness of the till, irorn which all the cash had been removed on Saturday night by the owner. Yesterday evening Mr. F. S. Morton, of Onehunga, came into actual conflict with a burglar. He sleeps upstairs on the premises, and was awakened shortly after 11 o'clock on Sunday night by what he took to be tlie sound of falling gla&s. He possessed himself of a revolver, and ciept steajthily to the head of the stain*, froiu •.%hich position he observed a man with a lighted match in his hand, ciouc-hecl. "and moving behind the counter. Mr. Morton looted oil with tho levolvti',. and filed four bhuts, at tlia [ tamo tiiiic O'iilmji foi luilp. Cunttabie L Ssutfij who wiius p« uijiht dut^ wa» at-

tracted to thu place, and came to hand very soon, but by then the burglar had vanished. automathTtelephones LIKELY TO BE INSTALLED IN AUCKLAND. AUCKLAND, 24th June. It is learned from authoritative sources that the system of automatic telephones is likely to be installed in Auckland just ac soon as the exchange battery which has done service for the past fifteen years can be replaced by a more up-to-date plant to be fitted up 111 further poet, office buildings. For 60m.0 time past the fact has been recognised that .the battery now in use, having almost ended its day ol' usefulness, must soop cease to be. Already it k carrying a load of nearly 4000 subscribers, and at the present rate of increase the total will before very long have overrun the capacity of the exchange. According to the scheme for reorganisation in connection with branches of the Post and Telegraph Department in Auckland, the telephone exchange of tho future will be located in buildings, proposed to be erected as a city south poet office and old age pensions department, on the corner block opposite the new V.M.C.A. buildingf in Wellesley-street East. The occasion, of moving the exchange from its present location in Shortland-street offices will, therefore, be opportune for the modernising of the service on lines which have proved most successful in older countries. BEER THEFTS AT GORE ' DUNEDIN, 24th June. David Hannibal Waldie and John Little, two railway shunters, were convicted last weelc of stealing beer at Mosgiel by tapping barrels sent to Dunedm, and appeared for sentence this morning. The Probation Officer's report stated that I Waldie was involved to the fullest extent, and that the circumstances concerning the two nien were quite different. The bench said that it would extend clemency to Little, who had been in custody 6even days, and fined him £10, in default one month's imprisonment. Waldie would be sentenced to two months' imprisonment, with hard labour. OBSTRUCTING TRAFFIC DUNEDIN, 24th Oune. At the. Police Court this morning, Herbert Holt,, manager for the NorwoodYon Arx Theatrical Company, was fined £2 for obstructing the footpath by exhibiting a hypnotised man iv a shop wiadow. GOOD NELSON NELSON, 24th June. At the Supreme Court to-day, Mr. Justice Chapman congratulated the district • on. its freedom irom crime. Victor Laney, charged with obtaining goods by means of false pretences, was acquitted. Charles Woodward was found not guilty on a charge of common assault. The sittings have concluded. FINED FOR NOT ATTENDING CAMP NAPIER, 24th June. Several youths were to-day fined sums varying from £1 to £3 and cost* (7b) in each case for failing to attend Territorial camps. VALUELESS CHEQUES , TIMARU, 24th Juno. Dockley, alias Sharpe alias (in Timaru) Jennings, pleaded guilty to-day to a. charge of uttering two valueless cheques of £10 each to Timaru publicans, and was committed' for sentence. He wa6 then remanded to Port Chalmern to answer similar charges there. FATAL ACCIDENT ON A STEAMER . 1 NAPIER, 24th June. Al the inquest, on W. Severn, who died iii^the hospital on Saturday eyening from injuries sustained through falling down the stokehold of the tteamer John, a verdict was returned that death was caused by fracture of the skull. The coroner directed the attention of the Customs authorities at Wellington to the fact that the steamer cleared Wellington on 18th June, and there were no particulars of the residence of deceased on the ship's articles. ACCIDENTS ON FOOTBALL FIELD HAMILTON, 24th June. In a Rugby football match on Saturday one player got his noss broken, one had a \leg broken, and one a knee twisted. SUICIDE CHEISTCHURCH, 24th June. Evidence given at the inquest concerning the death of George William Sears, aged 46, showed that he deliberately committed suicide by inhaling gas. He had turned on a gas ring, covered his head with a cloak, and breathed the gas till he died. Sears had been mentally affected for some time.