EXPLOSIVES USED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22405, 12 August 1947, Page 6

EXPLOSIVES USED

EXPERIENCED THIEVES (P.A.) CHRISTCHURCH. Aug. 12. Safe breakers who operated on the premises of J. M. Mitchell, Limited, j furniture warehousemen, in Colombo i street, some time during the week-end ' took about £3O. An explosive charge j was used to open the door of the oilice !safe. 1 Fortunately, a fairly large sum of money had been removed from the sale by the manager of the firm, Mr. L. J. 'Mitchell, on Friday night. The money : that was left was locked in a petty cash I box. | The thieves did not remove a quan-! tity of change from the drawer and they ' j did not find £8 which had been rolled tightly in an envelope. I I From a yard at the back of the buildj ing, which is on the north-western side I of the intersection of Colombo and Bath j | streets, the thieves climbed to the roof i j of the premises and slid back one of the I | glass panels of a fairly large fanlight, t They dropped about 20 feet on to a , \ double bed which was on display in the upstairs furniture showroom, and made their way to the office which is situated on the ground floor. A plate® over the keyhole in the centre of the safe door was removed and a charge placed inside the safe through the opening. A wire was led | from the handle of the safe door to a fitting on the other side of the room to ensure that the door would not jam, and to deaden the sound of the explosion mattresses and couch squabs were brought from the showroom and stacked around the safe. A bird has- been left in a cage in the office on Friday night and those responsible for the crime removed it into the ! main showroom out of range of the ! blast. |