AUDACIOUS ROBBERY

Grey River Argus, 14 December 1938, Page 7

AUDACIOUS ROBBERY

£1,600 STOLEN From Captain’s Cabin ON LINER RANGITATA. [Per Press Association.] AUCKLAND,, December 13. [The loss of £1,600 from the safe in the cabin of the Master of the New Zealand Shipping Company’s motorliner, Rangitata, commanded by Captain Edward Holland, was discovered to-day while the vessel was berthed at Central Wharf. Detectives were called immediately. The Rangitata arrived on Friday from Wellington to complete loading for London. The money stolen includes £3OO in travellers’'cheques, the remainder being sterling. AUCKLAND, December 13. A sensation was caused on the waterfront and on board the New Zealand Shipping Company’s liner Rangitata, chnrtlv before noon to-day, when it

was discovered that £1,600 was missing from the safe in the captain’s cabin. The robbery was a daring one, and showed evidence of having been carefully planned. The master, Captain Edward Holland, was absent from his ship during the week-end. He closed the safe on Friday evening, and on his ring of keys he kept the only two keys that fitted the safe. When he reopened the safe at 11.30 to-day, he was startled to find that all the currency in the safe, £3OO in travellers’ cheques, and £l3OO in Bank of England notes, had been removed. The safe showed no evidence of having been tampered with, and it was apparent that a duplicate or skeleton key had been used. The money was the property ,of the New Zealand Shipping Company. Although Captain Holland returned to the Rangitata on Sunday night, he had no occasion to.open the

saie, so mat mere is no jniucauw when the robbery took place. The los; was immediately reported to the Man ager of the New Zealand Shippinj Company, and simultaneously th< Queen’s Wharf police were informed Detectives hurried to the Rangitata which is berthed at the central wharf and an immediate investigation wa: commenced. It is believed that dqrinj: the captain’s absence from the ship ■ the cabin containing the safe was Itept locked. One theory advanced as tc how the safe could have been opened without actually using one of the twc keys which are always in the possession of the captain is that a wax mould or impression could possibly have been taken from the captain’s kev.’l There would have been few opportunities for the thief to have had even brief access to this key, but it is possible that a clever thief might have been able to make use of such a chance when the master was taking a bath, or was

asleep. His personal bathroom is some little distance away from his cabin, and the thief could possibly have entered and got possession •of the key and taken an impression without attracting attention. It is quite common for large sums of money to be kept in the safes of the captain and purser on large passenger ships. However, such thefts as the audacious robbery on the Rangitata are rare so far as New Zealand ports are concerned. When- a reporter called on Captain Holland, he had just made a long statement, which detectives had taken on a typewriter, in his cabin. He said to the reporter that he could form no theory as to how the robbery had been carried out. The money had just vanished, and there were no marks on the safe to suggest that it had in anyway been tampered with. The Manager of the New Zealand Shipping Company at Auckland, Mr F. H. Gifford, was also at a loss to explain how the robbery occurred. >.