LOSS OF MAIL BAG

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVIII, Issue 199, 6 August 1928, Page 9

LOSS OF MAIL BAG

BELATED ANNOUNCEMENT. BUSINESS MEN VOICE COMPLAINTS. Invercargill, August 5. Some pointed remarks, deprecating the considerable delay in announcing the loss of the mail bag from the night express on Sunday, July 29, were made by business men on Saturday, the consensus of opinion being that senders of mail were entitled to know of the occurrence as early as possible, in order that arrangements could be made to prevent unneessary inconvenience.

“There is no doubt that immediate publicity would have proved valuable in the dtection of the crime,” said the manager of an agency business, who deals with clients in all parts of the South Island. “As it is, a whole week has elapsed and the criminal has been given ample opportunity to perfect his organisation for the disposal of the valuable contents of the mail. Had the loss been announced immediately, people in all parts of the Dominion would have been watchful for any suspicious movements, and information leading to the early apprehension of the thief might have been the outcome.”

The fact that registered mail could be stolen as easily as ordinary mail was the subject of indignant comment by another man, who expressed the opinion that registered mail should be carefully handled to eliminate risk of theft.

According to the district traffic manager (Mr J. Pickard), the theft would not .be so simple as might he thought, since porters were in attendance at (Jie van until the actual time of the departure of the train, when they closed the doors. Further, the coaching foreman and the guard would also be working about the van, so that it would have been a very difficult matter for the thief to steal a big under these circumstances. Another point was that the van was near the booking office, in a very conspicuous part of the station, and one which was well lighted. With regard to the theory that a person could have walked through the sleeping ears and into the van, Mr Pickard said that assuming the thief to be a man. this was not practicable, as the “sleeper” next to the van was a ladies’ compartment, and no male passengers were allowefl admittance.

“It has been ascertained,” continued Mr Pickard, “that there was no possibility of theft between Invercargill and Dunedin. When the train reaches Dunedin the van door is opened by porters, who remain by it until they have finished their work, when the doors are closed again. For anyone to have gone out of the carriage and deliberately to have walked into the guard’s van is incredible. There is an element of grave risk, since the guard is likely to return to his van at any time. There is also a possibility of being seen by passengers in the compartment next to the van.”