MORE BURGLARIES.

Hutt News, Volume 11, Issue 10, 11 August 1937, Page 4

MORE BURGLARIES.

. SAFEBREAKER LEAVES CLUE. BLOODHOUND AT WOlilv, Gaining entrance by one of the side doors, a burglar or burglars entered the De Luxe Theatre in the early hours o,f last Friday mmiing, and added one •more to the long list of similar felonies committed in the town during the winter months. i The venture, however, did not prove a financial success for the intruder, as lie only secured a few shillings of petty cash, but it is hoped it will lead to his arrest owing to the bad management 1/.: his escapade. When the manager of the theatre, Mr. W. Maxwell, arrived. 011 the scene 011 Friday morning, he found that entrance to the office had been gained through a small slide opening which connects his office with the booking 'department and that the.safe had been upturned and a part of the bottom cut cut. At this stage it is assumed, the burglar cut his arm 011 the jagged edges, for the safe and all the office Jittings and even the lady attendants' uniforms hanging 011 the wall were covered with

fbloo'J' and presented a ghastly spectacle, A glove which had evidently been used in the operation was found in the room saturated in blood. The amount of spilt •blcud indicated that the intruder had evidently severed an artery, for by this means he was tracked down High Street, past the police station, through liiddiford Park an'd> as far as Cuba 'Street where the trail was lost. In the icourse of their investigations, the police discovered that a man, whom they regard as a strong suspect, visited the surgery of a Petone doctor at 7 a.m. tc« have a wound to his arm dressed. The police having completed their investigations according to their orthodox methods, Mr. Maxwell, probably through his knowledge of crime tracking gained through the picture screen, realised that something -more than human craft was necessary to combat the cunning cf the criminal. It was obvious to him that the means to employ in such a case would be a bloodhound or some such canine trained for the purpose. Where to '.find such an ally was not so easily answered; for the Police Department, with .full cc/iilidenee in their own powers of detection, had not yet employed such a method. Not to be thwarted, Mr. Maxwell began his search, by means of the telephone, to find if such an animal could be found. By dint of perseverance and some fifty enquiries which occupied him.fcr several hours, he was'rewarded by finding that what was at that time the only bloodhound in New Zealand was actually living temporarily in Lower Hutt. (A second dog .has since been imported ! from Australia ,t'or the same owner.) ; ! The owner of the dog was only too ! pleased to place the hound at Mr. Maxwell's disposal. Unfortunately too much time had elapsed before the dog was put on the trail; but from its behaviour, in spite of it being only partially trained for the work, it is highly probable that had it been brought into use earlier in the day it would have saved the police and the public generally a great deal of anxiety, for it gave definite indications of its instinct to follow a scent. It is hoped that this experience will be further investigated with a view to tracking criminals throughout New Zealand. This incident has made history as this is the 'first occasion' that an attempt has been made to track a criminal with a bloodhound in this country.