AN ARREST EFFECTED.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 101, 27 April 1909, Page 3

AN ARREST EFFECTED.

SMART -WORK BY DETECTIVES

(N.Z. Times.)

The difficulties that beset the paths •of the officers connected with the -criminal investigation department are not always understood, and aro still more rarely appreciated by the community in general. The arrest made on Saturday night of James Hemmingway, who will in due course be charged with burglary at the Wellington G.P.O. Parcels Office in Brandon Street, is a fair example of the sedulous work that is untiringly being carried out.

HISTORY OF THE CASE

The facts of the case briefly stated are that on Sunday, January 10th, the Parcels Office staff left their work at' about o p.m., and at that timo everything was safe and secure. At 7.50 o'clock next morning Cadet Andrews came, down as usual for the purpose of opening up the office for the work of 'the day, and was surprised, -. as well he might be, to find the,place full of smoke. The police were at once communicated with, and an examination quickly disclosed to the' experienced eyes of the officers that the safe had been blown open, apparently with gelignite. Portions of*that "high explosive,," which is now 'the favoured above all others by the "enterprising burglar," were found on the floor, and there were also discovered a few bits of fuse. When the officer-in-charge of the force arrived, which was within a very few minutes of the reception at headquarters of the telephone message, everything in the neighbourhood of the safe was carefully examined. The force of the explosion may be imagined when it' is stated that the cover of the key-hole of the safe had been blown off completely; it had passed through the window, and was subsequently found in the street below the room, which was situated on an. upper floor. The safe was found to be standing open and its contents were ascertained to have been a number of registered parcels of "Jewellery valued at £39, four clerks' cash-boxes containing £31 in money, £60 worth of postage stamps, and a registered parcel containing cancelled Bank of New Zealand notes from the southern branches of the bank which had been addressed to the head office in Wellington. There were in the parcel four hundred and six £1 notes, fifty-four £5 notes, and oight £10 notes. These notes had, been cancelled by being punched through in the centre with a hole about the size of a shilling and impressed in two places with a stamp bearing the word "cancelled" in large letters. But neither the punch-mark nor the cancelling word| was placed exactly in the same place in each note. Probably the cancellation was done much \n the, same way ; that the stamps on ordinary letters are effaced when passing ] through the post.

Where the mystery commenced.

Chief Detective McGrath, who at the time was in1 charge of the local station, then detailed Detective Broberg (now Chief Detective) and Detective Williams to make inquiries into the matter. It was found that the safe (which' was one of an up-to-date make, having been constructed by the famous Chubb Company) had not been blown open by the force of the explosion. The charge had not been sufficiently powerful to effect that result. The officers at once proceeded to verify their conclusions or otherwise by' obtaining the services of Mr Ekins, an expert locksmith. He took out the lock, and after taking it to pieces found that the suspicions of the detectives were

amply confirmed. He saw that when; the explosion took place the safe was j in an unlocked condition. In other ■ words, the safe had been previously opened in the ordinary manner with a key, and probably long before the explosion—if it could have been dignified by the use' of that term—occurred. In fact, the explosion was a mere "flash-in-the-pan," and was intended for a ruse, as it was quite unnecessary to use gelignite or anything else to open an unlocked safe. THINGS THAT DON'T LEAK OUT

This discovery was regarded by the police officers as of such importance that nothing was said about it except to the officers immediately engaged in the hunt for the criminals. They started out to unravel the mystery with renewed zest, for their clue seemed likely to lead them to an important discovery at any moment. Early in the following month a few of the cancelled notes reached the head office of the Bank of New Zealand from the branch at Hawera, and a few days later some more came along from the Waitara branch. Investigations on this line were persistently proceeded with, but on account of the notes haying been most cleverly—nay, artistically—"faked , it was impossible for anyone to determine how long they had been m circulation or whence they had come to those branches. The detectives found themselves badly foiled.

A MAN SUSPECTED. Recently Chief Detective Broberg and Detective Williams ascertained that a man named James Hemmmgway who had been a frequent viptor to the house of- one of the employees of the Post Officer and who know something about the "run of the Parcels Post Office, had suddenly disappeared from Wellington, and just about the time the crime was committed. About the middle of March some more cancelled notes came to handj from the branch at Feilding; but although a strict watch had ' been kept by the bank officials, no clue I could be obtained as to who the person, was who had put these notes into circulation. . _ ■ On the 20th inst. the head office of the bank notified the local police that a large number of. the notes had reached their Christchurch. branch, and the police in the southern city were immediately communicated with and informed of the fact. Further, the Wellington detectives sent by wire a full description of Hemimngway, the man whom they suspected, and asked that inquiries should at once be made for him.1 _ He was traced to a private hotel in Christchurch, but on the approach of a detective he decamped with surprising celerity. But he left a good deal behind him. When his room was searched it was found that he had had in 7his 'possession about one hundred of the £1 notes, all of them cancelled, and also all the apparatus that was required for patching them up and causing them to resemble, unless carefully examined, genuine £1 notes. The process w?s apparently a simple one to an expert. As the notes were not punched and branded each in the same place, all he had to. do was to cut from another note sufficient of the printed paper to cover the punch-holes and the' place where the cancellation stamps had been impressed. Unless one held these precious documents up to the light or carefully felt them all over^ with extremely sensitive fingers, the slight increase in their thickness caused by the ''repairs" could not be noticed.

ON THE TRACK

These were clues indeed. All the steamers arriving from the South were diligently watched. On Saturday morning information was received here that a man answering Hemmingway's description' had been to Kaiapoi, and had there hired a bicycle, which he did not return. The detectives at once concluded that their man was heading northwards overland, and it turned out' tha,t they were quite right in this surmise. On Saturday night, although' j:he weather was anything but propitious for such duty, Chief-Detective Broberg, with Detectives Lewis and Andrews, stationed themselves on the Queen's Wharf, in wait for,the o.s. Takapuna, from Picton. She came alongside about 11.30.

ARRESTED

The Chief Detective went aboard the steamer at once, and' the other men remaining on the wharf keeping a sharp look-out. Presently, and while Broberg was down in the passengers' compartments of the steamer, Detectives Lewi3 and Andrews saw a man whose appearance resembled the description of the person they were looking for in the act of descending one of the companion ways, and his disappearance was so sudden that their suspicions were only intensified.

After a further search which was fruitless they decided to set a trap for the suspect. Lewis' "planted" himself in a dark corner on board the boat, and. Andrews selected a secluded and shady spot on the wharf, back from the gangway. Presently a man, who looked like their quarry, walked on the gangway, which was immediately blocked, so far as he was concerned, at both ends, for Lewis disputed his path at one and Andrews at the other. They had no difficulty in taking him back on board the steamer. In answer to questions ho strenuously land' indeed defiantly- denied that he • was Hemmingway; but the police officers were far from being satisfied with his replies to their inquiries, for he answered the description they had of him too closely—about twenty-one years of age, "tall, slight, but wiry, and of. dark complexion—and there were other details of his appearance that all tallied.

He was taken to , the Detective Office, where be admitted that his name was Hemmingway. It is understood that he has made other

important statements with regard to the offence, with which he will be charged at the Police Couri;.