A DUNEDIN MYSTERY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 8545, 27 March 1908, Page 3

A DUNEDIN MYSTERY.

■In its resume of the history of Otago, oa the occasion of the diamond jubilee oi the province-, the Otago Daily Times recalls tho Customs House robbery of 1855. During a dark and rainy night a piece was cut out of the wall of tho Customs House at Port Chalmers by burglars, and the safe, containing £1400 in notes and gold, and many valuable documents, removed bodily through tho opening. Such a loss of money was considerable in tho early days of the settlement, but the loss of books and papers waa considered even more serious. It was observed that in sawing the piece out of the wall a four-inch nail had been cut 1 through, and it occurred to someone with a bent towards detective work that here was a valuable clue. An ingenious but laborious plan of investigation was conceived. It was that the harbour should bo circumnavigated from Port Chalmers down the north side up past tho Kaik to Portobello, that every house should be called at, and an examination made of every saw in the d : strict. 'The idea in the minds of the authorities was that a solid piece of iron could not bo cut through without leaving its effects on the face of tho saw. A boat's crew started off on the strange errand. No explanation was given to tho astonished owners of saws, who probably thought they were dealing with a party of harmless lunatics. As the boat was passing Pulling Point tho look-out man saw the safe lying on the beach, and it was found to bo unopened, tho thieves having evidently left it there with the intention of opening it at night. Investigation showed that the thieves had been very carofuh The safe had not been allowed to leave tell-tale marks on tho gunwale of the boat. It had been rested on planks, and had been heaved bodily overboard. They were, no doubt, equally clover with regard to the saw, for the tool was never found. The whole populace was summoned and questioned by the magistrate—what a picture this calls'up of the sizo of the place!— but no clue was obtained, and the robbery has como down to us among the mysteries of early New Zealand.