MAORI CURIOS STOLEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15504, 10 January 1914, Page 9

MAORI CURIOS STOLEN.

LOSS TO SALISBURY MUSEUM*

j [FROM CPU OWN CORRESPONDENT.] London, November 26. A daring robbery has recently been ao< complished at the BlackmoTe Museum,) Salisbury, six New Zealand jadestona curios of considerable value having been stolen from one of the showcases. Th» missing curios formed part of the original collection installed in the museum,, in 1863: by the late Mr. William Blackmbr*, Mr., E. T. Stevens, and Dr. Blackmore. The robbery -was wall planned. Th« last occasion upon which these particular! curios were taken out of the case was about a month ago, when they were shown! to some special visitors. About this time; the death of the curator of the museum (Mr. W. J. I\ Hill) occurred, and fog. several days afterwards there was no regui la* person in charge of the museum. ~ The •robbery was apparently carried out during that time, and in a most thorough mannernecessitating several visits to '.. the , case* The case was forced open with a jemmy, the screws securing the, hasp being broken*" The thief then toohjfiffiilds of the exliibifcs, and produced at his leisure, absolute re« plicas of the curios he intended to stea] 4 The casts were painted, and nobody buti an expert would detect the fraud. •In due time the curios were removed, and the casts substituted.

I Mr. Frank Stevens, the new curator, re* S cently found that an adjoining case,, also containing New Zealand curios, had been - : ,,} tampered with. Attempts had been made .: ; j to open the case, no doubt in order to .';.'•■;•; take a cast of a jade axe with a hand- % somely-carved handle—fee W]y one in "j! existence so far as is known—and eventu- ' "'{ .ally to steal it. The attempt was then' rediscovered, ir-'fr.t The stolen 'treasures have been in the museum for nearly fifty years, and were '-i extremely valuable. They were well known ''--~" to New Zealand collectors, as photographs of them have been published by the New, Zealand Government. Museums in the Dominion, too, have applied to the Black-i ' - more Museum for photographs.