STOLEN TREASURES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18994, 16 April 1925, Page 8

STOLEN TREASURES

THIEVES AND THEIR " LOOT." BURGLAR ON TELEPHONE. The remarkable sequel to the recent robbery at Bath House, London, when jewels stolen some time previously were returned to their owner because the thieves had been unable to dispose of them, does not stand alone in tho annals of theft Plunder has often been restored in curious circumstances, though not necessarily by the thieves. Many men have had almost the same experience as Lord Lonsdale had some years ago. His watch, stolen from him when lie was leaving a theatre, was given back to him by tho thief when ho discovered to whom it belonged. " Loot," too, has often been restored as a result of a " find " similar to that made on the Heath Hall state, Llanishen,. near Cardiff. While a hedger was at work in a wood ho noticed a parcel sticking out of the earth near the roots of a tree. Ho found that it contained candlesticks. Tho man then dug round the spot, and discovered cups, tureens, and other pieces of plate. All the property, it was ascertained, had been stolen from Lady Orr-Ewing when she was staying at the hall forty years previously, and it was returned to her. When " loot " has a sentimental value it is sometimes recovered by its owners. Not long ago an advertisement appeared in a number of newspapers, ; asking that some miniatures stolen from a certain house should be returned. The woman who owned the property was subsequently rung up on the telephone, and when she replied she found that at tho other 'end of tho line was the burglar. In her excitement she called to a servant, whereupon the man rang off. A few days later, however, the miniatures wore returned by post without a word of explanation, and the reward offered has not et been claimed.

No less rcni.u Kable was the recovery of some old-fashioned rings stolen from a house in May fair. A reward of £so— more than their intrinsic value—was offered for their return, and a few days later they wove found in the letterbox, enclosed in tissue paper, on which was written one word—" Sorry."