MORE BURGLARIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19459, 15 October 1926, Page 12

MORE BURGLARIES.

TWO IN KARANGAHAPE ROAD. EXTENSIVE HAUL OF GOODS. TWO SMALL BOY 3 ARRESTED. Two further additions to the long and fepidly-growing list of burglaries in Auckland City and Suburbs occurred this Week. Although the police have recently npprehended a number of offenders burglars appear to be becoming moro numerous and more daring each week. On Wednesday evening goods valued at £75 were stolen from the shop of the Dominion Importing Cqmpany, in Karangahape Road, near the corner of Pitt Street. % The burglars gained entry to the building by smashing the panel of a door and unbolting it from inside. They made a careful selection of goods from thft basement, and took away a number of sets of carvers valued at £4 4s each, I and electroplate ware, fancy goods, tobacco, and toilet requisites. On Monday evening entry was gained in a similar manner to the shop of Mr. I Bert Rowlands, clothier, also in Karangahape Road, opposite the intersection of Howe Street, and goods to the value of £SB were stolen, The shop was thoroughly ransacked, and goods were piled up on the floor in a heap as high as the counter. The burglars took a selection of suits, shirts, singlets and socks, all of one size. The trousers from each of nine suits were stolen, the coats and waistcoats being left in each case. Several valuable overcoats and a number of nigs were also taken. In connection with a burglary which occurred at the shop of Mr. A. Costello, men's outfitter, Karangahape Road, on Monday evening two boys, aged six and seven years, have been arrested. The youthful burglars have confessed to breaking into five other premises recently, and taking small sums of money. In a number of recent burglaries the owners of premises broken into had been previously warned by the police, in some cases repeatedly, that burglars would find no difficulty in gaining an entry, but the warnings had not been heeded.

AUCKLAND'S BAD RECORD. EUR,CLARY EVERY OTHER NIGHT. The total of burglaries in the metropolitan area as recorded in the Herald files since June 1 reaches the formidable aggregate of 69 or one every other night, Nor can thin be taken as anything like a complete list as the police decline to report these occurrences, so unpleasant alike for the business man and the householder. An examination of the cases does not lead to the conclusion that the burglaries are the work of an expert gang of thieves. Generally the cash or value of goods stolen is not great nor' is there evidence of organisation. The work appears to be that of amateurs. This aspect would appear to favour the task of detection although the fact that the thefts are so numerous and often so widely separated in place may add to the difficulties of the police in making an arrest. The number of the burglaries is so great, however, that the loss to the community in the aggregate becomes considerable. An examination of tho long list since June 1, shows that no district can claim any special immunity from these depredations. Naturally the shops, factories and warehouses in the city and Newton districts have received most attention but burglaries have been reported from Remuera and Epsom, two suburbs that have been especially unfortunate, and from Ponsonby, Onehunga, Qrafton,-Takapunn, Mount Eden, Heme Hay, Edendale, Dominion Road, Royal Oak, Milford, Devonport, Mount Albert, Parnell, Newmarket and Kingsland. The burglars' hauls have been for the most part goods—clothing particularly, boots, furs, tobacco —and naturally where the opportunity of stealing cash presented itself, the thieves have not shown any qualms about taking the opportunity. For the greater part their operations have been confined to business premises unoccupied at night but quite a number of houses have been ransacked, a warning to the householder to use extra care in locking up his home at night or when leaving it unguarded in the daytime.