THIEVES ACTIVE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23719, 27 July 1940, Page 13

THIEVES ACTIVE

NINE BUBGLABIES

CITY AND SUBURBS AGGREGATE LOSSES SMALL Nine burglaries word committed in and around Auckland on Thursday night, but comparatively little money was taken. There were two at the top of Queen Street, two in Svmonds Street, one in Ivarangahape Road, two at Takapuna, one at Oratia and one at Henderson. Thieves who broke into the Town Board office at Henderson stole a bundle of clothing which had been collected by the Red Cross for overseas refugees. After breaking a pane of glass in the door giving access to the premises oi Messrs. Parkinson and Bouskill, monumental masons, 130 Upper Symonds Street, an intruder squeezed through a small aperture in a dividing wall and reached the office, which lie ransacked. He found only a few postage stamps. Desks Ransacked Farther up tho street a burglar entered the furnishing store of Smith and Brown, Limited, by placing a ladder against a side wall and climbing through a window. That done, he went through the different departments until he came to the credit manager's office, where a desk was forced and £5 in cash taken. Two tills were smashed, but the thief found nothing there. Other desks were forced. One young woman lost 15s in threepenny pieces she had saved, another a gold watch worth about £4. Trail ol Blood A trail of blood was found yesterday morning in the footwear shop occupied by Mr. B. Crocker, 334 Queen Street. The person who broke in by way of a back window had made an attempt to force the shop safe with a number of tools, but, though he damaged the handle and apparently injured himself, ho was unsuccessful. About £2 in cash was taken from the till, and lour pairs of men's shoes from the stock.

The intruder apparently changed his own shoes for a new pair after he had broken into the adjoining premises of Health Supply, Limited, for when the last-mentioned shop was opened yesterday morning, an assistant found the old shoes left by the thief, who also had - stolen a pair of socks left hanging on a line. He took a £1 note from a desk he forced in the office. Conlusion in Post Office A small confectionery and dairy in Karangahape Road was visited. This shop is close to the top of Queen Street, and the thief gained admission by a window in a side lane. Drinks, sweets and chocolates were taken, as well as a few shillings left overnight in the till. The Waitemata Power Board depot at Takapuna was broken into and £4 15s stolen, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to force a glass panel in the door of a tobacconist's shop in the Strand. A confusion of opened letters and various articles strewn about the Oratia Post Office yesterday morning bore testimony to a thief's quest for money. Although the effort was fruitless, he took away a number of letters ready for delivery. It is the belief of the authorities that the majority of the burglaries were the work of youths.