DARING BURGLARIES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1202, 15 March 1895, Page 18

DARING BURGLARIES.

j An audacious burglai-y was perpetrated i early on Sunday (March 10) at a house in J Oriental Bay occupied by LieutenantI Colonel Newall and his family. , ' About 3.15 a.m. Mrs Newall was' awakened by a noise in the bedroom, and b; at once called out and woke her husband. - Colonel Newall jumped out of bed.and "at-7-, tempted to open the door of' thd room*' which, however, he discovered had been locked on the outside. He then found that the intruders had abstracted his waistcoat and trousers. Colonel Neyvall at once opened the window of the bedroom t and got into the garden by "that'• means. As he was doing so he heard a: whistle and the footsteps of some persons.whom he was unable to distinguish;' andon making a search ho found that the intruders had left the premises by the frontdoor, which they had opened Lorn the in- ' ' side. ■' > ; ' , «y .! , The house had been entered by theVforcing up of the window of a room at theside of the, premises communicating with/ Lieutenant-Colonel Newall’s office, and the thieves had then evidently entered, the bedroom and abstracted his clothes, ' afterwards locking the door and searching the clothing in the passage;..where they afterwards left it. They' took away ; very little spoil with them, the contents of the clothes, fortunately, only amounting to about Is 6d. The office was also searched, but nothing of value .was found there. -f’ Another daring attempt at robbery was. made on March 11 at the house- of Mr W. H. Field (well known as captain of the Star Boating Club) at Everton terrace, just off Wellington terrace. Mrs Field was aroused shortly after 1 o’clock by someone moving about igh .thi©---bedroom, and awoke her husband,,.w-hcr rushed out after the intruder, the latter at the same time taking the alarm and hurrying off downstairs. A ' v,'

Mr Field, on his way after the burglar, quickly looked into each of the* rooms, seeing no one, but noticing that the front door, a dining-room window and a kitcheir window had been thrown open. WkSnlGe got to the gate in front of the house Re , saw four men turning the corner on t 6 Wellington terrace, and immediately he ;‘ gave chase. Down the Terrace ran the four men in the brilliant moonlight, towards Woodward street, their pursuer, bareheaded and barefooted, bravely closing upon them, and crying “ Police!” at the top of his voice with every step of the way. The hunt was in the direction of Woodward street, an<L"~''' the thieves had sought what refuge could be given by the dark shadow of the high walls, with the result that it was almost impossible to identify any one of them. The cries of Mr Field were arousing sleepers on the Terrace, until just at the Synagogue, when the pursuer was only about 20 yards from his quarry, one of the four abruptly turned and called out, : ,7 “If you move another step I’ll sliQot y° u !” ; . . Mr Field hesitated, for he saw a revolver, and deemed it prudent to seek help ; the burglars meanwhile continuing their flight, and turning into Woodward-street"" - and down on to Lamb ton quay. By this time Mr Field had telephoned to the Police Station, and he and Mr Mee; chemist,'ran down to the quay in time to \ meet Constables Price and Kelly, who had ' s heard the shouting; but the thieves had disappeared in the direction of Willis ' street, and the police had actively taken up the pursuit. . .*• :

A search of Field’s house revealed that rooms had been searched, drawers pulled out, and articles strewn about here and there. A quantity of champagne arid whisky had been removed, and was found near the hedge on the other side of the road. No money was missing, and. froth the appearance of the house the men were surprised at their work. No arrests have yet been made.

Another burglary was committed in Wellington some time during the early hours of Tuesday, the house entered being the residence of Dr Alexander in Riddiford street, Newtown. The thieves,had effected an entrance by pushing-back the catch of the kitchen window with a knife, and it was seen in the morning that the whole of the rooms with one . exception on the ground floor had been thoroughly ransacked. A number of tram tickets were missed, together with some bread, butter and biscuits, and a large piece of roast beef. A slip of paper was on a chair in the hall, bearing the words : will come back again.” This was 1 signed*. ‘•‘Bob Neill,-detective and burglar.” Dr Alexander was informed by two nightmen about 4 a.m., that the front and back doors of the house were open. They also stated that they saw. two men coming down the path, but by the time some other nightmen arrived they had disappeared.