GOLD ROBBERY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1695, 24 August 1904, Page 22

GOLD ROBBERY.

the tumberumba affair. SYDNEY, August 18. No trace has been found of the gold stolen from the Tumberumba Police Station, and the mystery surrounding the robbery is still unsolved. The owner of the gold handed the constable in charge of the station a duplicate of the key of the strongroom, after depositing the gold, in order to save the trouble of sending to him should others wish to use the safe. The constable carried the keys in a pocket inside his vest, but when they were wanted they were missing. On Thursday, 4th Inst., the Burra Sluicing Claim deposited a number of bags, containing 160 oz of gold, at the local police station, for safe keeping. The station, which was originally occupied by the Commercial Banking Company, contained a strong-room, and in this the gold was placed. The following day, Senior-Constable Ferguson, the officer in charge of the station, reported to Subinspector Bell, of tho Albury division, that he had mislaid or lost the key of the strong-room. Ferguson was under orders to proceed to Oulcairn, and m his report to his senior officer he suggested that perhaps the keys were placed by mistake in his boxes that had gone on to his new quarters. The boxes on uieir arrival at Culcairn, were semched but no keys were discovered. In the mean time the owners of the gold made application for their property, to enable them to pay the wages of their employees. The Commercial Bank Company was appealed to in tne hope of the bank having triplicate keys, but that failing nothing remained but to burst into the room. On. Wednesday, on receipt of the necessary permission from Sub-Inspector Bell, a hole was knocked m the wall. When entrance was effected'to the strong-room, the officer in charge of the operations was astonished to find that the gold had disappeared. The newspaper reports of the occurrence state that Ferguson seemed

fully confident that lie could explain howlie lost the keys, so as to clear himself of suspioion. The building, is a substantial structure of brick, and was purchased from tne Commercial Banking Company a few years ago. Hence the presence of a first-class strongroom in . the office, where all the claim managers are in the habit of placing gold for safety until ready to forward it to the mint.