GETTING RICH QUICK

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8365, 27 February 1913, Page 7

GETTING RICH QUICK

BURGLAR GETS £550 SENSATIONAL ROBBERY AT HOTEL IN AUCKLAND. Press Association. AUCKLAND, February 26. Bank notes, gold, silver, jewellery, and other property valued in the aggregate at about £550 were stolen from guests in the Grand Hotel during the early hours of this morning. The burglary was evidently carefully planned and skilfully executed, for six rooms were visited in various parts of the hotel, and the thief escaped without leaving tho slightest clue that might lead to his detection. The following are the names of the guests who were robbed: Harry Corson Clarke, of New York, £516 in notes and gold, and about £1 in silver. Y. A. Hall, of Wellington, gold watch and chain and pendant, valued at £2O, and official papers. T. A. H. Russell, of Hawke’s Bay, gold and silver amounting to about £lO. T. C. Stanley Smith, of Dunedin, £5 and a steamer ticket. Mrs Dadley, of Auckland, two bracelets. • Another room was also entered, and from it some important business papers were stolen, but no articles of intrinsic value were taken. Tho hotel has enjoyed complete immunity from criminal depredations since it was established. At present there are many guests at the hotel, and a profound sensation was created among them by the accounts that were given by those who had been victimised. There is no indication whether one or two burglars achieved this sensational coup, but it is probable that it was the work of one man. Beyond tho fact that all the rooms visited were occupied there were few difficulties to be avoided. The hotel was locked up at 12.30 a.m., hut it is believed that the burglar was then secreted in the building. By 1 o’clock the guests had all retired to their rooms, and from that hour until 3 o’clock tho night porter did not go above tho ground floor. _ Therefore, some time within that period the burglary was accomplished. The stairs, corridors, and bedroom floors are all heavily covered, so that a light-footed man could easily move about without disturbing anyone. His plans completed, a simple, means of getting away was afforded by the fireescape, and it is presumed that the thief left the hotel by passing through a vacant room on to the first floor and gaining access to the fire-escape alongside the window into a _ right-of-way which opens on to the principal street on the southern side of the hotel. WHERE HE “STRUCK IT RICH.” The principal victim was Mr Harry Corson Clarke, one of the leading members of J. C. Williamson’s “Get-Rioh-Quick Wallingford” Company. He and Mrs Clarke occupied a front room on tho top floor of the hotel, with two windows opening from the floor on to a small balcony. This room is surrounded on three sides by corridors — the main corridor of the floor on the western side and two others which lead to glazed doorways eliding vertically and opening on to the balcony already mentioned. During the night one of these doorways was- open, and both windows of the bedroom were also raised. The Venetian blinds were lowered. hut between them and the floor was a clear space of about two feet. Obviously entrance to this room was simply obtained, as there was ample room for ,a man to creep under either of the blinds without rattling it, and his movements in the room were no doubt silenced by the heavy carpet. It ivas here, according to a statement made to a “Herald” reporter by Mr Clarke, that the burglar secured £517 in cash and overlooked jewellery valued by its owners at £3OOO. The neighbouring room was occupied by Mr Clarke’s niece, Miss Grace Zsiring, but her jewellery was not touched. The door of Mr Clarke’s room was locked, and the lock was not tampered with; but every one of the. other guests who were victims of the 'midnight marauder omitted this precaution. Care of bin property was taken by Mr Hall, who is private secretary to the Minister of Customs. Ho placed his sovereign-case containing £8 in the pocket of his pyjama suit, and it was safe in the morning. His room was ransacked from end to end. Several suits were taken frpm a wardrobe and scattered on the floor, but nothing was secured from them. ’ The burglar appropriated his watch and chain, together with a mounted quartz pendant tnat hung from his vest, which was lying at the bedside. He also took away some correspondence and other papers—among them a diary in which Mr Hall had notes of the Minister’s engagements for some days ahead. The only person who was in any way disturbed' was Mrs Dadley. She awakened about 3.30 a.m., and noticed tho door of her room open. She got up aud closed it, and it was not until this morning that she discovered the loss of her jewellery. The exact amount of Mr Bussell’s loss is not known, as ho left Auckland early this morning; but it is believed he was of about £lO. The methods' on which the burglar worked are a matter of conjecture, for no clue has been discovered that will give any indication of tho man’s identity. Apparently ho commenced on tho ni-rt floor of tho hotel, visiting five rooms, and concluded his visit with the rich find in Mr Clarke’s room. It seems reasonable to suppose that the burglar had some knowledge of the hotel, so that ho was able to select a lavourable opportunity for the execution of his design.