THEFT OF MAIL BAG.

Otago Witness, Issue 3882, 7 August 1928, Page 31

THEFT OF MAIL BAG.

STOLEN FROM NIGHT EXPRESS

REGISTERED LETTERS MISSING

INVERCARGILL, August 3. A mail bag containing a quantity of registered mail was stolen from the van of the night express which left Invercargill at 6.40 p.m. on Sunday last. This information was conveyed to the press late to-night by Mr W. T. Johnston, Chief Postmaster at Invercargill. Twenty-one bags were placed on the van here, and on making a check at Dunedin one was found to be missing. The one that was not accounted for contained mail for Christchurch, Nelson, Blenheim, and all the North Island towns, with the exception of Wellington and Auckland. The matter was placed in the hands of the police here and at Dunedin, and although the railway track has been thoroughly searched no sign of the missing mail has been discovered.

The mail van on the night express is rilaccd between the passenger cars and the sleeping cars, and to reach the latter it is necessary for passengers to pass through the van. Thus, it would be possible for persons to pass through the van while the guard-was attending to his duties in another part of the train. At three stations between here and Dunedin mail is taken in, but none is put off. The affair at present is shrouded in mystery. DELAY IN ANNOUNCING LOSS. INVERCARGILL, August 5. Some pointed remarks deprecating the considerable delay in announcing the loss of a mail bag from the night express on Sunday, July 29, were made by business men on Saturday, the consensus of opinion being that the senders of the mail were entitled to know of the occur-

rence as early as possible in order that arrangements could be made to prevent unnecessary inconvenience. . “ There is no doubt that immediate publicity would have proved valuable in the detection of crime,” said the manager of an agency business who deals with clients in all parts of the South Island. Asnt is a whole week has elapsed and the criminal has been given ample opportunity to perfect his organisation for the disposal of the valuable content® of the mail. Had the loss been announced immediately people in all parts of the Dominion would have been watchful for any suspicious movements, and information leading to the early apprehension of the thief might have been the outcome.”

The fact that registered mail could be stolen as easily as ordinary mail was the subject of indignant comment by another man, who expressed the opinion that registered mails should be carefuly handled to eliminate the risk of theft. According to the district traffic manager, Mr J. Pickard, the theft would not be so simple as might be thought, since the porters were in attendance at the van until the actual time of the departure of the train, when they closed the doors. Further, the coaching foreman and the guard would also be working about the van, so that it would have been- a very difficult matter for the thief to steal the bag under those circumstances. Another point was that the van was near the booking office in a very conspicuous part of the station and one which was well lighted. With regard to the theory that a person could have walked through the sleeping ears into the van, Mr Pickard said that, assuming the thief to be a man, this was not practicable, as the “ sleeper ” next the van was a ladies’ compartment, and no male passengers were allowed admittance. “ It has been ascertained,” continued Mr Pickard, “ that there was no possibility of the theft occurring between Invercargill and Dunedin. When the train reaches Dunedin the van door is open by porters, who remain by it until they have finished their work, when the doors are closed again. For anyone to have gone out of the carriage and deliberate!}' to have walked into the guard’s van is incredible. There is an element of grave risk since the guard is likely to return to his van at any time. There is also the possibility of being seen by passengers in the compartment next to the van.”