DARLIG THEFT

Southland Times, Issue 25310, 13 June 1935, Page 7

DARLIG THEFT

POST OFFICE TILL. YOUNG MAN SECURES CONTENTS. (Per United Press Association.) Hamilton, June 12. While the postmistress, Miss E. Fitzgerald, was telephoning in an adjoining room, a man entered the Hamilton East Post Office this afternoon and decamped with the contents of the till. The sum stolen is not known, but is believed to be substantial. Miss Fitzgerald heard a sound of someone moving inside the counter. This space is protected from the public by a heavy locked door and a substantial grill above the counter. As she emerged in the main office. Miss Fitzgerald saw a young man, well dressed, leaping the grill. He escaped on to the road. Accounts of several who saw the intruder escape go to show the coolness and daring with which the theft was carried out.

Mr O. Martin, whose residence adjoins the post office, heard the screams of Miss Fitzgerald and rushed to the main entrance of the building. He noticed in passing a young man calmly walking a bicycle to the roadway. He mounted and rode away. MiMartin sought the assistance of a motorist and endeavoured to find the intruder, but in the few minutes which elapsed, the thief gained sufficient time to be rid of fear of pursuit. An elderly lady was standing in the vestibule of the post office when the robbery was carried out, but she was unable to stop the intruder and could only indicate the direction he had taken.