THIEF STEALS RIFLE

Taranaki Daily News, 31 July 1931, Page 8

THIEF STEALS RIFLE

BURGLARY AT BELLRINGER’S. SECOND ATTEMPT AT SAME SHOP. A .22 repeating rifle, more than 1000 cartridges, a number of golf balls and other small articles were removed from the window of a vacant shop adjacent to the hardware business of Mr. B. P. Bellringer, Broadway Central, Stratford, on Wednesday night. Mr. Bellringer uses the window to display seasonable goods. Entry was apparently gained by breaking a window at the rear of the shop, but the thief must previously have made a selection of the articles he wanted, for he left the rather elaborate display intact and manoeuvred his way over pyramids.of empty cartridge boxes to reach the live cartridges that fitted the repeater he desired to- possess. There were other guns and rifles in the window, but only the one from the far corner was touched. The rifle is’of a rather unusual Belgian/ make, and it is considered unlikely that many of its kind have been sold in Taranaki.

Just a few golf balls were removed from a couple of boxes, and the other articles of small value were apparently picked up as the intruder was making his way out of the window. An attempt was made about three weeks ago to break into the same premises, one of the glass panes of the window being scratched with a diamond. The would-be intruder was seen by the constable on duty and chased across the railway yards to make good his escape in the darkness. 1