A Robbery.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5334, 12 August 1895, Page 2

A Robbery.

♦ Yesterday morning it was discovered that no less a earn than £60 had been stolen from Mr John O'Neill, landlord of the Groavenor Hotel* A boy living in the hotel found early in the , morning that a door leading from the billiard-room to the bar had been forced open, the socket of the lock having been removed. He awakened Mr O'Neill, who found that his trousers and vest had been removed from the bedroom to a room adjoining, and that a sum of £13 16s 6d, which had been in the trousers pocket, was missing. He also discovered that the bar till had been opened and a few silver coins which it had contained, abstracted. He noticed that a cupboard under the stairs, where he had formerly kept hiß cash-box, was open. He had removed the cash-box to a wardrobe about 14ft from his bed, but in a room between the bar and his bedroom. TMb had, he found, been opened, and the cash-box, which contained .£4,6 in cash and two cheques for £2 each, was gone. It is supposed that the robbery must have been committed by someone familiar with the wardrobe, for it could not be opened except by a person acquainted with its peculiarities, without considerable noise, and Mr O'Neill heard no noise during the night. No sign could be found of anyone having forced an entrance into the hotel. It is stated that the detectives warned Mr O'Neill about suapicious characters during the week, and, in consequence, he moved his cashbox from the cupboard beneath the stairs to the wardrobe.