THE CANCELLED BANK NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9535, 6 May 1909, Page 1

THE CANCELLED BANK NOTES.

,^ #— A STATEMENT BY THE ACCUSED. [Per Press Association.] WELLINGTON, May 5. James Hemmingway was committed for trial to-day on charges of stealing from the parcels office at the Post Office, on January 10, jewellery and other goods of the value of £39 12s 6d, cash boxes containing £31 19s 9d in money and £60 7s 2d in stamps, also four hundred and six £1 cancelled Bank of New Zealand notes, forty-four £5 notes, and eight £10 notes, all cancelled. Detective Lewis stated that when Hemmingway was arrested at Wellington on April 25 he made and signed the following statement : — " In January, 1909, I was staying at Arthur Winsett's place at M'lntyre's Avenue, Wellington. By a change Wimsett happened to let drop in September or October. 1908, that about £28,000 had been sent through from Auckland to Wellington, and were left overnight in the safe of the Postal Parcels Office at Brandon Street. I managed to get the k6ys of the parcels office and the safe key, and I obtained duplicates of them, all . about the end of November. I>got Ekins.to make the two door keys for me, and the safe key I made myself. On Sunday, January 10, 1909, I went to the Parcels Office at about 8 p;m., and examined the contents of the safe. I then went away to M'lntyre's Avenue, and removed my luggage to the Lambton Railway Station. I stayed the night at the Clyde Court private hotel. I went back to the Parcels -Office at about 5.30 a.m. or 6 a.m. next day, January 11, with the •intention of removing the contents of the safe. The charwomen were there and I waited till they went, and after they left I went in to the Parcels Office, and' opened the safe and removed the property that I am now charged with stealing. I then fired a dummy in the lock of the safe, using gelignite, a detonator and a piece of fuse. I then left the* building and saw no one on my way out, and I parcelled the contents'of the safe, cash-boxes, etc., in some of the. Postal, Department's paper and took it to the Manawatu Station. I' went to Feilding in the 7.50 a.m. train the same day. I stayed there till about February 1 or 2, and during the time I was there I forced open the cash-boxes, : and, after taking out the contents, .left the cash-boxes and some postage due stamps in some bushes about half a mile from Feilding. I stayed at Hastie's Hotel while at Feilding in my own name. At Feilding I . found how to remove the word ' cancelled' from the notes with a chemical eradicator, and while there I removed 'cancelled ' from some of the notes. I .then found, that-- 1 could make the notes appear genuine by patching as the notes were not all punched in the same place, and there I patched some of the notes. I went from Feilding to Normanby, and had tea there, and passed two single notes there, one at an hotel. I went to 'Hawera the same night, and stayed at Hook's Commercial Hotel there in my own name. I think that was the night the Cherniavskis appeared j there. I passed one pound note: at f l Hook* and one fiver . at a chemist's shop and £1 at the Cherniavskis' performance, and cashed about 80s worth ■of stamps at Hawera Post Office. After stopping one night in Hawera I "went on to Eltham, and passed notes and stamps there, then on to Stratford and New Plymouth, and passed notes and stamps in each place. I then went on to Waitara, and passed stamps there; then back to New Plymouth and on to Auckland. At New Plymouth I stayed at the White Hart Hotel. I was at Auckland for a fortnight. I passed a good few of the notes into the Bank of New Zealand, Auckland, and passed several in making small purchases at shops. I went for a trip round Auckland Harbour on the last Monday 1 was there, and took all tEe jewellery and plate I got from the safe with me, and dropped the lot of it into the harbour. From Auckland I went tp Rotorua, passing notes at varidus places on my way, and staying at Rotorua for four or five days. I then came down the Main Trunk to Feilding and stayed at Hastie's Hotel for about two days. During my stay I passed three of the bad fivers. This was on or about February 26, 1909. I came from there to Wellington, arriving here at 4.2_0 p.m., and went to Sydney in tho/Warrimoo at 5 p.m. the same day. I stayed in Sydney four or five days, and then went up to Katoomba. While in Sydney I passed a. bad note for £5 at the Bank of New Zealand. I Jeft Sydney on April 10, f 909, by the Warrimoo, and came back to Wellington and on to Christchurch. There I put up at the Federal Hotel. I stayed in No. 9 room there. On arrival in Christchurch I had about £250 worth of repaired cancelled notes, and I put about £130 of them into circulation, mostly through shops. On ..April ,21, 1909, Detective Ward came, to the Federal Hotel, and I cleared. I left behind in my room, No. 9,. a leather brief-bag containing about £120 worth of £1 cancelled notes repaired ready for circulation, also some gum and ink etc., for repairing notes. That £120 worth of notes represents all that remains of the notes that I stole from the Parcels Office, about half of the notes having been used to repair the others. The total amount I got from the 6afe was £625. There was about £5 worth of stamps in my briefbag in No. 9, Federal Hotel, when I left. All the property found in No. 9 room was left there by me. lam the only one that profited by the theft and the only one who got any of the property. I spent all the money I got from the cash-boxes. The money I got from the cancelled notes at Christchurch I threw into the Waimakariri River. There was about £22 in gold ' and silver. When I felt Christchuroh on April 21 I got a cab and drove to Kaiapoi, and on the way out tore up six £20 notes which I got in exchange for the change I had got when cashing the cancelled notes. I threw the pieces but of the cab on to the road. At Kaiapoi I hired a bicycle and rrfde into Seddon. and left it in the Starborough Hotel coachhouse. I went from Seddon to Picton by rail, thence to Wellington by the Takapuna. The money found on me is all the money I possess, and it ie the proceeds of some of the cancelled notes. Proceeding on finger-print evidence, the police are making further charges against James Hammingway, who was before the Court to-day in connection with the Post Office robbery. He is nqw charged with stealing postage stamps to the value of £856 from the Government Printine; Office in December, 1906, and fountain pens and leather goods to the value of £140 from Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs's warehouse, Wellington, in December, MO7. " , . • ■