DARING BURGLARY IN MELBOURNE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIX, Issue 12549, 12 July 1905, Page 7

DARING BURGLARY IN MELBOURNE.

ENTRANCE THROUGH THICK WALLS.

SAFE CUT OPEN

£1000 WORTH QF JEWELLERY

Another of the daring "and cleverlyplanned safe ■robberies which have become so common in Melbourne of late was perpetrated some time between Saturday night (June 17) and Monday morning. Those who suffered were Messrs S. Coppel a^d Co., jewellers, of Coles Lane, Little Collins-street. Two walls, one of brick and one of bluestone were broken in order that an enttranc© might be gamed. A large steel safe was broken open, and gold jewellery valued at between £800 .and £1000 was taken away. The stock is not in any way insured against the bu: ;^la.r, and Mr Coppel is therefore a heavy loser. The chop is an extended two-storey building ■at the corner of Co'ie Lane and Little Collins Street. All Coppel and Co.'s valuables Aye.re stored in two safes—a "Price" and a "Willis." In a small room used as an office, next door to Coppel and Do.'s office, and separated by a bluestone wall about 2ft thick, is an empty two-storey building. The ground floor of this is divided into two by a brick wall, about a foot thick. Upstairs, however, this brick wall has a doorway let into it. This building has been vacant for about three weeks, and the burglars, obtaining easy access to it, went upstairs through the doorway in the brick wall, and commenced operations on the bluest-one wall leading into the adjoining room, with the intention, no doubt, of working down to Coppel and Co.'s afterwards. A targe window in the side, however^, brought them into clear view from a. neighbouring building. They seam ;to have discovered this after commencing work on the wall, for plaster had been picked out from between the stones, and everything was ready for jemmies to be inserted and the stones levered out.

The attempt was renewed downstairs, underneath the staircase. The thieves took out about 25 bricks, which they neatly stacked beside the hoi© thus made. Then thoy crept through, and started work again on the Milestone wail, using a bag of chaff and wads of paper to deaden the sound of tho falling rubbish. This time the hole was begun right in the side of Coppel and Co.'f; office. It was started too low down, and would have come out behind, tho smaller safe, so a great was made in the further side, and then p. nico oven ho'o 15in. by lOin. was put through the inner layer of blueston©, and an entrance gained to the office just abovo the smaller safe. A 2in. can-tre-bit was fitted into the big ratchet brace, and the little safe removed from its stand to supply the necessary pressure. Clean circular cuts 2in. m diameter were then made round both the keyholes of tho larger safe, and the discn of steel fell out on to the floor, tho locks were forced back, and the big safe, with its store of valuables Avas open. Two drawers inside the safe wero locked, but a jemmy inserted in tho side of the trays'soon released the locks, and the drawers, too, were opened. The robbers then carefully overhaul-

el tho stock. Every gold article except one, o gold Waltham watch, which they must have missed, was taken out of tho safe, and stowed in the burglars' "swag." Muff chains,' curb and other bangles, watches, diamond rings, and rings of all sorts, brooches and watch chains to the value of nearly £1000 were sorted out and taken away. Tho safe contained a valuable collection of silver goods, but these were left behind. Tho small safe also contained a lot of valuable jewellery, and an attempt was made on it. It was less difficult to open than the large one, sinco it had only one lock, but though the circular cut of the centre-bit had bitten deeply into the steel round the lock, and only a few more turns of the ratchet were needed to complete the work, the robbers gave the task up. This, coupled with the fact that their tools, with the exception "af the centrebit itself j were left behind, goes to show that they left hurriedly. They left by tho front door, closing it behind them.

Tho burglars left abundant traces behind them, including almost the whole of their safe-breaking tools. Scattered about the compartment were a powerful ratchet brace and a small steel plate, with which to apply the pressure, a bottle* of oil, and an oiler made of tow, a half-inch bit for boring into wood, and an ordinary carpenter's brace, two splendid "jemmies,'1 a locksaw, a screw driver, a bradawl, and a small bull's-eye lantern. The safe had been opened wifh a 2in. centre-bit, but this had been taken away with tho plunder.