COOL BURGLAR’S EARLY MORNING RAW ON HOTEL

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 22, 19 November 1948, Page 5

COOL BURGLAR’S EARLY MORNING RAW ON HOTEL

At 4.30 a.m. yesterday, Mr G. T. Lodge, mine host at the Whakatane Hotel, was awakened by his wife. She seemed agitated. So was he, when he noticed the man bending over the open drawers of the dressing table. Then, realising that he was likely to be asked to make some awkward explanations, the unauthorised visitor bolted, with Mr Lodge a good second.' But the burglar showed a clean pair of heels and nothing disturbed the early morning quiet of the deserted streets when his persuer arrived at the corner of the Strand by way of the back stairs. After that, the thing to do was to check up on the loot. It seems all that was missing was £4 or £5 in loose money that Mr Lodge had left on top of a tallboy in his room, the bar keys and a nylon stocking. Neither Mr Lodge’s watch nor his wife’s, which both lay near the cash, had been disturbed. But the thief had made a thorough search, presumably for the keys of the safe. In the bedroom the dressing table drawers were open, keys mixed up, some of Mrs Lodge’s clothing strewn along the passage. Great attention had been paid to the office part of the building. Drawers in sie desk had been opened, locks picked without leaving a mark on the woodwork. The safe lock had been tackled. Its key will no longer open it, but the door was intact. From the number of burned-out matches and other indications about the place, including a bunch of keys from the bedroom lying on the office settee, it is deduced that the thief had spent some time about the hotel, and that when Mrs Lodge saw him he was making his second visit to the bedroom. No one saw his face, but the back view suggested a young pakeha. His actions suggest an unscrupulous rogue with uncommon nerve.