QUEER BURGLARY.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18890, 4 January 1927, Page 10

QUEER BURGLARY.

HUNT FOR DOCUMENTS. SPAHLINGER AND HIS SECRETS. <>».CK 9C3 OTIT C922E;?os:>rK7.) LONDON. November 16. A few hours after the funeral of Mr and Mrs Roscoe Brunncr, who were found shot recently., unknown strangers broke into Green Cottage, Boehampton. They made straight for the room in which the tragedy had occurred, and ransacked the place. They made no attempt to steal valuables, though the house is full of them. The object, apparently, wa= to secure some private document or documents among the papers of Mr and Mr 3 Eoscoe Brunner and their daughter, Princess Ferdinand of Liechtenstein.

The butler and his wife, who are now in charge of the house, were out for the evening. On returning they found that the house bad been entered. They immediately called the police who had no difficulty in discovering what the visitors had done. They had entered the Green Cottage from the back, making no attempt to conceal their tracks. They left a long trace of footprints which made it an easy matter to follow their trail.

On arriving at the house they endeavoured to force an entry by the conservatory. Here they were frustrated by a heavy door, which they tried in vain to force. When they discovered that entry by this means was impossible they returned to the end of the garden and brought back to the conservatory a heavy garden seat. They climbed on this, and so entered the drawing-room.

Thoroughly Ransacked. Their next step proved that they were familiar with the interior of the house, for they went direct to the bedroom that was the scene of the tragedy. On the way they passed rooms containing art treasures worth a fortune. These were untouched. Once inside the bedroom the intruders became exceedingly active. The whole room was thoroughly ransacked, and the police found papers and documents strewn about the floor. The strangers paid particular attention to the princess' bureau, in which she kept private papers and documents. Every drawer and recess was searched/ the contents being flung about the floor after examination. Spahlinger Serum Secrets. The "Daily Mail" makes the suggestion that the raiders were anxious to obtain secret documents concerning M. Spahlinger's treatment for consumption, in which Mr and Mrs Brunner took a deep interest. This may be so, but those who know anything about Spahlinger would be aware of the fact that any concise written document would be or little or no value in reproducing the serums that Spahlinger manufactures. The famous bacteriologist carries his prescriptions in his head, and probably varies them according to his increase of knowledge and other circumstances. The suggestion has brought a statement from M. Spahlinger himself. He denies, through the correspondent of the "Weeklv Dispatch," that there were any confidential documents concerning his work in the possession of Mr and Mrs Roscoe Brunner at the time of their tragic deaths. Neither, he says, is it true that he received many thousands of pounds as personal contributions from them. The only sum I received from them personally.- was £SOO, and the total amount paid to him out of the fund with which they were ! connected is £SOOO.

Saving the Laboratory. According to another message to the "Weekly Dispatch," from Geneva, Mr Bobert Smith, of Manchester, treasurer of the Spahlinger fund, has arrived in Geneva to arrange with the creditors of Spahlinger that the mortgage on his laboratory should not be foreclosed. "The large sum needed to pay op the creditors has only just been collected," said Mr Smith. "Mr and .Mrs Brunner were going to Geneva -with the money-in fact, they had w«ed Spahlinger when to expect them, and their rooms were booked at one of the leading hotels. In one of her last let-ters-perhaps the last-Mrs Brunner said: 'This work for humanity must not stop. Carouge (Spahlinger's laboraory) must be saved.' "I am now on my way to fulfil these last instructions," added Mr Smith. He could give little information concerning the plans of his committee, but it is understood that a limited company will be formed to take charge of the financing and distribution of the Spahlinger serum, which is to oe put into phials and sold with the necessary instructions.