THIEVES ACTIVE IN AUCKLAND

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24904, 18 June 1946, Page 4

THIEVES ACTIVE IN AUCKLAND

BUSINESS PREMISES ENTERED £B7B IN CASH STOLEN FROM SHOP (P.A.) AUCKLAND, June 17. The sum of £B7B in cash was found to have been stolen by thieves who used gelignite to blow open the safe in the strongroom of Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd., printers and booksellers, Queen street, when the premises were opened by the staff this morning. Other city businesses •visited by thieves during the week-end were the Oak Furnishing Company, Ltd., 136 Symonds street, Dearsleys, Ltd., 7 Nugent street, and Kolynos (N.Z.), Ltd., Kitchener street.

The thieves used a circuitous route to gain access to Whitcombe and Tombs’ strongroom. They went to the top of the public stairway in < the Lewis Eady building next door, jemmied a window out of its frame, and climbed on to the top of Whitcombe and Tombs’ building. From there they went down a ladder to a sun roof on a lower level and entered the premises through a window. After blowing open the door of the strongroom with a charge of gelignite fhey set to work on a small safe which contained money. To deaden the noise of the explosion they packed towels, overalls, and sawdust around the charge before exploding it. They took all the money in the, safe, but ignored a number of cheques. It is not known for certain how they *got out of the building. To get into the Oak Furnishing Company’s premises the thieves climbed into a light well at the side of the building, a large hoarding screening them from the view of pas-sers-by in Symonds street. They forced open the door giving access to the furniture showrooms on the ground floor and went to the offices, at the back. They used gelignite to blow open the door of a large safe, but this jammed, locking the mechanism, and it could not be unfastened. Rugs and cushions taken from the manager’s office were used to muffle the explosion. On ransacking the office they found the key to a smaller safe, from which a few pounds were stoFen.

Scaling cat-like over a 20ft pipe on the outside of the Mercantile Building, the intruders who got into the premises of Kolynos (N.Z.), Ltd., on the second floor, lifted an inside door off its hinges to get from the factory to the office. They stole a few shillings in money and some packets of cigarettes belonging to the manager, but did not interfere with the safe.

Only a few shillings were taken from the premises of Dearsleys, Ltd., boot manufacturers, by thieves who got in through a window at the back of the factory. Records and papers were strewn all over the office. None of three safes was tampered with.