WHO DID IT?

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 59, 3 December 1907, Page 7

WHO DID IT?

o THE KARORI BURGLARY. Wliilo Wellington city is going noisily on its money-spinning, money-spending way, quint'little Karori, ovor the hill, is agog with excitement. In those speedy times incidents, however moving, arc soon blurred in the memory by. others perhaps a triflo more interesting; but at Karori and in tho trams that whirr between city and suburb they arc still asking. Who did it? Who broko into the Borough Council's safe on Saturday week ? Tho answer seems "us far away as Paris is," and yet, with our smart detectives and earnest police force it seems incridiblo that a man (or men) should pick his way through the solid brick wall of a strong room, quietly open a drawer, and purloin £500. Yet it is so. The burglar is still at largo—it might not bo altogether wise to say unsuspected. The police say nothing, but they have ideas —merely that! What has not hoon related about the burglary is tho fact that the safe-breakers were actually heard at work by a resident, if not ■ residents, in the vicinity between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on the day of. the discovery. Tho sharp ring of a pick, at work was heard, and out of idle curiosity to seo who could be working at such an hour —Karori people are hot usually so industrious —ho strolled in the direction of the Borough Council's office, but beforo ho reached the rmmr.'liato vicinity the sound ceased, and nothing but the cool night breeze rustling tho trees-and the bark of an occasional watch-dog could be hoard. ' The burglars also had a watch! The. rioiso of the marauders at work had ovidcntly filled the village dogs with vague ,suspicion that something untoward was happening. Fancying that he/must liavo been deceived, thoSKarori resident returned'to his couch to dream himself into anothor day. Meanwhile, the 1 ;Borough became £500 the poorer. [ ■■ The burglary was a neat piece of work, and was the product of hands that knew .everything exactly. They knew tho money ■had • been placed in the strong-room • the ' day before. .They know to a fine degree of architectural precision where to pick, and made .a hole just large enough to ndmit a slim body. While admitting the neatness of the work,, it must be admitted that if the Borough Council bad tried they could not , have made a safer place for burglars to ■ attack its strong-room than was tho case. The front of the Council's chambers' lies a few feet back from, but parallel to; thoroad. ;-On one side of. the main entrance is the clerk's room, on the other tho engineer's, and right behind the engineer's room is the ; brick strong-room, tho Hush southern wall ' in full view of tho road, but if that wall is ; .followed,round to the back it would be ; found that tho strong-room is not so wide as the: engineers. apartment, and there is an alley-way between its northern wall and the wooden oiio of.tho chamber proper—a snug corner ..quite hidden from public view. There the. burglars settled themselves' and picked a man-hole through nine inches of solid brick Once inside, all was plain sailing. They knew the drawer where the money was kept—no other drawer was disturbed—know precisely ' what was there, for they must have groped > "right to tho hack, for a box containing some ' odd coins—somo money connected with a 1 special fund—was emptied of its contents. Nothing.was there to denote that the work was hurriedly, despatched. , It was a cool, clean job—now, who did it ?