ROBBERS' CAVE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1522, 19 August 1912, Page 9

ROBBERS' CAVE.

DISCOVERED NEAR.SYDNEY. A cave' used by the fang of thieves who 'or some months past havo been engaged in "systematically robbing tho goods trams on the Southern railway line m Aew South Wales; has been'discovered by Sergeant O'Dea and Constable Hooper, of the Regent Street' police station, and stolen goods valued at over .£IOO have been recovered.. , . ' The cave, which is situated in adeeP gully a couple of miles from the Hilltop railway station, was very cleverly hidden. The country all around is vory.heavily wooded and-rough, so rough, in fact, that it was' only with the greatest difficulty that the constables succeeded ill reaching the cave. . . The sides of the gully are strewn with huge boulders, one of which blocked the entrance to'the cave. This boulder was identical in appearanco with dozens ot other boulders lying close around, and it' was on this similarity,'no doubt,'that the robbers relied, to prevent their hidingplaco being discovered. ' The cave, itself.was. not very large, but had Wen carefully fitted np. Around the walls ■ were a series of ledges or shelves, on which the stolen, goods were neatly pafcked in bundles ready for' their removal to the city. There were evidences, too, that the cave had been recently occupied, and in one corner was a rough "litief'of ferns.'ond leaver., which had evidently been used as a makeshift bed. The stolen' goods, which for the most part consisted of clothing and merchandise, wore removed*by tho police, and have been taken nick to Sydney, with a, view to their restoration to their rightful owners. The robberies of goods from trains leaving Darling Harbour have been _a source of worry to" the police. The value of tho floods stolen has been steadily rising, and during the last few months the total reached s'lich alarming figures that the attention of the metropolitan superintendent, Mr. Sherwood, was drawn to the matter. The little evideuco available, scorned to point to the fact that a well-organ-ised gang was at work, and that'the rob- ■ beries were all the work of one band. The : caso was, then entrusted to Sergeant • (VDca and Constable Hooper. For somo time- thoy could make no heamvav, but at length n slight clue was obtained as to the "methods employed by tho thieves. The police followed-it up, with the result that fhey discovered that the. goods wero thrown-from the train while it. jrns slowIv climbing tl"> =teep gradient, between Balmoral and Hilltop. From this on tho work was comparatively easy. The only work to do was to discover tho place where the stolen goods were being hidden prior to their removal to Sydney, and to arrest the "ang who were responsible for the robberies.