THE COMMERCIAL BANK ROBBERY.—ARREST OF THE THIEF.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3805, 25 September 1883, Page 3

THE COMMERCIAL BANK ROBBERY.—ARREST OF THE THIEF.

PUBLIC MEETING SUPPORTS PACIFIC ANNEXATION. A STEAMER SPRINGS A LEAK AT SEA. CONTRACT FOR CONVEYANCE OF QUEENSLAND MAILS.

MELBOURNE.

Monday. The robbery at the Commercial Bank is now fully explained. The police, finding that Richard Corbett, the bank caretaker's son, could not be found, prosecuted enquiries. The caretaker's family declared that he was living in Sydney, whither a telegram was despatched. A reply was received stating that he had gone to New Zealand a fortnight ago. The police, however, discovered that he had been seen in Melbourne a few days since, and subsequently traced him to Meagher's Hotel, Saudridgo, where ho had been living for ten days under the name of Clinton. The police found Corbett in tho hotel parlor, and ho denied all knowledge of the robbery. Upon taking him upstairs, however, three bars of gold were found in his coat pocket, together with £11 in notes, £39 in gold, and 32s in silver, also a loaded revolver. Corbett thereupon confessed that ho had duplicate keys made a year ago for all the safes in the Commercial Bank. He watched his opportunity, and entered by the front door. When Mr Pinnock, tho Ballarat manager, arrived with the gold he concealed himself. The robbery was effected during tho night, and he made his escape in the morning. He declared that he hud planted tho balance of the plunder in a swamp, but upon being taken there no sign of gold could bo seen. It is certain that Corbett was the thief who stole the £1000 which were missed from the same bank two years ago, he having at that time declared that he had won £1000 in a sweep. It appears that one of his sisters knew he was in Melbourne. The prisoner was brought up at the Police Court to-day and remanded for a week. Three more bars of gold, valued at £2000, have been found hidden in a shutter in one of the windows of the bank premises. The place of concealment was disclosed by the prisoner, who has also stated the locality where the other bars are hid. The bank applied for -i warrant for the arrest of the caretaker at the bank, who is the prisoner's father, and all the other members of his family, but the application was refused by the magistrate, the case against them being groundless. The prisoner's mother has become aeriously ill owing to anxiety. At a meeting held at Ballarat on Saturday evening resolutions strongly supporting the annexation of the Pacific Islands were passed. News has been received here that the steamship Sorrento, while outward bound for Adelaide, sprang a leak, and was compelled to throw a large amount of cargo overboard.