GENTLEMANLY BURGLARS

Grey River Argus, 26 February 1927, Page 4 (Supplement)

GENTLEMANLY BURGLARS

SAFE RANSACKED. CHEQUES AND ORDERS PUT ASIDE. Burglars who were described to the “Evening Standard” as gentlemen oi refinement and consideration ’ ’ got awav with the contents of the safe of the Music Roll Company, on the premises of the Portland Piano Saloon, Great Portland Street, London. There was about £25 in the safe. Cheques, mostly crossed, to the value of over £lOO, were carefully put aside and so also were hire-purchase orders for pianos up to the value of about £5OOO. Apart from the loss of a small sum of money, the business suffered nothing like the disorder it might have done. All documents which the thieves so considerately piled up would have caused no end of trouble had they Deen destroyed or taken away. The burglary appears to have been carried out in a most skilful manner. It is thought that it took place when many hundreds of people were passing by the shop. Describing his theory of how entry was made, Mr Godfrey, the manager, said: 11 They moved the stall lights that run along the bottom of the big plateglass window, and broke into the base’ment below these lights, which they then reaffixed behind them. They! would have a drop of about 12 to 15 feet into the basement, and I cannot 'understand why passers-by failed to observe them getting in.

“When they got into the basement they appear to have made a thorough search for everything they might need, and made use of boxes of cushions to deaden the sound of their movements and of wooden battens upon which to slide the safe. “The safe was in a corner of the basement, and after carting it upstairs they took the back off and most carefully ransacked it. My own opinion is that they slept there. Certainly they used all our toilet equipment, such as soap and towels, and when they were through they appear to have let themselves out calmly bv the side door.

‘lt would be a pretty dirty job getting into our premises the way they came, but they must have gone to some trouble to clean themselves up before they left. They had apparently used our clothes brushes, not only to get the dirt off their clothing. but also to polish their boots.”