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Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5208, 25 November 1927, Page 2

Suspecting that his firewood was being diminished at a greater rate than the household use justified, a Gisborne resident recently arranged ah' alarm system, which he was confident would warn him of any raids on the pile. The system was simple, as are all good systems, a key block being arranged so that any disturbance in the pile would cause it to fall, a taut string being attached to the block at one end and to a bell poised on a bedside table at the other. Deep in the chilly night the system worked, the bell fell with a clang to the floor, and the householder catapulted from his bed, but no sign of any disturbance at the woodpile could be discovered. Again the following night the clangour of the bell brought the owner of the pile out in search of, raiders, only again to disappoint him. Two false alarms were enough to set the householder thinking, and he reached the, conclusion that the dew settling on the long string contracted the strands as the night wore on, and thus effected tihe upset of the bell.