RAILWAY STATIONS BURGLED

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3593, 1 February 1927, Page 3

RAILWAY STATIONS BURGLED

AT LEVIN AND LINTON

Levin, January 31

Two determined burglaries were perpetrated at Levin and Linton railway stations during tlje night. Explosives were used to open the safe at Levin, and a large sum of money was * obtained, although at Linton operations of the thieves, who made a clean getaway, were rewarded with only a few shillings.

The discovery of the occurrence at‘Levin was made, at 6.30 this morning by a railway surfaceman, named Doyle, who, upoirarrival at lhe station, found the windows shattered but the doors open. Investigating further, lie found the furniture and fittings in the rooni, to be badly damaged, while the safe had been blown open. He at once communicated with the acting-sta-tion master and Constable Bagrie, who later arrived on the scene. The safe is of the usual solid type, set in a heavy concrete, base, and the door, which was torn off with the force of the. explosion, is of steel, half an inch thick and. heavily reinforced. - A charge was inserted into the keyhole of the safe and in exploding shattered some of the window panes, office furniture and fittings, in addition to bursting open the safe. The woodwork of the ceiling bore jagged holes where pieces of flying steel had entered, while a heavy fall of soot came down in the chimney. The thieves got away with about £125, of which £67 was in cheques and the remainder in cash. Some books in the safe were damaged. The explosion was heard by a large number of residents between 2 a.m. and 2.15 yesterday, but no notice was taken of it, as nothing untoward was suspected. The whole enterprise is marked with knowledge of the procedure at the railway station. The banks were closed on Saturday, on which day excursion trains were running, and there was in consequence an appreciable sum of money in the safe. It being Sunday, there was no goods traffic about the station, and the latter was deserted for one day in the week. .

Similar circumstances attended the burglary at Linton. Explosives were used on the safe which, however, yielded only thirty shillings. The police are investigating the affairs.