THE LATE ROBBERY OF JEWELLERY IN MELBOURNE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5156, 1 October 1877, Page 3

THE LATE ROBBERY OF JEWELLERY IN MELBOURNE.

(From the Age, September 17. After, a lapse of nearly four months, when „ the Goldstein robbery had almost passed out of rocbllectioD, and when, any expectation of recovering any of the stolen property had long since been regarded by the public as extremely improbable, the detectives have succeeded in regaining their reputation for smartness and skill by capturing one of the offenders concerned in the burglary, with a large portion of the proceeds of thie nefarious transaction actually in his possession. It will be reraem-. bered that on the night of the 31st May it was. discovered that, during the temporary absence of fche watchman, the shop of Mr. Goldstein, Jeweller, of Bourke-street East, had been most skilfully entered by burglars from the rear, and watches and jewellery, valued in the aggregate at near £I6OO, stolen. Large rewards were offered for the detection of the offenders and the recovery of the property, but, despite: the vigilance of the detectives, and also of the general police, no satisfactory clue to the offenders was obtained. Alter a lapse of several weeks two men, named Charles Worth Britchner and William Bird, were arrested on suspicion of having committed the bulglary, and several implements for housebreaking purposes were found in the house they jointly occupied. The City Bench sentenced both of them to twelve months’ imprisonment, with hard labor, against which an appeal was made to the General Sessions. In Britclmer’s case, who was not arrested in the house, but in the coach on his return from Dandenong, the appeal proved successful, and the conviction being quashed, he was set at liberty. With regard to Bird, the appeal is still pending, and in the meantime he remains in prison. Almost from the first a watchmaker named Thomas Rowley, who carried on business at a shop in Elizabeth-strfeet, was suspected of having been criminally concerned in the burglary ; but a rigorous search of his premises failed to elucidate anything that was of a compromising nature, and no steps were in consequence taken against him. Detectives Hartney and Duncan, however, who had charge of the case, were by no means assured of his innocence, and they contented themselves with redoubling their vigilance, in the hope that time would ultimatsly enable them to convince themselves of either his guilt or their misplaced suspicion. At last their untiring efforts have been rewarded with success, and in such a manner as to conclusively prove that their surmises were thoroughly in accordance with facts. Early yesterday morning, after one of their usual night-long watches, they observed Rowley stealthily proceeding along Victoria-street, and the bulky appearance of his clothing led them to expect that he was about to make the attempt they had so long anticipated, to remove a portion of the proceeds of the burglary to a place of safe concealment. They lost no time in accosting him, and on turning him over they found in the various pockets of his clothes no fewer than twenty-one gold watches, eleven silver watches, - and six cases, valued altogether at over £6OO, all of which formed part of the property stolen from Mr. Goldstein’s on the night of the burglary. Rowley was of course promptly removed to the watchhouse, and formally charged with having been concerned in the burglary. The prisoner, who, it is alleged, has been previously convicted elsewhere, was recently ordered to be imprisoned for fraudulent insolvency,, but escaped the punishment by taking advantage of certain legal points ;in his favor.