THE MYSTERY OF THE HANDSOME CAR!

NZ Truth, Issue 1179, 5 July 1928, Page 5

THE MYSTERY OF THE HANDSOME CAR!

*^p^^ <-£* Arrest of Cunning Trio '■■&_^^^/ t--%N||k y . Offers ' Solution '

HAPPY NOTE LEFT IN " BORROWED "LIMOUSINE

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(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Dunedin Representative.) . WHEN THE PARENTS of David Bruce Beveridge put their signatures to their wills m favor of their s6n they did him an untold injury. Hopeful of his attaining something worth while m life, they lavished on him as good an education as money could buy m New Zealand, he being a boarder at the Waitaki Boys' High School. But life as a pugilist can deliver rriany an unsuspected uppercut, flooring us for the full count.

TIME came when young Beveridge found himself an orphan. Everything that a good home and devoted parents meant to him was gone. Such a circumstance would usually tend to bring the best out of any well educated lad with financial resources to fall back' on. But m Beveridge's case he proceeded to' follow a life of undiluted Indolence. The old adage that "All work and ijo play makes Jack a dull boy," found a ready supporter m Beveridge, and it was not long.bej fore he was anxious to give practical expression to the axiom. As a hobby he resorted to the daring practice of converting other people's cars to his own use. ' And just from this perverted sense of adventure he gradually embarked on a thrilling, though certainly brief, career of crime, taking with him two accomplices. Behind, the riotous adventures of these three ■ precocious youths is an amazing story of deliberate and prepared scheming with a distinct degree of criminal intent. The youths associated with Beveridge were: George William Uren, aged 18, a bricklayer's apprentice, residing with his parents at St. Kilda, and Francis

Sinclair Ward, aged 19, an employee of the Para Rubber Cmpany, residing with his parents m Warden Street, Dunedin. For quick ' action and daring misappropriation of other people's proiperty, this trio by far eclipsed the notorious Chevrolet gang which caused such a stir m Dunedin -last -winter*.-' y They were equipped wtih an outfil- that would have been the envy of any professional cracksman, while their methods of working were m some instances, most ingenious. As is so "often the case, it was on most slender* clues that the Dunedin detective force were enabled to connect Beveridge, Ward and Uren with the crimes, and. the work of Detectives Roycroft and Lean on the case was largely responsible for the apprehension of these clever- young criminals. So .complete was their chain of evidence that each of the accused made a clean breast of their activities rwhen first interviewed. Their burglar's kit included two masks, a pair of rubber gloves, a skeleton key (which Beveridge helped to make), hack saws, sets 'Of drills, braces, bits, hammers, punches, screwdrivers, stock . and dies, keyhole saw, ratchet brace and bits', two vices, pliers, pipe tohgs, spokeshaves, pinchbars, blow lamp, torches, clock, spanners, wrenches, a shot gun, a rifle, emery wheel, steel plane and over a hundred keys of all descriptions.

The list of charges was a formidable one, too, and the accused pleaded guilty to them all. Beveridge and Uren were charged on six counts, with converting cars to their own use between April 2 and May .9. Beveridge arid. Ward were charged on eight counts with converting cars between May 12 and June 10. Beveridge and Uren were charged on three counts with breaking, entering and theft at Dunedin, Waitati and Oamaru, between May 6 and May 10. Beveridge and Ward were charged on six counts with .breaking, Entering and thef; at Dunedin and Oamaru, one of the Oamaru charges relating to a theft from Wright, Stephenson's offices when £175 worth of goods, were stolen, including £104 m cash. , According to their statements to the detectives, Beveridge and Uren embarked on their career of crime on April 2, when they converted a dticor's car to their own use, and this association went on until May •9, -when Ward joined Beveridge m place of. Uren. On the night of May 9, Beveridge and Uren made a trip to Oamaru, also m a stolen car. On their return, theT machine went over a bank so they abandoned it and walked to Waitati, where they broke into a crib by scraping away the putty and lifting out a pane of !'-. glass. They stole a quantity of material and after having, a meal of shortbread and lemonade, they set off- to walk to Dunedin, tout were, given a lift m by a passing motorist. The partnership between Beveridge and Ward commenced on May 12 and for a fortnight or so they did a series pf jobs m a most professional manner. Their method of gaining entry to the home' of Miss Rose Pryde, m North East Valley, was a masterpiece. .

The back door was locked, but they noticed that the door had a good clearance from the step. They therefore . pushed . a piece of cardboard under the door and' then •\yorked the key out of the lock with a piece of wire. The key fell on the cardboard and was skilfully drawn under the door and entrance was thus effected. ".'On the /night of June 2, Beveridge and Ward appropriated a car from the Moray Place parking stand, but it wo.ihld not start owing to the absence of a rotar m the electrical mechanism. Beveridge promptly stole a rotar from a neighboring car, flitted it to the machine' m which they proposed touring, and away the pair sped for Oamaru weere they perpetrated one of the most daring thefts In the history of the place. -. Beveridge knew his way about the | Waitaki Boys' High School and made an unsuccessful attempt to steal the Rector's car, while another car, parked m the school garage, could" not be started. They later visited a garage where they appropriated another car, it being their intention to have a machine each. Fortune was with them, for m the back seat they found an attache case containing a bunch of keys and some letters bearing the monogram: "W.S. and Co." That was a clue quickly interpreted. Later that night, the young cracksmen effected an easy entrance to Wright Stephenson's main office m

Oamaru and on forcing the strongroom open they took charge of a cashbox containing cash, and cheques to the total value of £175. Of this amount £104 was m cash and this was equally divided. The cash-box and cheques and papers were discarded into a creek on the return journey to Dunedin. They were returning each m a car, but as Ward's car, stolen m Oamaru, was not making sufficient speed, they abandoned it and came on to Dunedin m the car which had been stolen from Moray Place*. . ..The young thieves were now "m the money," but easy money is easily spent, and a. day at the Wn*iga.tui races sufficed to almost exhaust Beveridge's half of the plunder, while Ward found his exchequer m a similar position. They hired a taxi to convey them to the Dunedin Jockey Club's winter meeting, and , Beveridge's betting expenses for the day were £35. Nothing further was attempted' for a week when, . with money gone,, Beveridge and' Ward again set off to commit further crime. On the night of June 11 they visited a warehouse, at the rear of the Plaza ljictures, in' George Street, Dunedin, and their method of entry again showed skill and method. A tin of golden syrup was smeared on a sheet of brown paper and this was pressed on a glass panel on the door. A few sharp taps and the glass was broken noiselessly while the fragments of cj^ass adhered to the sticky paper and were thus removed without any trace being • left. Taking every precaution, Ward cut the telephone wires and the place was then ransacked. An attempt was made to break into the safe, but braces, bits, ' drills and the blow-lamp failed to aid them and [ they left' the place disappointed.

* !| ii tiiuiuiHiuiiuitiiMtiHitiiiiiunhiiiu|iiiititiutuiiiiiuiiiiitiiuiiiuiiiitunniiiiDnnimnminiTininratii^i iiiuiiuiimiiitiiiiuintituiuiiitiimiiytnitiiiitiiititiiiiniifitiiniJitiiiiiiiiiHiifiiuitnfiujjnimmiiutiiiiiu^ The spoil from their many expeditions was taken charge of by Beveridge who planted it m a pit which he excavated m the fowl-house at the house m which he was boarding. The accused were committed to the Supreme Court for sentence on each of the indictable charges, and on the - summary charges were convicted andordered to come up for sentence when called upon, Magistrate Bartholomew remarking that he would defer the passing of sentence until the accused were dealt with by the higher court. Uren was re-admitted to bail, but Beveridge and Ward are to remain m custody until' sentenced. And so is closed a brief, but disconcerting chapter of daring crime, obviously planned with much forethought by a master mind m the trio. Apart from the stealing of pro-* perty and the damage done, these young wasters infused an element of cheap humor into their illicit capers. They left' a note behind m one of their borrowed cars. • The message was printed m pencil on the interior of a sparking-plug packet and-read as follows: " — —good car. Good rugs. Thanks. Highly delighted."