STOLEN BANK NOTES.

Shannon News, 19 April 1929, Page 3

STOLEN BANK NOTES.

HIDDEN IN OPERA GLASSES. CONSTABLE'S DISCOVERY. HAWERA, April. 12. A police constable blinked when he peered through a pair of opera glasses he picked up in the whare.of William Noel Crosbie Cole, of Manaia,' a 20-vear-old farm labourer, the other day. The constable focussed the glasses, but could see no daylight on the other side. The plans of Cole were wrecked from that moment. He had hoped to gaze through the ,same glasses and see the horse racing x at New Plymouth last week. He had hoped also to wear at the races the overcoat of Harry F. Johns, which be had stolen from thj dance hall at Turoa, and he had hoped also to invest Dart of the £3O 3s 8d he had stolen from the Manaia store of the Kaupolcouui Dairy Company, Ltd. Afterwards a trip to Auckland he had fancied.

The sudden changa in the plans resulted, because the constable unscrewed the lens caps from the opera glasses, which really belonged to B. Cannon, of Hawera,'r,nd instead of dust and a faulty focus he found {wo "fivers" lying' tucked away in barrels. ' No races, no Auckland tour, but departure this week for a term of one year at a Borstal institute was what the future lield for the young man. Denial of all knowledge of the thefts had been made bv Cole when the constable called on him. With a flourish of bravado'ho invited the officer then and there to search the wharo thoroughly. Ths;t time nothing was found, A "next time" came, however. Hearing that Ccle contemplated visiting the New Plymouth races and Auckland, the constable returned. He could not see through the glasses, and found £lO there. Behind the silver mountings of two hair brushes he found four £1 notes.

Mr J. H. Salmon, S.M., told Cole in the Haw-era Police Court yesterday that he had had his chances, but had not taken them.