WITHIN THE DOMINION.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 230, 19 June 1915, Page 8

WITHIN THE DOMINION.

"SLY-GROG IN ASHBURTON. ASHBURTON, June 17. Yesterday, on account of having strong suspicions that sly-grog selling was going on at a certain house in Eotfer Street, the police raided the premises and discovered the largest ; amount of liquor which has yet been found in any house since No-License was earried in Ashburton. A small quantity was discovered in the house, but the police were not satisfied . and conducted a systematic search of the ; garden. An empty sack excited suspicion and the police stuck a spade into the ground near it. ' A shovel-ful of earth was thrown out and a neat litt' cache made out of kerosene tins was discovered, containing a large number of bottles of whisky. Further down another "strike" was made and a second hiding-place was discovered. This was made of bricks and a still larger quantity of bottles was found. The proprietor of the establishment is said to be an old offender with several previous convictions for the same offence. m j SPURIOUS £lO NOTES. ECHO OF AN OLD SENSATION. , 1 THE PUBLIC WARNED. AUCKLAND, June 17. The sensation caused by.the widespread circulation of forged £lO notes in Auckland during Easter week of last year will not have been forgotten, nnd it has been revived by the negotiation of another forged £lO note at the Auckland Post Office this week. The note is a clever photographic imitation of the genuine article. It is perfect in design and colouring and is the work of an expert lithographer and photographer. The paper alone is not in accord with the regulation bank stationary, but it is nevertheless a very good fmitation. The forgery . itself is a photograph reproduced in two colours —black and reddish brown—and every detail is so -distinctly reproduced that there is nothing to distinguish it from the genuine note. The multitudinous tiny "tens" which form the background of every legitimate note, and are intended to baffle a penman, are faithfully photographed. The manager's signature looks as genuine as the rest of the production, and the date line, October 1, 1913, which again l differs in colour, has been put on with a rubber -stamp in red ink. The fake note found its way into the hands of a clerk at the money order counter, and was negotiated by him. How well done was the forgery is may be gauged by the fact that it passed through several hands at the office before it was-dis-covered to be of no value. An examination revealed that this is undoubtedly one of the notes struck off when the' wholesale fraud of last year was perpetrated. On that accasion it is believed that nearly £IOOO worth of spurious notes were circulated. Small tradespeople throughout the city, and particularly in Karangahake Road and Symons Street, were defrauded in kirgc numbers, and even a bank teller w caught. The fear was then entertained that a good number of these notes went through the totalisator at the Ellerslie meeting. This particular note may be just ah odd one held for a year by some person originally defrauded, and dishonest enough to pass it on, now tc someone else; on the other hand, it is possible that one of the three men wh< worked the swindle last year may still be in Auckland, and may yet be in possession of a bundle of forged notes. It would be well, therefore, for businesspeople to keep an observant eye on all £lO notes. The note cashed at the Ppjt Office l this week was a.little faded and t*ori. the '.same xiirsKber and dsfc'e &?

. 945; dated October 1, 1913. Any £lO Bank of New Zealand note of this number and date may therefore be safely held up.