ROBBERY IN THE POST.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 February 1918, Page 8

ROBBERY IN THE POST.

I'AKCKL OF NOTES STOLEV. AUSTRALIAN MYSTERY. The theft of a nuiil bag euitfaiiii-iy £IOOO in notes, belonging to the Bank of New .South Wii'cH, and tliri"; otlu" registered j>ar.. l-. ; between the panels foi-t ollice n< ui" Sydney Central railway station and the post o.T-ce at Brevarrina, is reported by the Sydney Sun. It gives the following' list, of previous robberies from the post: March 7. Registered mail bag, containing £2OOO in notes, belonging to the English, Scottish, and Australian Bank. Sydney; stolen between Bulli and Sydney. March 28: Registered packet of watches, worth £2OO, stolen from a strongroom, the door of which had been left open. November 5: Registered packet, containing £ISOO in notes, belong to the English, Scottish, and Australian Bank, Sydney; stolen between Bulli and Sydney. Besides these, there are said to have been many other robberies in the post involving the loss of thousands of pounds worth of public property. The disappearance of the registered bag and its valuable contents is an absolute mystery. The parcel of notes was registered and posted on January IS by an officer of the bank. With three other registered parcels it was placed in a .registered bag! That bag was put into the ordinary mail bag for Brewarrina, which, after being sealed, was placed on the train for Brewarrina. Between then and the time the hag reached its destination, 518 miles away, it was, rilled, and the registered bag stolen. When the bag reached Brewarrina. it was intact, with the seal and everything else apparently in order. But when it was opened it was noticed immediately that the valuable portion of its contents had disappeared. The stolen money, it was stated, consisted solely of new notes, made up as follows: —£soo worth of £lO notes, | £SOO worth of £5 notes, £SOO worth |of £1 notes, £IOO worth of 10s notes. The numbers of the notes, with the exception of those' of 10s, are as follow:—£10, W519021 to W519070; £5, 1 SfiOOIV to 18(1110V; £l, AGGISOIJ to A0(>2900.1 The notes were done up in a parcel, and registered in the ordinary way Under the postal regulations it was necessary that the parcel should be branded "Australian Notes" on the outside \ Three robberies of notes have, taken place in a brief period, and the officials are apparently no wiser now than when they investigated the first of the thefts in March last year. Every care is stated to be taken, and the hand-to-hand system carried out as far as possible, but still the robberies occur. It is not even known where the robberies are committed—whether in transit or at the sending or receiving station. The details of the robberies, however. suggest that 'they have been mrried out after the bags have been despatched. Referring to the robery, the Deputy ;Postmaster-General said:—"We thouglit ■ particularly after previous robberies, (hat we hnd taken every precaution to prevent another There did not seem to he a possible loophole through which registered parcels could escape. Of j course, T have no idea where the leal; is, but clearly there is one."