DARING BURGLARIES.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2596, 19 December 1893, Page 3

DARING BURGLARIES.

HSLiJOtffiNH, IV»- * Two and -- 8 were'*" remarkable bur- . ned out last Saturday night rather on Sunday morning. Three armed and masked burglars entered the residence of Barney Allen, the wellknown bookmaker, at St. Kilda, at three o’clock in the morning. They silenced Allen and a companion with threats and ransacked the house. They compelled Allen to open a safe and. finally cleared off with £l6O in cash and jewellery to the value of £2OO, The robbers yielded to Allen’s solicitations to return to him his gold watch, the victim pointing out that as his name was engraved upon it it would be of little use to them,

■ Just before leaving the premises the robbers informed Allen that he was not alone in his misfortune, as a visit was then being paid by a second party to the house of another bookmaker. The latter statement was by no means an idle one, for at about the same hour the premises of Jack Levy, another well-known bookmaker, a resident of Ascotvale, were entered by three men, armed and masked, who subjected Levy to treatment similar to that accorded to Allen, with this difference, that instead of carrying off all the jewellery, they contented themselves with a diamond bracelet and brooch, valued at £125, and threw the remainder into a water jug. In addition to carrying off the diamond jewellery, the robbers secured about £125 in cash. There is no doubt that the two buaglaries were the result of concerted action on the part of a gang. The bookmakers had returned on Srturday night from Ballarat races, and ‘ consequently had an abundance of cash. The robbers had evidently watched them from the time they landed at Spencer street, as they were able to tell Allen how many fowls he had ordered from a dealer in the Eastern arcade. The police have gained no trace of the thieves.