THEFT OF CLOTHING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 August 1938, Page 7

THEFT OF CLOTHING

■AUCKLAND SHIRT FACTORY RAIDED MOST EXPENSIVE GOODS SELECTED (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, August 5. Shirts, blouses and pyjames valued at between £75 and £lOO, a number of important documents and several sums of money belonging to the firm and its employees were removed by thieves who entered the factory of the Selwyn Shirt Manufacturing Company, Grey’s Avenue, early this morning. After making a careful selection of the most valuable lines of stock, the intruders combed both floors in a search for money and other valuables. Entrance was gained by smashing a window facing a lane at the side of the buildings, one man being apparently cut by jagged glass left in the frame when he jumped into the room. From the neatly packed stock on the ground floor they made a choice of the most expensive shirts and an attempt to force the front door from the inside followed. However, the double lock resisted their efforts and the thieves were forced to remove their large haul through the narrow window which had afforded them entrance. Conducting a thorough search of the office, the intruders rifled a desk and decamped with £1 9s lid which had been left overnight in a till. On the floor above a box containing 5s of union subscriptions and another tin in which a woman employee had placed a collection of threepences' were emptied. However, a gold watch and chain with a case containing three gold sovereigns were overlooked. ' From an unlocked safe the thieves removed several documents, including a will and property deeds. <

Four dozen pairs of silk ( pyjamas, which were to have been delivered under contract to a city firm, and 16 women’s blouses were also taken from the stock on the upper floor. In quantity the amount of stock that was regarded as almost sufficient to set up a retail clothing business. The premises were inspected by the firm’s caretaker at 11 o’clock on Thursday night. The ownership of the factory changed hands last Monday and for this reason an insurance policy against burglary which had been held for nine years had been allowed to lapse a few weeks ago.