After hearing all of the evidence for the prosecution and part of the defence in the ease in which Anatoly Stepanoff, 23, unemployed and of no} fixed abode, who was charged with concerned with others in breaking into No, 3 Canton Road on June 4 and 5 and stealing a quantity of curios, including som: sible embroideries (the property of Mr. Vaughan Read), Judge Liang! Lone ordered the case to be taken before the Higher Court for hearing, as he was not empowered to deci with a charge of this nature, Mr. E, T. Maitland, the Prosceuting Solicitor, said that accused was} charged with shopbreaking _and steriling a quantity of valuables. Investigations made showed that part of the stolen property was in. portession of a Russian named Michialoff, who wes verving a French ixed Court sentence for a similar offence. Michialoff told the police that he got the property from th: scoused who, in turn, said that] another Russian had presented them: to him, this Russian having left Shanghai. Counsel stated that everything went to show that accused was the prime mover in the affair.
Dut.-Set. Bebenin testified that he arrested the accused in connection with the ease in which Michiale(f was. t|serving a sentence and found that accused was concerned in the Canton Road theft. The lock of the side ate of the Robert Dollar Building] had been broken and the thieves climbed to the third door, by means of the fire escape, and broke into, mant's office, from which they removed a large number of articles of value. There were no. finger prints and this gave the police reason to believe t ly got away Without leaving behind their finger Prints. Accused said that he bought the things from another man whos: name he gave, and said that this. man was living in a Chinese hotel Hongkew. Witness made in-nines but could not find the man nor had anybody heard of such Russian.
Complainant said that the total value of the stolen property was more than Tls. 50,000.
Accused denied that he had committed the theft and said that a friend who owed him $30 gave him the stolen embroideries, of which there were four pieces in all. This man's name was Shiskin, but accused did not know where, present, "he was living.
The case was transferred to the Higher Court for hearing.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.