'Cliffe Dean Will Call In Police Unless Eliot Hall Stealing Stops

Thefts within Radcliffe's Eliot Hall have become so serious that the Annex dean's office has threatened to call in Cambridge detectives, it was learned last night.

Students in Eliot reported that Miss Emily B. Lacey, Dean of Residence, called a closed meeting of the dormitory to tell them that outside police will be notified if another robbery occurs.

A student offender, if found by Cambridge police, might be tried in a court of law. Cases of thievery within Radcliffe committees, or, if unusually serious, by the Annex administration.

Miss Lascey's threat to bring in outside detectives was made after repeated warnings failed to stop a rash of theft in Eliot. It will not apply to the other Cliffe dormitories.

Rooms of Eliot's residents were searched last year after repeated thefts of undergarments and other personal belongings continued in spite of administration warnings. Although the articles were not found, the thefts decreased after the search, but recently began to increase again.

Miss Lacey refused yesterday to comment on the problem. It's strictly family business," she said.

The Cambridge detective bureau would not report whether or not it had been contacted by the Radcliffe administration. "All the work that we're doing around Harvard and Radcliffe is secret," a bureau spokesman said.