Thief Spends Christmas in 'Cliffe Closets'

Christmas was good to thieves this year. Comstock Hall provided some lucky second-to-fourth story man with three transistor radios, two cameras, one of them worth $250, a copy of The Kennedy Years, a box of LBJ matches from the election, a roll of stamps, and numerous other goodies.

Ralph B. Gates, Director of Buildings and Grounds at Radcliffe, said that he had reported the thefts to the police, but there are no suspects as yet. Since all of the items were stolen from locked closets, the thief probably has a master key, which can unlock any door in the building.

The Comstock dormitory committee has made several proposals to prevent this sort of theft in the future. It suggested that Radcliffe change the locks on all of the closets in Comstock, which Gates said would be unfeasible, or that each student change the lock and pay for it herself.

The second suggestion, however, would be against fire regulations because the janitor must be able to open any closet with the master key if a fire breaks out inside it.

Valuables Room

The committee also proposed that a valuables room that can be open by only one key--not the master key--be established in the basement. Gates said that the valuables room might be a possibility, but he would have to consider it first.

Those known to have master keys include the kitchen staff, the maids, the night watchmen, the senior residents, and the janitor. A key was also given to the boss of the window washing crew, Gates reported, adding, "he is a long term employee of the company, very reliable, and bonded by the government."