DISCOVERY BY POLICE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 872, 30 July 1910, Page 3

DISCOVERY BY POLICE.

OLD WOMAN’S HOARD. Christchurch, July 27. A surprising discovery was made to-day at the shanty in Hill’s road formerly occupied by Georgina Ambrose, or “Mother Duck,” the old woman who died under such pathetic circumstances the other day. Arrangements were made by the police for the removal of the remarkable accumulation of rags and old clothes with which the shanty had been packed, and for delivery to be given of the fowls which were left in the premises. Constable Smith, who is stationed at St. Albans, visited the place to supervise the removal of the property, and make a final search for any property of value which might have been left by the deceased. As the men were bundling the rags out of one of the compartments the constable noticed a small cloth bag tall to the floor, and his attention was at once attracted to it by its apparent weight. On examining the contents he brought to light the old woman's hidden treasure. The cloth bag had three enclosures —a chamois leather hag, a smaller leather bag, and a small red silk purse. The purse contained eighteen sovereigns. In the leather bag were two gold rings, worth about £3 each, and two gold brooches. They were faded with long disuse and tarnished with dirt. The bag containing the treasure had been hidden among the heap of rags which made the old woman’s couch, and its discovery was almost a pure accident. Constable Smith lodged the find with the Public Trustee. The same officer a tew weeks ago made an almost similar discovery, which brought to light a matchbox containing seventy-five sovereigns in the house of an old man who was then in extremis, and who died shortly afterwards.