A TALE OF A WATCH.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 1048, 26 September 1911, Page 3

A TALE OF A WATCH.

The following letter, received by Mr James McLay, the schoolmaster of Warepa, has been banded to the Clutha Free Press for publication : —“Family Hotel, Foxton, September 15th, iqii. The Schoolmaster, Warepa. Dear Sir,—l am taking the liberty of writing to you re a gold watch and chain. I was cleaning a drain out, looking for a stoppage, when I found it. It was presented to Wm. Waddell, m.a., at Warepa in 1881. If you could look up some of the old identities you may be able to find where he is, if alive. The watch must have been in the ground for a number ot years, but is in good order and repairable. lam going to get it fixed up, and any information you can get hold of will be gladly received. Hoping to hear from you at an early date. —Yours faithfully, Henry S. Muuro, Family Hotel, Foxton. P.S. —I think it must have been stolen and planted. — H.S.M.” “We understand,” adds the Press, “that Mr Waddell (one of the ‘old identities’ of the Clutha) died iu Australia about fifteen years ago ; but his widow (who married again) aud his son are still alive. Mr McLay intends to try and get their address and forward it to the finder of the watch, iu order that this most interesting relic may be restored to its rightful owners. We have since learned that the son (Wm. Waddell juu.) is in Queensland, and his mother (now Mrs George Henderson) is living in retirement at Ryde, on the Parramatta, near Sydney. The watch was lost by Mr Waddell, supposedly in Dunedin, twentyfive years ago.”

Iu respect to the above we may state that a watch answeriug the above description was reported stolen from the Family Hotel between 10 p.m., ot the 26th and 7 a,rn. of the 28th February, 190 S. The person irom whom the watch was stolen stated to the police that “he arrived at Foxton from Palmerston on the date mentioned above and was under the influence of liquor. He slept at the Family Hotel and was taken to bed by the proprietor, at 10 p.m. The watch was taken out of the waistcoat pocket during the night. At this time Mr Muuro was not connected with the hotel.

The watch is uow in the possession of the police who are investigating the matter.