LOST DIAMOND RING

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2346, 25 October 1921, Page 4

LOST DIAMOND RING

LEFT IN SYDNEY GLOVE SHOP

STRANGE STORY OF RECOVERY. AUCKLAND LADY’S ADVEN- ' TURE. To lose a magnificent diamond, ring, worth more than a couple of hundred pounds, about 18 months ago, was the unfortunate experience of an Auckland lad.y, who was spending a long holiday over in Sydney; and it was her pleasant and unexpected experience to recover it the other day under circumstances that read more like u page out of a sensational novel than a record of a matter of fact in the year of grace 1921. One day, in Sydney she dropped into “Blank’s” shoo to get a pair of gloves. Taking her ring off in order "o try on (lie gloves, she put it down on the counter beside her. Tho gloves suited, and she took them. When she got as far as the door she suddenly remembered that she had left her ring on the counter. Going straight back, she told the young woman, but, the latter said she knew nothing about it, and there was certainly no ring on the counter. The Auckland lady could not do anything but put the matter in tho hands of the police, or, at least, her friends did so for her. Inquiries were made, but without any definite result, and so gradually resigned herself to the conclusion that her much-prized ring was gone for good and all.

Recently the husband of the Auckland lady went across to Sydney to join her, and the very night of his arrival the ring was recovered in a remarkable manner. Husband and wife were passing a jeweller’s shop owned by people known to them, and they went inside to make a call. While the two wives talked together, the Sydney man said to the Aucklander, “Come into the back room; I have some diamond rings that will interest you.’ The Aucklander certainly was interested. Almost the first he picked up looked similar, and he took it to the light to have a good look at it. “You seem interested in that ring; do you know it?” asked the Sydneyite. “I should think I did,” was the answer of the Aucklander, “that is my wife’s ring?” Explanations followed, and the jweller said he got the ring from a dealer, who had bought it at a pawnbroker’s sale. It was an easy matter to get as far as the pawnbroker, and as the ring was an uncommon one, he had no difficulty in recalling the circumstances unde| which it was pledged. By this time the Aucklander had enlisted the services of a detective. The pawnbroker told how a young, girl had come to him with a request for a loan on the ring—the amount was not mentioned. As it was a valuable article, the pawnbroker first asked for more particulars. She told him her name and address, and said she worked in the glove department at “Dash’s.” Investigations proved that her story was correct, and the ring was taken as a pledge. The next move on the part of the Aucklander and his detective was to track this young woman, whose name was given them by the pawnbroker. In the meantime she had married, but in spite of this she was eventually located. Her story of the ring was that one day she need(d a pair of gloves for herself. She did not buy them at .“Dash’s,” where she worked, but went to “Blank’s.” She picked out a pair I hat suited her, and when she got home she found in one of the lingers lhe diamond ring round whicji this story hinges. She did not take if back to “Blank’s,” but waited to see. if if would be advertised. She watched the papers for three months, and seeing} nothing about such a ring, she came to the conclusion that it belonged to her. After explanations, it ended in her husband paying what had been advanced for the ring, which was then handed back to the Auckland lady, who had lonir ago given up all idea of ever feeling it on her finger again.