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Otago Witness, Issue 4028, 26 May 1931, Page 75

Dr T. Z. Koo in an address at Canterbury College last Saturday- night, told an amusing story concerning the confusion caused by the dress worn by men and women in China. There men wear skirts and the women trousers. “ I was in a shop in Edinburgh, accompanied by my wife and children,” said Dr Koo. “My wife remained inside the shop while I took the children outside and waited for her. A shopwalker, thinking I had lost someone, came up and tapped me on the shoulder, saying: ‘Madame, your husband is still iftside! ’ ” Last November a mild sensation was caused when the loss was reported to the Fremantle police of a pearl, said to be worth £1350 (relates an Australian exchange). The following day it was found in a taxi-car, in which the loser. Captain Douglas, of the steamer Erica/ had travelled. According to Captain Douglas, the gem belonged to the ship’s carpenter, to whom it had been given by a dying man in the Solomon Islands, in return for a kindness. Before it was given back to Captain Douglas the Customs Department seized the pearl, pending inquiries regarding the value, and whether it had been brought into the Commonwealth without the payment of duty. The Acting Collector of Customs said that expert examination of the pearl revealed that it was a “ dead ” gem, and was worth only ■about ss.