SEASIDE DISCOVERIES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20868, 7 November 1929, Page 18

SEASIDE DISCOVERIES.

BATHERS WHO FORGET. 1 THE, NEGLECTED BABY. ROMANCE IN BATHING SHED

One bathing machine man at a wellknown resort on the English coast stated how, some 20 years ago, a pretty girl came down for a bathe who had done so on several occasions before. In due course the man went to pull in the machine as the occupant, he thought, had been “out about long enough.” No one, however, emerged from the machine, and so he went to see what had happened. On opening the door he was surprised to see the young lady’s bathing dress in a _ damp heap on the floor, and her clothing as well, while on the'seat was a thick plait of hair “ as. thick as my wrist, ’ as he said. Afterwards ho found out that a good-looking boy had left the machine a few minutes before his visit. It had attracted the attention of an assistant, as the. machine out of which he saw a young gentleman come was one reserved for ladies.

It appeared afterwards that the gir! had eloped with a young man whose acquaintance she had made while staying at Brighton, to whose marriage or engagement her father had refused his consent. She had come down to bathe with a suit' of boy’s clothing, cut off her hair, and succeeded m leaving the town thus disguised. The affair made quite a stir at the time. THE INFANT WHO SLEPT.

On another occasion at this same seaside resort a beautifully dressed infant was found placidly sleeping in one of the bathing huts, which in the course of the years had superseded the old machines. It wag never claimed, nor was the mother discovered.

. -At an east coast resort where the bathing huts were close against the cliff, and it was possible for anyone to descend the latter, on one occasion a gentleman bather lost a good suit of clothes, his gold watch, and other valuables. In their place was an old clay pipe and a suit of very shabby clothes as though worn hy a tramp. In fact, the robber was taken about eight miles along the road to Norwich.

A HOPE OF PEARLS. A mystery attaches to a rdpe of pearls left in a bathing hut only the year before last at a fashionable Continental seaside resort. It was found on the floor, by the proprietor, who, not for a moment thinking it a valuable string, placed it in his desk at the ticket office awaiting any claimant. It lay there for. about 10 days without any inquiry bcinpf made, when one morning a gentleman from one of the big hotels on the Digue came for his ticket and handed in his wrist watch, bunch of keys, and other odds and ends to be taken care of.

The bathing man remarked that the gentleman was more careful than many of his customers, and incidentally mentioned the pearls. “Lot me sco them!” exclaimed the bather.

The man opened his desk and took them out, and told how they had been found, and not claimed.

“Do you know they are real?" said the gentleman after carefully examining them.

“ No,” replied the man. “Well, they are. And if you want to sell them later on I am open to make you an offer.”

They were not claimed, and ultimately were sold for upwards of 100,000 francs, at that time about £BOO,

THE MAN WHO BROKE THE BANK. At one of the Normandy fashionable resorts where play ruled high in the gambling rooms, a visitor, who was supposed to have come from the colonies, one evening broke the bank several times and won a very large sum of money, amounting to several thousand pounds. He was a great swimmer and came down the next morning to bathe, doubtless to freshen himself up after a long and exciting night of play. He had equally, doubtless, no opportunity of placing the roll of notes which comprised his winnings in safe custody. He Went out to swim and never came back, but next tide his body was washed up along the coast, and was never fully identified. His winnings were found in his clothing in the bathing “cabine” he had used and were never claimed. It was ultimately arranged that the money should be applied to local charities after the bathing man who found it had received a percentage as a reward.

These are. of course, very exceptional cases. But much valuable property is left behind in machines and bathing huts during a single season. At a south coast resort in Great Britain towards the end of the season three years ago the office of the bathing huts proprietor contained a book in which, during the months of June, July, August) and September, had been entered up as found, among other things, the following articles:—Three sets of false teeth, possibily whose owners did not care to admit the ownership,* two wedding rings, a sign of the times, and the fall in the’ sentimental value of these; no fewer than 16 other rings, the value individually of which varied from a couple of pounds to nearly fifty in the case of a solitair diamond ring; GO watches of all kinds, including several found on the beach near the huts by the attendants; many pairs of shoes, mostly old; articles of underclothing, including a pair of garters with gold buckles set with emeralds; childrens toys: purses (one containing 20 Treasury notes, claimed immediately); return railway tickets to the number of moro than a score; pipes and tobacco pouches; cigarette cases (three silver, one gold); vanity cases; and a baby who had been left in a but, the lock of which was broken, evidently late at night, which was not discovered till next morning. The fact that quite a number of valuable articles are never claimed is put down ,by the bathing machine and hut proprietors to the fact that many visitors come for the day, and do not discover their loss until they are on the journey home.

One young lady who left her engagement ring behind, and who was a day visitor, came down again next day to claim it, and rewarded the man who' had found it with two one-pound notes. “ More generous than most ” was the comment made.