JEWEL IN GUTTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23577, 13 August 1938, Page 20

JEWEL IN GUTTER

OLD MAN'S FIND DEATH FROM EXCITEMENT For 50 years " Old Bob " Griffiths had scraped together a living by doing odd jobs and selling newspapers. Then, on June 9, outside Covent Garden Opera House, London, ho found a great square-cut emerald set in diamonds, a pendant worth £750. " Old Bob's" good fortune was the cause of his death. He died, chiefly from excitement, in Marylebone Infirmary shortly after being told what his discovery would be worth to him. The pendant was the property of the Countess of Munster, and Lloyds had offered a reward of £75 for its return. When " Old Bob " picked up the glittering object he had no idea what it was. He took it to his lodging and stored it among some rags. Two days later, a man in the Strand told him of the lost pendant, and " Old Bob" took it to Bow Street Police Station. Then, with a friend, he hurried to a loss assessor to inquire about the reward. The prospect of sudden wealth was too much for him, and he collapsed outside the office. Lloyds saw to it that " Old Bob " did not have a pauper's funeraL