This is the story of a Blantyre man on holiday who got a fright when he dropped his wallet!
Whilst strolling across Helensburgh Golf Course one day in the Glasgow Fair holiday 1929, a Blantyre man dropped his wallet containing £156 in cash. (Now, lets put that in perspective, that about £9,000 in todays money!!)
After a fruitless search, he quickly reported the matter to the local police and you can imagine the kind of night he had fretting.
However, the next day the wallet, with the money absolutely intact, was found by working-class Helensburgh man, named Hugh Sharkey, 24 Alma Place, who took it the Police Office. At the Burgh Police Court, Superintendent MacKay asked the presiding Magistrate to give Sharkey the reward of 10 per cent. i.e about £15 or £900 in todays money. The Blantyre visitor, it was said, had only reported the loss of £146, but when the wallet was found with £156 he said that he had forgotten that he had put £10 in another pocket of the wallet, prompting court intervention. It was never stated what the money was to be used for.
The small court officials on the official handover of the money back to the Blantyre man, convulsed with laughter when, in answer to question of the Assessor, Sharkey said that he was golfer and that he had been looking for penny golf balls at the time he came across the wallet. Sharkey was congratulated by the Bench for his honesty, and the Blantyre man shook hands firmly with him before parting company.
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