_The Evening Post_, 30 March 1925:
LOCAL AND GENERAL
…
Another instance of the recovery by railway officials of an article lost from the train by a lady passenger has been brought to notice, and with it a further example of the value of forethought is provided. During a trip by train to Auckland recently a Wellington lady was in the act of washing her hands when a valuable ring slipped from her finger and passed into the waste pipe of the basin before it could be recovered. The train was then some distance from #Taihape, and, on arrival at that station, the loss of the ring was made known to the station officials there. An examination of the pipe failed to reveal the missing article, which had evidently fallen right through to the railway line. The lady passenger informed the officials that she had taken a note of the time when the article was lost, and with this information as a guide, that portion of the line over which the train had passed at the time stated was subsequently searched. The result was that the lady had her ring returned the other day.
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19250330.2.29