Duplicates

W hen King Edward VII of England was still the prince of Wales, he loved fox hunting. An actor Edward A. Sothern often accompanied the prince on the hunt. As a token of the prince's esteem he gave the actor a small golden matchbox designed to go on a watch chain. Sothern kept the box with him wherever he went until one day he was thrown from his horse will hunting. The box could not be found.

Sothern had a duplicate box made and later gave it to his son, Lytton Sothern. Lytton was also an actor and during a tour in Australia he gave the duplicate box to a friend named Labertouche.

Edward Sothern had another son named George. Like his father George enjoyed fox hunting. One morning while running the hounds on the same grounds his father used to hunt George stopped to speak to the old farmer. When the farmer learned that George was Edward's son he present George with the missing original gold box that had just been found that morning.

Lytton and George had yet another brother, Edward H. Sothern. Edward was an actor like his father and brother Lytton. When the original box had been returned to George he wrote his brother Edward to tell him the incredible story.

When Edward read the story he was riding in a train with an another actor named, Arthur Lawrence. The two had just met and Edward felt compelled to tell the story of the two boxes. After relating the story he wondered aloud about the duplicate box. After posing the question Arthur answered by dangling the duplicate box on a watch chain in front of Edward.

These coincidences are some of the most Fascinating Mysteries.