Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 1, 1995                   TAG: 9501030089
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DIRTY JOB, BUT SOMEBODY HAS TO DO IT

Lynchburg's Roto-Rooter man has done it again.

For the second time in a week, Nat Kershaw has slogged through septic slop to save a diamond ring.

This time, the rescued ring had been missing for 10 years.

``We're four-for-four,'' Kershaw said. ``That's batting a thousand, ain't it?''

Bonnie Bryant, of Bryant Realty in Lynchburg, called Kershaw on Thursday after reading in the newspaper about how the Roto-Rooter franchise owner had drained a septic tank and found three diamond rings a woman accidentally had flushed down a toilet.

``People have been calling all week about that story,'' said Sandy Kershaw, Nat's wife. But only Bryant actually wanted Nat Kershaw to work his high-suction magic again.

``My husband showed me the article and said, `Maybe he can find your ring,''' Bryant said. ``He didn't think I'd really call the guy.''

Bryant said everyone told her she was crazy for looking for the ring her husband gave her years ago. She took it off one day to clean it, then put it on a piece of tissue in the bathroom. The phone rang, and when she came back, she balled up the tissue and flushed it down the toilet. Bryant said that, back then, no one would even think about draining a septic tank to find a ring.

That was before Nat Kershaw got into the Roto-Rooter business.

He said the chances were slim to none that he would find the ring, but agreed Friday to try.

Bryant no longer owns the house where she flushed the ring, so she had to call the current owners and ask if Kershaw could do his thing.

``I paid $400 to have somebody else's septic tank pumped,'' Bryant mused.

Last week, Kershaw found two diamond rings that Carol Philbin accidentally had flushed down the toilet at her son Brian's Lynchburg home. The next day, Christmas Eve, he found Philbin's third ring, which was more than 100 years old, when he was cleaning out his truck.

Friday, after about 4 1/2 hours of searching, Kershaw's son, Troy - who also has joined the business - spotted Bryant's ring. They rigged a wire up to a rake handle, pulled it out, hosed it off and gave it to Bryant.

Bryant's husband had long since replaced the diamond ring with a larger one. She said she's not even sure what the original one is worth.

``It's worth 400 more dollars tonight than it was yesterday, though,'' she said.