DATE: Thursday, March 13, 1997              TAG: 9703130357

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   58 lines

AFTER 30 YEARS, WALLET RETURNED TO OWNER

His top dresser drawer is for socks. But for 30 years, nearly every time Ernie Putt went in for footwear, he got a bundle of guilt and sadness.

In the drawer was the brown leather wallet he found in 1967 in a New Castle, Del., phone booth. The $78 once tucked inside was long spent.

Putt was a 36-year-old Coast Guardsman on a trip from Chesapeake to Philadelphia with his wife and six kids when he happened upon the wallet during a stop for directions.

The wallet had a driver's license, Social Security card, some photos and pay stubs indicating that Allen E. Bradley didn't make much money. But neither did Putt, who viewed the $78 as a ``godsend.''

But Putt, too, knew what it felt like to lose something.

When he was 6 years old living on a farm in Mississippi, his father gave him a nickel, which he promptly lost. So bothered by it, he spent all his time searching the fields. Days later during supper, he bit into a rather tough piece of corn bread - his father had slipped him another nickel.

And twice while he was serving in the military, Putt's wallet had been stolen.

``Every time I looked at that wallet I knew I had to get it back to that man,'' Putt, now 66, said from the southern Chesapeake home he shares with his wife of 46 years. ``I'm getting old, and I didn't want to die without returning the man's property.''

Ten years ago, Putt began searching for Bradley, starting with information in Sarasota, Fla., the address on the license. But no number was listed.

Not until a few weeks ago did Putt take up the project again when he wrote the Tallahassee Department of Motor Vehicles with Bradley's Social Security number. DMV sent Bradley's driving record.

After an exchange of letters, Putt shipped off the wallet with $200 - accounting for 30 years' worth of interest.

On Wednesday, Bradley acknowledged receipt of the package by calling his local newspaper, the Sarasota Herald Tribune. Putt got the news from a reporter.

``I wanted to send him the article and a nice note,'' Bradley said by phone Wednesday, adding he had recounted many times the story about how his wallet ``was stolen'' one summer day when he was 17.

Bradley had been working for his uncle digging ditches, and he took his pay for a week's labor to a flea market. A man had knocked him down, and, Bradley assumed, had taken his wallet when he helped him up.

``I felt so violated, and it stuck with me,'' said Bradley, who had returned to Florida that same year and now owns a cab franchise that ferries people to the airport. ``I always knew that there were more good people than bad, and I thought that man was just one of the bad. Now I know different.''

As for Putt, his wife Doris says he now puts on his shoes with the greatest of ease. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos

Above: L. TODD SPENCER; Right: BARRY McCARTHY

Ernie Putt, left, of Chesapeake gave a wallet he found 30 years ago

back to its rightful owner, Allen E. Bradley of Florida. KEYWORDS: LOST AND FOUND

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu