A HOUSE FULL OF MONEY.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16225, 4 July 1918, Page 3

A HOUSE FULL OF MONEY.

(FBOII OTO OWN 00ERE8P0NDENT.) SYDNEY, June 26. Tho remarkable story of bow n little old man from Palestine rose to iiftuence in Sydney culminated last week in a fire which had Borne remarkable and sensational foatur-jn . Himmelferb, who is apparently a Jew of some sort, came out from Palestine, with his wifo and two - children, nearly 20 years ago. He was very poor—so much so, that his brother-in-law, paidhis passage'and his first ■ cxpuuyes in Australia. Tho little man, who was then about 40 years of age opened .up a second-hand business, and prospered. When war broke out, he had so mo thousands of pounds in a Sydney bank. The horrible possibilities of war worried the second-hand dealer, and he forthwith drew all his savings from the ban* ant! secreted thein about his house ana shop Much of it went Into special receptacles in the floor and ceiling. Last Thursday light, the -Jew and h . 13 family awakened to find the building in flames. The terrified man and his w >tc collected their <our children <two bwn in Australia), and all R°t do; ™. to the ground door, into :he Miop. J hen the Jew seems to have lost Ins head. He appears to haye {jot into, the street, and dashed wildly about .givjng the afann, but tho wife and the four children returned upstairs—in an efrort to save the hidden money, it is lieved A little latet, Mrs Himmelferb threat herself from a first floor and- was considerably uijured. I t thought that the children were sax ed, and by the time they were the firemen found them m nn npstuirs roomthey were all dead-suffocated Meanwhile. as tho tto burned thS roofs and ceilings, silver money Wan to rain upon .tho amazed hrethe wardrobe in the room wher« dead children were found there "as d>ft .ov ered a roll of notes worth There wtS pilea of silver everywhere Police and firemen raked over the debra for htMirs/ and bag'after bag, filled with fIS, halfcrowns, and lhn f* sent off to tho police station. Charred mattresses were ripped up. 1 there was a bag with £206 in notes, m another £300 in. notes. Che siUe_ \\as in ladies' bags, calico bags, under the floor, in all manner of _ plaoes. One bag held £30 worth of jewellery. The poßce took the wealth m cabs to a tank, where three tellers were busy for some hourß with it. Hero is t he *eBult: Notes £1351, gold £508, tilver £719, copper 2s l<h total recovered £2579.