HOARDED MONEY

Hokitika Guardian, 16 September 1932, Page 3

HOARDED MONEY

SOME QUEER WAYS OF MISERS. £4OO FOUND IN PICKLE BOTTLE. AUCKLAND, 'September 14. Four hundred golden ’sovereigns in a pickle bottle!, Exactly * £-130 ' in) notes -in an old linen bag hanging behind a •door, arid £33 in threepenny pieces hidden in an old ha'rrtioniUm! And the owner-passed away unmourned! An old man, his neighbours had freely helped him and supplied him with food, and gorie. out or their iva'y to do 'him .a kindness. He had lived the life of a miser, the while lie took, all and gate nothing in return. There are ; io». and women of that ikind the world over'. They live their dives, hoarding up whatever J money comes to them, always taking, never giving. They dress shabbily, live in squalid and sometimes filthy surroundings.. -Money, is their: god, and usual.y they, acknowledge ;no other. 4 '<■}. . -Auckland - has .had, arid ri'o doubt still has, its quota of these;queei- people. The orie mentioned above cobbler living : in a small house; m Grey Lynn. He. worked and lived and died amidst the tools .of his trade. He -appeared content, though rieighboiurs and customers pitied him. Then he flied: -‘Poor old chap, he is probably better off now, ” remarked . his neighbours. The following day the . body : was : tkken frorii Vthe morgue to a/cemetery, iand f there' were no nipui-ners at the funeral, f - '

A search was made. of his premises, by- one whose experience has led;.hint' to ■look -for the unexpected, vAmong''a -icolJlection of pottlos,..some empty; ptheifs inks: and stains, was found the. pickle bottle .containing '4CO soveireigns. The neck of the bottle was stbpped with an old sock. In a- linen bag behind the door was a roll of notes amounting to £130; and in an old harmonium, possibly the old mail’s only companion, was £B3 in threepenny pieces. And then it was found that his wife was in a home for the aged ana indigent. b '

“Fifth Board Up the Wall.” At Swanson there lived an old man on a very small farm. His home was a dilapidated old shanty on a hillside, and he lived the life. of. a recluse. He saw few people, and ;of .close -friends had none.. .. To -all- appearances . he was merely ekeing. out an existence,, and any assistance, .neighbouring farmers; could give.; Him was readily given. Suddenly he took ill and died, arid the : home, was. ; for'danytnihg' of Value .that might; be, ,|p ;.the .^liarity, Among'the papers in.the shanty, which Was .filthy, .was found a inote directing the finder, to count the fifth .board op the wall and search bebind. it. .It was an /easy matter, to do, this,,. as the fepluse,, had made a sort of ’cupboard by sawing through the wall- board' at two places, and ha.d used . the Severed piece as«a door 'by;;,attacfihig ''tiy6 i leather hinges to it., , v •,

In the cupboard were rolls of bariknotes of varipuK denqmjnations, amounting in all to £2300. and little stacks of sovereigns and imif-soyereigns-, and silver. . : ''r: : ' ; ; v cj

Y'Y Never Cashed His Cheques. Some years ago/ ar-Miman : . wefi ■ past middle age came to Auckland / from Northern Wairoa. He was a boatbuilder by trade and, had worked for various firms over , a long period ,ot years, Arriving in Auckland, lie took lodgings at a Chinese boardinghouse, * and there he lived for some, months till he became ill and died, -He bad uo relatives, and though-lie paid regularly for his board and lodgings, it was not thought that he was other othan a? poor, man.-As a matter of fact he was, but it was only -because; of : his amazing foolishness, After his death a small tin trunk was opened, , and, to. the as-; tohishment of the. investigator, it was found to. be crammed, tight with bank cheques., some of them many years old, and their total face value . ran info thousands of pounds ; • but.they.Were/ so much, waste paper, ~ , /

Inquiries made later tlig.b. th®deceased had worked .--.fpr nunierous firms iii, New Zealand and < had saved the cheques which had been paid .to him as wages or for Contracts. Sopie, : ,of the fintts fet the time o'f his death,; g°fee out of business. Had he banked,, the cheques when he had received them he would have been a fairly wealthy man.