A CHRISTCHURCH MISER

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4642, 24 December 1923, Page 4

A CHRISTCHURCH MISER

STARVED HIMSELF, BUT LEFT £5BOO. Though for years he had been re-, garded as hard-up and friendless, Christopher Clinton, an elderly single man, who died in Richmond (Christchurch) recently, was not so poor as he made put (says the “Lyttelton Times”). Instead of dying a pauper, he died worth £5BOO, ’ Of that amount £l5O was in sovereigns. The rest was on fixed deposit; in various banks.

When police and other. Government officials entered the room in Stanmore Road, where Clinton had been living, they did not expect to find anything unusual. A search however. revealed the sovereigns, tied up in brown paper and stowed away in a brief bag. Then the bank pass book came to light. This showed that Clinton could have ended his. days in comfort had he wished. He had had-property for a long time. The sovereigns and the pass books, together with other documents, were taken possession of by the authorii ties.

Clintdh did not leave a will, and, after certain expenses have been deducted, the small fortune will be divided between-;next-of-kin, some of ‘whom are in Ireland and. Canada. Although Clinton’s age was given at sixty-two years, his appearance was that of a much older man.

To people in Stanmore Road who knew Clinton the news of.his wealth came as a complete surprise. “We thought he was* very - poor. Sometimes he complained of being hungry. I never* heard; that he had so much as a penny, to himself, nor that he had any friends who might help him.. He dressed in old ragged clothes. .He would accept gifts of food or wearing apparel from anyone, and generally he was an object of pity. As far as I could see he was a straightforward man, and what his object-was in hoarding I cannot tellPerhaps he had a kink that way.” Covered with an old quilt and sacking, Clinton, died on his lowly bunk in the shacks, attached to < stabler at the rear of the premises of Mr T. R. Harris, a groper at; the corner of North Avon mndiStanmore Roads. In the little room,*.which Was the kitchen of a house rwhiehionce stood on the premises;*., there twasr the bunk, several boxes,-; and a Pi’imus stove. For over twelve years Clinton had resided there. Mr Harris had told the dead man years ago that he could occupy the shack-as long as he liked. To > that hermit home not even the most intimate of Clinton’s -friends went often.* • He cooked.- his frugal meals on the kerosene Primus, and at a tap above a horse drinking. trough outside the door he washed himself. There were no conveniences for bathing.

A life of a miser had been, lived by Clinton. He never travelled in the - tramcars; not even when he went to the trots, wh'ere he would have his “ little flutter.” No one was ever offered assistance financially by him as far as his friends knew. One su’t he had worn for five years. “He was as tight as a closed, and bdlted iron door,” one Richmond man said.

Clinton has never taken great care of himself, a neighbour told a reporter. He had subsisted largely on tinned meats, but often he would fry some fresh meat on the stove in his room. Only from his greatest friends would Clinton partake of hospitality. He was ■ exceedingly independent, and those who had taken compassion on his being aged and having one arm had often asked him to have a meal. "When the offer had been-made, Clinton would become inidignant.

; Clinton’s eccentricities were many. He groped deeply into other people’s ebusiness and private affairs, - asking many question, and making suggestions,- and when he noticed he was being contemptuously treated, his ire would be raised. No one; as far as can be ascertained, could'extract one particle of his history, or information as-to‘his circumstances from'the man. On his personal affairs Clinton was close as a book.

: The finding of the hoard has been an inconceivably great surprise for 'Clinton’s friends, save one. He often visited the house of a friend, who had last year told Clinton that he could not save because of the upkeep of two horses. < To this Clinton replied: “Why, Uhave saved £146 after living, this year,” As Clinton visited Femside or Oxford regularly every six months,: the man concluded that he had landed interests or was drawing interest? on loans.

Clinton was well known in Richmond. He had been there for many years. Till, eighteen months ago h? had been doing odd jobs i a gardens, but itt the interim he had done little work. He had spent his time strolling about, and chatting with the tradesmen. Some years ago a resident had offered to provide him with a good home, but he had declined to leave his shack. Since then repeated offers of a home had been made to him. very time he firmly refused. Over twenty years ago Clinton lost an arm by having it caught in acoiftbine on Longbeach Estate, where his brother Joseph lost his life by being thrown from a horse seven years ago. Since the accident Clinton had worked as watchman at the Belfast and Pareora freezing works before coming to Richmond. As was his manner, Clinton told nothing of his family, but he. mentioned casually that he then had a sister in New Zealand and ; several close relatives in America. A first cousin lives at Belfast.

No complaints had been made by Clinton as to his having any ailment; but he had suffered for the last year from a bad cold. He was a teetotaller.