MISERS’ HOARDS

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 December 1923, Page 3

MISERS’ HOARDS

TWO DOMINION EXAMPLES. (Special to *‘Star.”i CHRISTCHURCH, December 6. The case of Christopher Clinton, the miser, has created great interest. Although he practically lived on the residents in the vicinity, he did not re-

ceive any old age pension or assistance from the Charitable Aid Board. Hei dressed in the most ragged clothes and lived most frugally. Apparently, the only sstaining meals he ate were those given him by kind-hearted neighbours. His tiny room, with concrete floor, was covered with sacks. In one corner

was a tiny oil stove, on which he oc- : casionally cooked himself a little food. The bed and bedding were old and ' dirty. There were a few enamel plates and mugs in a box. An old carpet bag, a battered looking suit case and two wooden boxes. After Clinton’s death his belongings were turned out and his fortune of nearly £6OOO was found in a large wooden box. There were 139 sovereigns wrapped in paper and rags. On one

Christchurch bank there were deposit slips amounting to £2340, and on another slips amounting to £2630. There were other slips showing amounts of £420 and £l2O and coupons attached to the deposits valued at £lB 18/ and £177. While talking over Clinton’s case to-day, a Christchurch resident recalled that fifteen years ago he was mixed up with a similar case in Auckland. An elderly man died there who for a long time had followed in eccentric fashion the occupation of a stock broker. His office was the street and his customers varied from the’nondescript to the well-to-do. He lived in a one-roomed whare and his clothing was patchwork and poor. For his

breakfast he frequentlv raided all the dust-bins in the neighbourhood, picking out the crusts and other food refuse. "When he wanted neck gear he would gather a celluloid collar from someone’s dump. When the top became frayed he would hack off a strip and keep on doing that until the collar was no more than a strip. Often he was shirtless and sockless, vet that man was worth £25,000. Searching the whare the police were surprised to see scores of cocoa tins and tea tins hanging bv a string from a ceiling. Thev took them down, and each tin was full of coins, gold coins, silver coins, and Conner coins. Other coins had been secretetl in bundles of slicks pn<ffie4 into odd corners. In addition, there was a valuahn serin which showed that the old man had shares in manv lucrative concerns. His fortune went to his next-of-kin in Ireland.