WIDOW HOARDING MONEY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21118, 27 February 1932, Page 2 (Supplement)

WIDOW HOARDING MONEY.

£3OOO TIED TO WAIST. PITCHFORK NEAR THE BED. A police constable, called by .1 neighbour, forced ail entry into a, house fit Enfield Wash, Middlesex, recently, and discovered Mrs. Emily Parfltt, aged 78, a widow, who lived thero alone, unconscious at tho bottom of the stairs. She was taken to a hospital, where, in a small black leather bag under her skirt and attached to a girdlo around her waist, was found £3OOO in notes and securities. Sovereigns and half-sovereigns were found in a room at tho house, and hank-notes by tho fireplace in another room. It is believed that Mrs. Parfitt, who had a curtain and a stair rod in her hand, was trying to fix a rod on the landing when she had a seizure. Mrs. Davies, a neighbour, said: " Mrs, Parfitt always wore a black dress, beneath which was strapped to her waist a strong leather bag. In this sho carried cheques, silver and gold. Near her bed sho kept a pitchfork, and I believe she never moved from room to room without it. " Once a week she would walk to tho cemetery, carrying a bunch of flowers to place upon her husband's grave. Ho died more than 25 years ago. Apart from her few shopping expeditions, this was all we ever saw of her." A search of Mrs. Parfitt's rooms revealed that for many years sho had kept her money in small bags and envelopes.