BAGS OF MONEY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23275, 18 February 1939, Page 2 (Supplement)

BAGS OF MONEY

Amazing Hoards: in Misers' Homes

GOME rfemarkable cases ,of comparatively wealthy hoarders living in poverty in London are instanced in a report issued by the London County Council. There was, for example, a male inmate of Westminster Institution who was found to own securities worth £2478, besides being entitled to small pensions.

in a small room in .apparent poverty, the officials found, cardboard boxes containimg 56 £1 notes and 250 10s notes, two small bags containing 97 sovereigns and 134.ha1f-sovereigns, and. in the. mattress a Post Office Savings Bank book with a balance of £314, an old-age pension book, and jewellery. Mental Patient's Store A mental patient found wandering wnsi certified. She had no relatives in England, and her room was cleared by council officials. Among the articles found were large quantities of confectionery. biscuits, sweets, chocolates, jars of pickles, marmalade, bottles of vinegar, cognac, whisky, Yorkshire relish, and olive oil, and parcels of tobacco, all of good quality and in good condition. There were also large quantities of stationery, consisting of expensive lodgers and cash-books, and oil, matches, and candles, as well as many securities and dividend warrants, the patient's means being considerable.

When his case was brought to light by a neighbour, he was found to own £llsß in the Post Office Savings Bank, Savings Certificates to the value of £l6O, War Stock worth £205, Consolidated Loan Stock valued at £362, Conversion Stock worth £2OO, Funding Loan to the value of £IOO, and a Hearts of Oak Benefit Society surplus contribution book with a balance of = £3o °- In addition, he had a pension of o6s lOd per month from the Transport Board, 4s a week from the Hearts of Oak. and National Health Insurance disablement benefit. On the_ man s death the council recovered £7O from the estate for its expenses and his maintenance.

Another patient admitted 1o Hammersmith Hospital asked that her "room" should be looked after. The "room" was found to bo nothing more than a filthy shed which had at one time been an outhouse, but its contents included a Post Office Savings Bank book with a credit balance of £645 mid a National Provincial Hank pass book with a credit balance of £560,

Slept on Table Then ther'fe was Mrs. P., who died at the ago of 81 years, after receiving outdoor relief for 10 years. She slept on a table, saying that sho had been used to it for 20 years, and threatened suicide if she wdro pressed to enter the institution. Removed to hospital in the public interest, she died in a month. In her room was found a very rusty old tin trunk with no lid, and apparently full of old rags. Beneath these, however, were a number of tied-up bags containing half-crowns, florins, shillings, and sixpences, all yellow with age, evidently hoarded from her outdoor relief. Of this £4O was recovered by the London County Council i for cost of treatment, burial, and relief, and the balftHc° was handed to the Treasury Solicitor. - After the death of another patient w a council hospital who had been living