Miserly Rich Men.

Otago Witness, Issue 2455, 3 April 1901, Page 26

Miserly Rich Men.

TO THE EDITOE. fen, — Great ws the sensation when John. Camdcn Neild left the whole of his \ast property, estimated at £500,000, to " hei Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, for her sole vs t ar.d benefit and her hpirs." He leit nothing for his old housekeeper, though she had hved with him 26 years. The Queen accustomed to treat her own 2eivants. hberallv, pro\ided for the forgotten one, also an annuity for Mis Xea!, who had once sa\ ed Mr Neild's life when lie attempted suicide. The Queen also erected a teredos &cA a beautifully-staißed glass window in the local church in memory of John Camden Neild, who died August 30, 1852, aged 72. In their economic mode of living there were many points ot likeness between. Neiid and Tyson, the Australian millionaire. Neither of them allowed their clothes to be brushed, because it destroyed the nap and made them wear out faster. Mr Keild's dress was extremely o'd-fashioned and shabby, consisting of a b'ue "swallow-tailed" coat with Kilt buttons, brown tiousers, short gaiters, and shoes which were patched and generally down at the heels. Then Mr Neild, m paying half-yearly visits to receive rents from his numerous properties, displayed the same economy as Tyson. For long .ourneys a few hard-boiled eggs and a dry crust" carried m his pocket sufficed, while he reposed beneath a hedge and camped beside a, stieam of water and a spot of fresh grass for 1119 horse. On foot he had been known to get o "lift" in a cart and sit on a load of coal and, nsk his life to save paying £> penny at the turnpike. He always carried with him an old green cotton umbrella, even m the coldest weathei. At home he slept on a bare board. His favourite companion was a large black cat, which wa3 present in lus chamber when he breathed his last. When repairs were beingdone to any of his buildings he sat for days on the roof" watching the workmen, and eating his dinner there. He used to investigate very minutely the nature of his [and, and he kept an account of the number of trees on' his estates, travelling great distances to count them. Tyson was a well-read man, and had a wellselected library; Neild was an M.A. of Cambridge, and retained to the last a love for the ancient classics, and he enioyed poetical patho* and elegant phraseology, both m ancient and modern authors. In many eases with misers the love of morev is hereditary. Evil tendencies of mind are v<* hereditary as diseases of the body. H. Llwe<« wa3 a notorious miser. His mother starved herself to death, and his uncle was a rni=er. Mark the latter end of the misers— their bodies committed to their last resting-place, not n, tear being shed, nor a regret uttered. vu \\ e V diffused no blessings around them, and bestowed no benevolence upon the poor anct needy. Neither Tyson nor Neild did anythingfor their employees to excite their gratitude Ol - win their sympathy or lay them undei the slightest obligation.— l am, etc., Hobait, March 20.

A reunion of the old colonists who ram to Australia in the ship Malabar in 1^ was held m the Vienna Cafe, Melbourne, on March 7. TUSSICURA Cure* Cough*. Cold, and Incipient Consumption. Gne ilus wonderful rtmedy a trial.