A Parsimonious Old Couple.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6542, 8 December 1892, Page 4

A Parsimonious Old Couple.

Adelaide, Nov. 21. -Some curious particulars have come to hand relating to an old German couple, both above eighty years of ace, of Noiwood, who have just been separated for all time The other day the woman being seized with a serious illness, the husband showed signs of being bereft of his senses, and the neighbors were called in. The couple would not hear of the expense of medical advice, and the old woman died, and her widower has been sent to the lunatic asylum. Their property is known to amount to many thousands of pounds. It is said that the woman, whose age was eighty-two, wore, from the time of her arrival in the colony upwards of forty years ago, the same hat, the only one she had, which she brought from Germany. The couple are not known to have purchased apparel of any kind during nearly half a century of residence in South Australia. Arriving in the colony in 1849, bringing some £500 or £000. with them, they started a private money lending business, chiefly among farmers, the woman being apparently the active party in the transactions. She travelled the country for scores of miles on foot to save carriage fares, often sleeping under the lee of the fence in preference to entering a house. In this way the old lady, even when four score years of age, attended country land sales, and advanced money on mortgage to her fellow countrymen. This business throve so well that at the time of her decease she alleged that her fortune amounted to £70,000. Her agents are doubtful of this, but assert that it cannot amount to less than half that sum. Strange to say, in spite of all this wretchedness and miserliness, the old couple among the farmers to whom they lent money earned a most commendable character for generosity in times of distress. The lady had been known to remit one-half of the interest due, and owing to such actions she had many devoted friends among her clients. The misery and wretchedness of the surroundings of the old folks exceeded description. They had no relatives in the colony, their heirs being in Germany, one being a very high official personage. That parsimony seemed to be inherent in the family is evidenced by the fact that a few years ago, upon the death of their only daughter, she was found to have starved herself to death. The old folks were never known to purchase firewood. The woman used any wood and paper that she could pick up, and so careful was she with her fire that, she would place the sticks with such precision so that no portion of the flame would escape from under the vessel placed upon tho fire. Other such talcs of the parsimonious old couple are told, one being that they refrained from using the deep drainage for fear of being charged extra for the water. Complaints of the insanitary condition of the place from the neighborhood were frequent.