FORTUNE UNEARTHED.

Putaruru Press, Volume V, Issue 175, 10 March 1927, Page 3

FORTUNE UNEARTHED.

WEALTH HIDDEN IN FLAT. “ Man With Many Pennies.” Concealed in a one-room workingclass flat in London, an unsuspected fortune in shares lias been brought to light. The discovery was made through the | death of Mr .Stephen John Harris, aged 175, who had lived alone for 14 years was found dead in his bed. At the inquest it was stated by the .coroner that Mr Harris had left ‘'shares worth thousands of pounds and a bank balance of £2SQ. ’’ A story of a life of quiet beauty and unfailing generosity is revealed by Mr Harris 1 death. By his sympathy and kindness he had made himself a beloved figure in the neighbourhood. A lover of Dickens, he might have stepped out of the pages of that great novelist. He always dressed immaculately in up-to-date fashion, and, although he was very reticent about his private affairs, he had a well-balanced opinion to offer on any topic of the day which might be raised by his neighbours. He was a great reader, and when the police entered his rooms they found the walls piled high with books of every description, from the complete works of the Victorian novelists to the latest standard'books on Socialism aud sociology* Mr Harris was an authority on astronomy, and many a time on clear evenings he eould be seen pointing out some constellation to a child he had met in the'Street, and trying to impress on its youthful mind some conception of the splendour of the heavens. By the children he was known as “the old gentleman with lots of pennies”; indeed, his store of them seemed inexhaustible. Every day when he went out for his walk to the Elephant and Castle and back his pockets bulged with pennies, and every day he came back with them empty. On other occasions he -would produce sweets and fruit from the same capacious pockets and distribute them to the children, for whom he came to be one of the joys of life. To those in temporary difficulty he was never known to refuse help on a most generous scale. “It will be many years before Mr Harris is forgotten,’’ said a neighbour. “When we are dead I believe our children will remember him. Old Mr Harris lived in a flat nearly opposite mine, lie was a very kindly gentleman, but nobody thought he had a lot of money. He lived very, very plainly, did his own cooking, and mended his boots when they heeded it. A man of his own age was the only visitor I ever remember coming to the flat. He told me they had worked together in the drapery trade. Once or twice I heard him say he had relatives in Manchester and Leeds, and a niece who went to Canada in 1888. He left no will.’* The property has been handed over to the Solicitor for the Treasury pending further instructions.