Rats That Stole £2OO.

Waikato Times, Volume 106, Issue 17886, 5 December 1929, Page 15

Rats That Stole £2OO.

Wealthy Misers With No Trust in Banks.

Wealthy Misers With No Trust in Banks. In some timid souls the gleaming portals of a bank do not inspire confidence. “It is surprising how many such people there are, but more surprising still are the curious places in which miserly folk conceal their hoards,’’ said an authority to a “Star” representative. “Usually these are not discovered until after the death of the miser.’’ Some weeks ago three diamond rings were dug up in a London garden, where they had been placed for safety, but often very 'large sums are hidden in some entirely unsuspected place. In a house in one of the poorest quarters of Manchester, notes, sovereigns and silver totalling £2,500 were discovered in old newspapers lying on a bed. Stranger still was the result of a search in the house of a Leeds physician who died suddenly. His Secret Hoard. Assisted by a locksmith who opened bolted doors and padlocked chests, friends of the family delved deep among the accumulated dust of years. In an attic Government bonds worth £20,000 were found, while in a sideboard were bearer bonds to the value of £IO,OOO. The doctor was not known to be so wealthy, and his eccentric dress —an old cloth cap, shabby suit, and well-worn shoes—attracted attention wherever he went. An old man in Bethnal Green used to live on a daily meal of an egg and a little milk. He would pick up used matches and sscro them. Yet at his death a shabby safe, buried among ragged clothes in his one room, disclosed a largo sum of money.

Tn tho cottage of an old-age pensione: who died in a workhouse infirmary £1,30( in notes and securities was' found hidder in cocoa tins and canisters. The man saved his used tins, filled them with money and hid them about the cottage. An amazing story of a widow’s hoard came from Belfast. This old lady had saved up £2OO in notes and hidden them in the thatched roof of her cottage. The money was to be a present to her son on attaining his majority. At last the great day arrived, and the widow went to the hiding-place. To her horror she found that rats had eaten the notes and left nothing but shreds. That was a calamity, but there was a remarkable sequel. About a month later neighbours discovered a rat’s nest lined with pound notes, and the over-joyed ■widow recovered a considerable portion oi her savings. In a dirty houso in a poor district of Bristol, crumpled and stained notes were found hidden in boxes, among old bags of dressmaking cuttings, rags, and other rubbish. Tea caddies, bottles, cupboards, and old' purses also yielded treasure, and nearly £6OO was found. “Rather a warlike person," was the coroner’s comment on an old recluse of seventy-nine who was found dead at Lambeth. A hoard of over £3OO was found, together with three revolvers, seventy rounds of revolver ammunition, a shot-gun, and nine rounds of rifle ammunition.