MISERS’ HOARDS

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17916, 11 January 1930, Page 12 (Supplement)

MISERS’ HOARDS

The discovery of an elderly couple living in 111 thy conditions in a hut in Smith field and the finding in the dilapidated dwelling of a hoard of £125 in notes recall some strange instances of the finding of littlo-dreamt-of wealth (savs a Sydney paper). In 1927 a board of £125 in notes, stuffed into the toe of a boot was found by the police when they searched the ill-kept home of William Martin, who was found suspended from a door at Granville. Martin was a native of Norway, and his body when discovered was naked. A further £lO was discovered in his clothes. .

By far the most sensational hoarding case in Sydney, however, was that of a Jewish pawnbroker, of Sussex Street, who had more than £3OOO in sovereigns planted in the flooring of ills home. The place caught lire, and four of his children, in a desperate effort to recover their father's wealth, were burnt to death. /

Numerous misers have been also known to exist in other parts of the Commonwealth, Queensland in particular having sheltered a full share. In 1921 a case was reported from Gympie, in which £lB4 in sovereigns was found on premises formerly occupied by Fred Bracker, who died in 1914 at the age of 71 years. Some girls, who were climbing on a stone wall at the back of the house, displaced several stones, disclosing a cavity in which was found a bottle containing the gold, q’he little chamber had been carefully made and lined with tin, to make it watertight. When he was being taken to the hospital, where he died,

Some Interesting Cases in Australia. Lived in Filth, Yet Had £3OOO Sewn Into His Clothes.

.Bracker muttered something about “papers and jewels” in the wall. No papers or jewels were discovered, though the investments found were valued at £IO2B, which were handed over to the Curator of Intestate Estates, and through him to the unclaimed money fund. Fortune In Hut. A remarkable collection of coins and notes was discovered on the death of a widow, Agnes Nelson, at Bollon, South-West Queensland. She had been a hawker, but later kept a store at Bollon, and carried it on for thirty years. She was found dead in her hut one morning. The police search unearthed £1528 8s 4d, made up of £758 10s in gold, 20 notes of £lO each, 98 notes of £5 each, 27 notes of £1 each, £52 10s in silver, and 8s 4d in copper. Another £lB7 11s was realised from the sale of her effects. Then there was Margaret Real, aged 70, who, despite the fact that she was in possession of nearly £IOO, and had £36 in a bank, lived and died in dire poverty. Still another feminine miser was “Patches,” an aged female Syrian hawker, who for many years had been a familiar sight in Launceston. Tasmania. When admitted to the Hobart Infirmary in 1925 she was thought to be penniless. However, sewn up in her clothes, which were more brilliant than any patchwork quilt, were discovered over £3OOO worth of notes, and in another part of her dress'was a pass-book showing a credit of over £ISOO, which had not had interest added for 10 years.