The Western advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1872-1874, 1874-06-27
A Miser Millionaire.

A Miser Millionaire.
II a sh ahhy. wooden h0usoy 4wO stores
in height, standing on Eighth avenue,
half mile below Central Park, lives one
of the millionaires of New York. He
is the ohnsrof rows of brick tenements
tjMa 'Of half b. dozen brown-stone fronts,
,but be- prefers. TO he sheltered by the
humD1GSt of the roofs that are his. The
house that he inhabits is .dilapidatedssn
bears not even the pretense of decayed
goa4iity! 1ts4ades, from which the paint
has been WON by sun and storm, and its
Windows, patched with paper deity
pasted on the glass. show willful: neglect
ga the part ct the occupant. Young
folks who ride past the house on their way
to Central Fark to dream, of their future
homo pf1y Alat Il may never be their lot
to come to such shelter. They may
Weu92y:so, since the interior of the house
1s even less inviting than its outside. Ye'
none, of: them would believe, except OF,
irrefutable testimony, that the spot tb ~
desplse Is the home of one of the wealthy
men Of the great metropolis. Visitors
never ind admission to the house. A
termagant woman drives beggars, spies
and dntervienfers from the door They
can only get gfimpses OF dirty, dark
entry without carpet and of pair of
stairs that seem to 60 up into region of
uobroken cobwebs. Only those who come
on business can get sight Of the owner.
Thus it happened that few days since
Z NeApgrapher was sent to take the &C.
crpant's testimony in lawsuit.
The latter had become involved in
II ,igation, and as he was understood to
be confined to his bed the man of hero
glypics was sent to wait upon him. Ar
rived at the right number the stenog.
rapher could not believe that he was
right, and that the client lived in such a
hole. But having knocked on the panel,
1rowsy woman in worn calico dress
assured him that it was all right, and led
the way-up stairs. The visitor followed
with careful tread, and with an impress
sion that he Was wading through a
shower of dirt. The door of the front
room on the second floor admitted him
to as strange panorama as he had ever
witnessed: Upon a cheap, stained bed
sssss9aayA man Of about sixty years.
his halr-and long beard were gray al
most to Whitencss, and his frame was
staiwart. His was not bad face, but
rather patriarchal-set off like the Patri-
arch Casby's by his abundant locks. The
man was bcd-riddcn. All his wealth
could not find for him the power to bid
him arise and walk. But as if this were
not enough, it was evident that he denied
himself everything except the mere ne.
cess1ties OF existence. Tie only pleasure
left was to gloat over his possessions and
remember that lie was able to buv IN
hundreds of those who lived in apparent
wealth and dressed luxuriously. This
pleasure seems to outlast all others, The
surroundings of the man were curious,
The bed was covered with cheap
spread, and a fragmentary carpet
strove to stretch itself over The
floor. At the foot of the bed
was a row of pigeon holes and board
that closed up against them. When it
was necessary to refer to any of the pa-
pers in this receptacle the bed ridden
millionaire raised himself up to sitting
position y. pulling on O, rope fastened to
the bedp6st: .Thea he let down the board
upon his knees and reached out for the
papers. When he needed to make calcu-
latlons he took piece of chalk out of a
Pl6eon-hole, scratched away upon the
board and rubbed the figures off when
ne had finished. Pencil and paper were
Injuries altogether too expensive for or
binary use. Board and chalk were cheap.
The room was curiosity shop on an ex-
tensive scale. Two or three chairs. a
table and a piece of white muslin nailed
to the upper half of the windows were
us whole furniture. But i, had a multi
tude OF decorations. Unaer the bed and
IN the corners were baskets of .crockery.
kitchen utensils, mantel ornaments, bun
dles OF clothing and other matters that
nad evidently been taken in pledge from
tenants who had no money to paw rent.
IN the table was select assortment of
clocks' stuffed birds, vanished fish, shells
ana knickknacks that no doubt had been
nlghly priced by their owners. Every
thlng evidently was fish that had COME
into this landlords net The visitor took
MS seat and began to take the testimony.
put 1t was more difficult job than
ne had imagined. The old man
protested against his taking down
every word that he said. It
was robbery to charge fifty cents A
page" Tor what he said. He'd tell him
what to put down. The stenographcr
quietly remarked that he knew his bust
ness: very WE'LL" said the sharp mill.
ionalre, III talk to this woman. and
then you can't write it," He was an.
swered that the operation was quite a.
easy in one case as in the other, and
nnally the work proceeded amid many
expostulations and great deal of pro-
testatlon against the robbery. During
inc session workingman came in to con,
suit the "boss." Having received his
directions, and being admonished not to
waste his time, his employer remarked
Some day when you have nothing else
10 40 Tor half an hour-mind, | saw. when
you nave nothing else to dol want YOU
10 go to ith$t house of mine on. Blank
street. In the back yard, under some
picks In the upper corner dig down q
loot and you will come to some lead nine
mats buried there. Dig it up and sell it
and bring the money to me. know
" nat. lt's worth; it will bring dollar and
half. mind, though, and do it when
you've nothing else to do" The visitor
nnlshed, folded up his papers, and left
AMID chorus of growls about "rob.
pery.", The last view of the old man re-.
:eaieo MN leaning over his board figur-
ing away at his sums in chalk. draw
mars ,r have not taught him wisdom. and the
mlllions ne has amassed have onlv
brought him a miser's miseries
York Graphic. A'''0
insanity Under the Microscope.