Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1876-04-27

these puthases, he was involved in
an affailwhich gave him no small
trouble md uneasiness. Being de-
sired blythe mistress of shop, to
whichie went to purchase an old
shirt, b mention his price, he told
her, 9. much under three shillings
as possible" A shirt was according
ly pro4ced, for which. after bargain
ing a bng time, Dancer, as he de-
clared,hgreed to give two shillings
and niepence. He gave the woman
three aillings, and waited for the
chansabut to his modification and
snrpris. she refused to give any,
positiyly asserting that he had
agreed b take the shirt at the price
she hal received RemOnstrances
were win, and to suffer such a di-
minntii of his property without en-
deayorig to obtain redress, he re-
garded as criminal. He therefore
summoed the woman to a court of
conscieIce, and to support his claim
made tso journeys to town; hut af-
ter ful hearing, the poor man was
not onl! nonsuited, but obliged to
pay the costs of the court, to the
enormoss amount Of five shillings.
To add o his vexstion, his two jour
neys hal put him to the additional
expense pf threepence more: for it
can scarcely be supposed that man
of his ag. and wealth could travel on
foot fifteen miles, and back again on
the SANE day, without the eXtraor-
dinary Indulgence of a pennyworth
of breadand cheese, and half-penny.
worth of small beer. At this time
Mr.. Dancer was in the possession OF
property to the amount of 3,000l. a
year.
Whenhis sister died, he had pair
of sheets Oh his bed, which he
would never suffer to he removed
but lay in them till they were worn
out. He would not allow his house to
be cleaned, and the room in which he
lived was nearly filed with sticks he
had collected from his neighbOrs'
hedges. He was for many years his
own cobbler, and the last pair OF
shoes he wore had become so large
and ponderous, from the frequent
soles and coverings they had received,
that they rather resembled hog
tronghs than shoes.
Such was his attention to parsi-
mony in every thing that could in the
smallest degree contribute to his ad
vanta e, that when Obliged to relieve
the wants of nature, he would rather
walk two miles than not assist IN ma
nuring his own lands. He gathered
II" '.tFzar".sshias all the bones he met
with, and rather than return home
empty handed, he would load him
self with the dung of the cattle on
the common. The bones he first
picked himself, and then broke in
pieces for his dog Bob. His con-
duct to this favorite, whom he always
called "Bob my child" affords a
striking instance of human incon-
sistency; for while he himself would
swill the pot Liquor of Lady Ten
pests kitchen, to save the expense OF
a penny, Bob was allowed a pint OF
milk daily. His affection for this
domestic, was, nevertheless, over
powered by a consideration which,
with him, carried irresistible weight.
Complaints were made to him that
Bob had worried some sheep: on this
he took the dog to a blacksmith s
shop, where he ordered all his teeth to
he broken off short, to prevent repe-
tition of the mischief, for which he
might probably have been compelled
to make compensation.
Snuff was luxury in which it is
natural to suppose that he never in
dulged; yet he always begged a
pinch from those who did. In this
manner he used in about month to
fill snuff-box, which he always car
ried in his pocket. He then ex-
changed its contents at a chandler's
shop for a farthing candle, which
was made to last till he had again
filed his box, as he never suffered
any light in his house, except when
he was going to bed. A horse which
he kept for some time was never al
lowed more than two shoes, for his
fore-feet; to shoe the hind feet being,
in his opinion, an unnecessary ex-
pense.
His wealth was productive of no
other enjoyment than the sordid and
unavailing one arising from the con-
temptation of riches which he did not
dare to enjoy; on the contrary, it
seemed to carry a curse along with
it, and to engender a variety of ca
lamities to the wretched possessor.
During the time he lived alone, after
the death Of his sister { for he never
could prevail upon himself to be at
the expense of wife J, the temptation
to rob the old miser proved irresisti-
BILE to those who lived by rapine; in
ucCQ tueTc Is SOIuC IcaoOu 6O ouppOoc,
that they contemplated the plunder
of man of his penurious disposi-
tion with but little conjunction or
remorse: his avarice, if not an ex-
cuse for, at least seemed an allevia-
ton of the crime. He was, accord
ingly robbed frequently; and, if re-
port be true--for this was subject
on which he did not choose to en-
large-to a very considerable amount
He, however, once confessed, with
tears in his eyes, to his niece, who
had seen whole and half -pecks Of
halfpence on his staircase, that call
all was gomez
On these occasions, it was Gus
tomary with the house breakers te
terrify him into q discovery of his
more valuable property; and they
are said to have actually suspended
him by the neck several times, before
they could extort confession where
it was deposited.