The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1878-03-28
Living With Rats.
STRANGE COMPANY AND HoRRID DEATH
OF A MISER.


OF A AIISER.
An inquest was held few days back
by the Coroner for Surrey, London, on
the death of miser of the genuine
Daniel Dancer type. This was one
George Krones, reported to be % years
of age, who, for the last seven or eight
years, had lived in common lodging
house in King street, Deptford. No
one knew, until his pockets were exam
ined after his death, what his name
was, or how he lived, but 1t was com
monty supposed that he was a dresser OF
rabbit-skins, an occupation consistent
with his personal appearance, which was
filthy and unsightly in the extreme.
He paid 80 cents Il week for the use OF
an attic where he lived without furni-
ture, and principally upon bread and
cheese. The 80 cents week he always
paid in pence, grumbling at the price
as exhorbitant, and complaining OF the
great difficulty he had in making up SO
large a sun. Friends and acquaintance
he had none. An eccentric old woman,
rumored to be his sister, used occasion
ally to call upon him; but her visits
were few and far between, and of late
had been entirely discontinued. The
only creatures admitted to his familiar
ity were the rats by which his attic was
haunted. To these animals he was
much attached; he fed them with his
own hands, gave them pet names and
had somehow succeeded in securing
their confidence. When he died there
must have been strange gossip and con-
lecture in the dirty little lodging house.
He fell down insensible in the street,
was conveyed to the intirmary, and in a
few hours breathed his last. The
cause of death was serious apoplexy,
and post-mortem examination showed
that The body was well nourished, and
that the old man, however parsimonious
he may have been in clothes and lodg-
ing, had not absolutely stinted himself
in food. The task of searching his
clothes for proofs of his identity was
far from pleasant, but it resulted in the
discovery of three dirty leather purses
| tied round with boot lace. In one of
these was $40 in gold, in another,
$3.50 and gold Napoleon, in the third
| some gold silver and bronze, amounting
in all to about $40. There were also a
number of dirty papers, including a
Bank of England sold note represent
ing 81 $50 in the consols, a check for
$54S on the Exchange Banking Com
papy, New Orleans, signed "Robb X
| Hogue," and dated Jan. %, 1922, a
promissorv note and n few stubs of
/ checks. In ali, the unfortunate old
gentleman must have been worth about
81. 100, while it is possible that in his
garrett, or in ono other strange hole or
corner, further boards may have been
discovered. We say possible, because
/ the facts admit of another explanation.
The sold note for 81 80 shows that at
ono time he had this sum in consols,
and had subsequently parted with 1t.
1t is not unlikely that year after year
he may have gone on living. or rather
existing, on the proceeds of this small
sum. He evidently was not a man of
business. or he never would have kept
by him so utterly useless document as
check On Southern bank Sc years
old. But lie vas probably suspicious
and secretive. able to read, perhaps,
Just the figures on the check and no.
thing more, and he consequently kept
il, in the vague hope that it
might represent money or money s
value, and on the chance of finding
some one sufficiently honest to interpret
its meaning to him exactly rs the lad in
rip Van Wrinkle reads to the tipsy
but tender hearted old reprobate the
fraudulent mortgage which he has been
asked to sign.