The Osceola times., 1882-08-05
SINGULAR SARAH BURR.
Rigid Economy and Her Generous
Bequeaths.

Maiden Miser's Queer Ways, HeI
Rigid Economy and Her Generou,
Bequeaths.
n Y Cor Chicago Journal.
Miss Sarah Burr's will leaving s. 200
900 to various city charities, will probab
ly be broken. In Miss Burr's case, We
have an old woman, who, upon an in.
come of $400 day, bought only four
dresses in twenty years, who wore one
calico dress for five years without wash.
ing, for fear that washing might wear il
out, and who pinched herself even in
the matter of food, in order that the diff
ferent institutions she admired might be
the richer. The preliminary evidence
for the contestants has shown that Miss
Burr was misery and uncieanly to an
extraordinary degree hut the half has
not yet been told. From what | have
learned from acqusintances of Miss
Buri's, who were accustomed to visit her
from time to time on behalf of charita
BILE institution, the most interesting evi-
dence concerning her extraordinary bab,
it's is vet to come. For instance, it has
been said in court that Miss Burr was al
ways eating but the reason was not
brought out-that she cooked all her food
in one saucepan, not feeling rich enough
TO afford two. Consequently, when she
got through cooking her oatmeal for
breakfast, she ate it, and began cooking
her egg, and after that came the coffee ;
everything was cooked in turn, and, al.
though her food was simple, it took time
TO cook il all in one saucepan. Miss Burr
said that she could not afford another
saucepan, because saucepans wore out 50
quickly, and no wonder. When any one
called upon Miss Burr from any of the
institutions she was accustomed to help
during her lifetime, the door of her old
fashioned house was opened by a serv.
ant TO whom Miss Burr paid s. a month,
and whose real wages were paid by Miss
Burr's lawyer The woman had been a
number Of years with Miss Burr, and her
wages had been gradually reduced from
$40 month toss, an economical fit on
Miss Burr's part resulting in the part of
her faithful Bridget's wages, the usual
cut being abont 80 cents a month. The
house was full Of furniture Of an oldfash.
ioned pattern, and the carpets had not
been touched for thirty years, Miss Burr
fearing that shaking might ininre them
which was very probable. Upon en-
tering the parlor the visitor stumbled
aboutin almost total darkness, Miss Burr
not wishing the blinds open for fear that
the sun might fade the carpets. After
waiting a few moments, the old lady
would be heard coming up stairs from
the kitchen in her stocking feet and stop
ping al the parlor door to put on her
slippers; she never went up the stairs of
her house without taking off her slip
pers, because the stair carpets would last
longer if not trodden upon roughly. And
with all this mania for economy, she
would give hundreds of dollars 10 visit
ors from institutions without requiring a
receipt or really knowing the person TO
whom she gave. When she went out Of
doors, which was very seldom, she never
took any money with her for fear she
might loose it, and while walking along
she never took her eyes of the ground
for fear that she might fail to see the
money which some one else might have
dropped. One day that Bridget lost half
a dollar while marketing, Miss Burr took
a dollar out Of her wages in order to
teach her a lesso3, she said. Four-hiths
of Miss Burr's lie was spent in the kit
chen. When she got tired of cooking
her little messes prepared in the famous
saucepan, which was produced in court
recently, she would stretch herself on
three cane-bottomed chairs, in order to
save her bedding from wearing out. She
never Int the gas herself, and was Mortified
when the monthly asbill exceeded half
a dollar. She instructed Bridget TO buy
the cheapest food in the markets, but
Bridget was supplied with money for
housekeeping by the managers of the es-
tate, and bought the best of everything
wanted. making mp an account which
would satisfy Miss Burr, who would
make her take meat back II il cost more
than 10 cents pound.