Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-02-04
PECULIAR PEOPLE.
Tbe Number of Strange and Eccentric
Characters Found I'm Every Conn
ruunffy and NefghbOrh


The Denver News, that cit takes all
kinds of people to make world, " but
very few people have any idea of the
number OF eccentrics. sometimes
enormously called cranks (often be-
cause their motives and purposes are
not UNDERSTOOD, that live in every
community.
Some years ago there lived in
Syracuse, n. Y, young gentleman
of fortune and education named
White. Mr.. White had hobby, OF
peculiar kind, which earned for him
the title of crank" and was OF great
service in his native iowa. Whites
particular mania was the extinguish-
ment Of fires, and to this end from his
own private purse he built an engine
house. procured the most improved
chemical engines, with magnificent
horses to draw them, employed a
sufficien force of men, and actually
causedt to be erected throughout the
city private telegraph alarm system,
by which an alarm could be sent to
him in the shortest possible time. He
slept in the engine house, IN fact,
lived there, aid, although there was
regularly organized fire department
IN the city, White and his volunteer
apparatus was nearly always the first
at the fires, and not only did good
service but stimulated the regular de-
partment to extra exertions, to the
great advantage of the public. Mr..
White, who was of decidedly scIen-
tific and Ingenious turn Of mind, was
the inventor of many of the devices
now used by fire departments through
out the country for quickly harness
ing horses, it being his aim to annlhl-
late time so far as possible in getting to
fire. He adhered to his hobby for
sone years, and then married an es-
Unable lady of good family, built
himself q dwelling Immediately OPP
DO tie his beloved engine house, and
placed directly over the head of his
bed an enormous alarm gong. To
this, however, his wife after q short
experience, made strenuous objections,
whereupon, with a very proper re-
spect for her wishes, he one day con-
cluded to abandon the pet hobby of
his life and donate the whole outfit,
which had cost him so nuch time and
money, to the city of his birth.
years ago an old gentleman named
Cass, who, having plenty Of means,
gratifed some idiosyncrasies which
would entitle him, In the minds of
some, to be considered crank. Mr..
Cass' peculiarities consisted in making
collections, not only of pictures,
books, and works of art, but of cloth
ing for his personal use, and he is
credited with having been the owner
of several hundred complete suits,
including hats and shoes, which were
arranged around a large dressing
room adjoining his bed room, each
suit having its own hat and pair of
shoes or boots. The clothing was
brushed every day, the shoes kept pol
ished, and everything in perfect order
for wearing, and each day he appear
ed on the streets clad in a different
salt.
There resides in Philadelphia a
young man named Moore, the son of
wealthy distiller, but who, notwith-
In his life drank drop of any kind
of liquor. Young Mr.. Moore, who is
q married man, had several hobbies or
conceits that he INDUCED as a means
of spending the very liberal allow
ance of 81, 900 month made him by
his father, which would seem to en-
title him to belong to the great array
of cranks. When he was married his
father gave him beautiful residence
in fashionable portion OF the city,
worth, perhaps $4,000. The house
was furnished in fitting style,
and from that time all Moore's iRge
nuity and the allowance made him
by his father we're devoted to altera-
tons and changes of the dwelling,
md in filling it with bric-a-brac and
curious articles. After couple of
years the interior resembled q muse
UNI, for which it would seem that all
the countries of the earth have been
ransacked. The different rooms of
tAe dwelling, some fifteen in number,
were unique in all their appointments
and contained everything of luxury
that human ingenuity could devise.
The owner was so proud of the collec-
ton, for that is the best designation
OFT, that he employed relative to
exhibit the interior to anyone curious
enough to examine it. The collection
OfSI OuS vi
cups and saucers of the finest manu-
facture, which had cost him from $50
to 800 per pair. Furniture of odd
and costly design, window shades Of
the most expensive character made of
spun glass, large number of ingeni-
Gus clocks, paintings representing a
small fortune, and Turkish divans
and smoking appliances, all of them
imported, and placed in a room ex-
pressly set apart as smoking-room,
are only small part of the curious
things gathered by this eccentric gen.
tleman. Having remodeled the inter
Tor several times, and filled the rooms
until it was almost impossible to move
around in them, his vagaries assumed
new form in the shape of a mania
for dogs. Purchasing five acres in the
suburbs of the city, he caused to be
erected extensive kennels, which are
the home of large number of finely
bred and expensive dogs of different