The morning news., 1889-03-16
SOME GOLD GARDENERS.
Mfsers and Their Ways in Many
Lands and Times
From the PhfIadelphia Times.

9SSu, Lney grow IN francs ana ndpoleons
and then into hundreds and thousands.
SOW and gather my seed"
| All gold gardeners are practical exponents
| OF the doctrine so pithily expressed by Ben
| jamin Franklin: Take care of the pennies
| and the pounds will take care of themselves"
In carrying out this doctrine there has been
a striking resemblance in the lives Of noted
mlsers. Thev live in seclusion and practice
parsimony. Their aim is to live as nearly
as possible free of cost
Daniel dancer ate but one meal day; a
little baked meat and a hard-boiled dump
| ing. his rule was to buy one new shirt
every year, but his clothing consisted
mainly of haybands that we're swathed
| round his feet for boots aud round his body
| for a coat. Nathaniel Bentley became
known as "Dirty Dick" because of his per-
sonal uncleanliness, due to the miserly in
stinct. eff | wash my hands to-day" he
once said, "They will be dirty again to-
morrow" John Overs was so penurious
that be would not be at the charge of
| ire; he bought stale and musty bread and
| then laid it in the sun to make it harder;
| he never bought meat unless it was
| tainted, so that it would go further,
and even when his dog refused it he
ate it himself At last he pretended to
| be dead to save a davis provisions. but see
| ing the waste of his servants in their Joy at
| his demise he sprang to his feet and was
Drained by one of them, who thought him a
| ghost. Betty Bolaine, the most remarka-
| bic OF female misers, would eat crusts that
! she picked up in the streets when she failed
| to procure a dinner by beggary. But
| Thomas Cooke of 1slington lived better
| than any gentleman of his time at the ex-
pense of his friends, whom he allured into
supporting him by hopes of remembrance
in his will. 1t was told of st. Petersburg
miser, that when his dog died, rather than
| 40 10 ba IF bo 4
the barking he considered necessary to his
| security himself
The apparent poverty of misers has al
ways been marked characteristic of the
gold gardeners. Col. O'Dogherty. the Irish
miser, though he was the owner of large es-
| tates, lived in windowleSs hut that he en-
| tered by ladder which he pulled up after
him, and his general appearance was that
OF extreme destitutiOn. Sir Harvey ELVES,
the uncle of John Elves, M. P, never spent
| more than clio year, and his sister-in-
| law, the mother Of John, died of starvation.
Dick Jarrett kept his annual expenses down
| to 46, and the beer brewed for christening
was drunk at his funeral. John Little was
ordered wine by his physician to save his
life, but he could not make up his mind
until he died, with the uncorked
| bottle in his hand The king of
| Patterdale, who lived at the head of
Lake Ulleswater, ,snever spent more than
|
| last words were: "What fortune a man
might make if he lived TO be as old as Me-
| thuselah." Ostervald, the French banker,
died of starvation. SO, too, did the sister
| of Dancer, who was even more persistent
miser than her brother. Even John Elves
| grudgsd every penny spent for food, never
| blacked his boots and had no permanent
| home, though he owned many houses in the
neighborhood of Portman and Manchester
| squares in London. 1t was his custom to
occupy one Of his unoccupied houses until it
! was let
There have been msers who lived with
some show of magnifcence NJ. Dubois,
who fourished during the reign of Louis
XIV, was one of those splendid gold gar
| deners. His furniture was gorgeous, his
! sideboard was loaded with costly plate, six
massive candlesticks we're brought into the
| drawing room if a visitor was present and
he had many attendants But his gorgeous
| furniture was kept in rooms that were
always locked; his silver dishes borne on
and off his table had little under the COW
ers; tie Lights III his silver
candlesticks were extinguished the
moment his guests departed and
| his attendants were made to run
races in front Of his house in winter that
| they might procure warmth without the
expense of fire in the servants hall. Even
| DIRTY DicEn was in his youth a man of
his hair dressed in the highest style of fash
iOnable extravaganza, he was the beau of
| Leadenhall street. At the coronation of
| Louis XVI, to whom he was personally
! introduced, he was considered one Of the
most accomplished English gentemen at
| the French court Bentley was the miser
| of whom it was written:
Persons there are who say thou hast been seen
Some years ago with hands and face wash'd
| clean;
And wouldst thou quit this most unseemly plan?
| Thou art, It's said. very comely man,
| Of polish d language partial to the fair,
Then why not wash thy face and comb thy
matted hair;
| Clear from thy house accumulated dirt
| And paint the front and wear cleaner shirt?
| john Elves a celebrated English miser.
| became member of parliament on the
nomination of Lord Craven, but he ex-
pressly stipulated that his election should
| cost him nothing. He It in three success
sive parliaments, in all about twelve years
| but the honor failed to induce him to make
any alteration in his dress. He had only
one suit for official dinners during that en-
tire period, and the wits of the minori ty
used to say of him that the ministry had
| every reason to be satisfied with Mr.. Elves,
as he never turned mis- coat.
The money Of miserS has fou nded many
noble charities, for they were like John
Elves,
l
| Virtue and vice in firmeSt tints combin'd;
| Rough was the rock, but blended deep with ore,
| And base the mass that many diamond bore;
Meanness to grandeur. folly joined to sense,
| And avarice coupled with benevolence
John Overs who rented the city ferry
where London bridge now stands, lett his
daughter immensely rich. and she used
some # his money to found the Church of
st. Mary Overs and endow a college of
priests. 1t was to the public spirit of these
priests that London owed the first London
bridge. But Overs himself, for his usury
and extortion, had been excommuncated
and was not allowed christian burial.
Cooke, who had induced his acquaintances
to support him for so many years on the
promise that he would remember them in
his will, lied to all of them, for be be.
queathed nearly all his money TO public
charities. Even in his charitable beQuests
Cooke was tricky and uncharitable, andA5o
his servants who had been with him Tor
ma ny years he gave almost nothing. An
| acquaintance demonstrated with him, and
Cooke inserted a bequest of COS in his will
for one Of them, but he afterward struck