The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-07-25
STRANGER THAN FICTION.
A Largo Fortune Tied Up IN a
handkerchief.
The Remarkable rns3kaus Renalisef by tho
Dcoth of Charfs5 Is Chicisorinu-
Qncor Methods OF q WEALTHY
Old nIiser.

Qnccr Methods OF q WEALTHY
Old Miser.
Tho death Of Charles f Chhazcrinp,
tf1e piano manufacturer, recalls one Of
the most rotnarizablc incidents on re-
cord says the Now York Recoryler.
Jaues Henry rrine, who died in De
cernhcr, 1888, IN On otto ON Blocker
street, this city, WIS known as '%Old
A1iscr PUNE" He Was tho grand
IDphew OF Robert Treat Pnine, one of
the signcrs of the declaration of indie
pezldence- lie receivcd, on reaching
his majority, large property fsom his
fathers estate ond began then to loan
ing money on the strocts ut high rates
Of interest Hc soon gained ON the
streets most unenviable nOtosSety for
his practice of loa1hng money ON stocks
and then bearing the stocks through the
columns of the newspapers on which he
vas employed as financial reporter, SD
as to keep his securities as long as
possible while vigorously Collecting his
monthly per cents.
For nearly thirty years PRIOR 30 his
death Paine was estrunged from his
family and Hvod absolutely ON charity
But he was u mine Of wealth IN musical
knowledge, possessing fund of almost
inexhaustible character. THIS trait at
tracted the attention of Mn Chiclxcrin4
and be aided PUNE in many ways.
AT that time every one supposed him to
be pennilcss, as he lived Try begging
what he ute ond what he WUre- But q
few years before his death his brother,
Robert Treat Paine, of Boston, said:
James ought to be worth two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars % his ourn
right What has become Of it~
The question puzzSod many head
after its utteronce, for tisero was no
answer given nor any csplaontinn from
the miser. james Henry Paine was
buried by the sa1nc charitable people
who donated To him his Moons of pre-
curious existence, nnd scarcely had he
been placed In his gNre when CON
test wes begun In this county on the
missing will of the deceased. The case
dragged Oh nearly yeT, whom
Attorney General Russell, who was
conducting the oosc fU the hcirs-at-
law, asked hisopponent, Gen Chamber
lain, of South Carolina, if be had any
objection 20 witness he vps about TO
call This wns Dcccnber Is, 1857 Mr.
Chamberlain replying in the negative,
counsel for the heirs called upon
Charles Chichcring, VINO was seated in
the court Mr.. Chirlrcring rose quickly
from his chair, and. lifting big bundle
that he had been carefully guarding,
walked up 10 the witness chair After
answering few questions he was
asked to ten what he had 10 say.
Quietly and without the sikyistesA sign
Of excitement he said:
AZ knew jones Henry Pefne&ur yeors
before he died I was brought into
communication with him often through
his love for music. Though had heard
that he was supposed to have some
money hidden away somewhere. real
" knew nothing about it One day
near the close Of the COS he came to
me with this bundle in his hand This
is the bundle He asked me If he could
leave it in my possession, nod told
him Svs.' told him woud psrt it In
my safe He objected to this, and asked
me if l had private safe ct home
which none of my employees epcr
opened 1 said yes again, and he said
he would Hike me to place it there
took the handle and locked IT up scorose-
ly ~e- egatn giving the matter
thought Once, years aftervarl, be
asked nee il that bundle was all right.
l said certainly and he did not allude
to it again during his llfn Aftcr tho
Old mans death rcmembcIyh the
package and took it orlt of its hiding
place tulo day to see if itcontained any
thing worth keeping. l supposed it
held nothing more than some odd musi-
cal papers Tearing open one corner
caught sight Of roll of bank bills. 1t
seemed to INC in the hasty glimpse I
caught of them that they must amount
to many thousands of dollars. I tied
the bundle ngnin quickly and took the
next train for BOSTON to sec Robert
Treat Paiue. who, thought, WIS the
nearest relative. He scid that there
were neeacr heirs0tlaw than he, end
he named the Claggetts OF that city.
March 1, il the presence OF Sumner and
Charles Claggett and my attorney, Mr..
Swift, we opened the package. Gold
and silver dollars, bank notes by the
thousands, certificates of stock and
scrip rollod upon the table The little
old green handkerchief with which the
bundle was wrapped for nearly twenty
years had closely guarded the teas-
ure, amounting to something orer four
hundred Thousand dollars. About one
hundred and forty thousAnd dollars has
become outlnwesi"
The hcirs-at-law subsequently, Oh
tanned the money, bank notes, scrip
etc. surrendered by Mr.. Chicl1er1n9
Equine Pensioners.
The Society for the Protection Of AM.
m0ls has awarded a medal to S. a.