The Arizona sentinel., 1893-09-16
A QUEER FAMILY.
Five Eccentric Men Who Lead
 Very Strange Lives.
They Will Not Permit a Woman to Cross Their Threshold - Their Money Is all Deposited in a
 Strange Safe.

, Strange Safe.
 At the mouth of coal bank in Nes shamrock township, six miles iron New Castle, Pa., stands little two rOomed cabin, built mainly of logs anC plastered with mud. The roof is mad, of clapboards and the one door of tht cabin is plank that swings on pail of rude wooden hinges. Everything about the cabin has an air of antiquity says the New York Advertiser.
 The occupants are miners and theil appearance is in keeping with theil surroundings. The father, John Lewis is widower, seventythree years o1 age, little stopped by his continuous work in the mine, but still enjoying good health. There is nothing about his appearance to indicate eccentricity except his long beard, which reaches 1 below his waist. While working he keeps it tied in a knot, and on coming out of the coal bank his first attention is given to his beard, and he never ceases washing and scrubbing at it un- til it is as white as snow. For over 1 fifty odd years razor has never come upon his face and he regards his whisk- CTS as almost sacred.
 Mir. Lewis has four sons, who are no less odd in appearance than himself. They are John and Edward and George and William, two sets of twins, aged | about fifty years. None of the boys has ever shaved, and as they are almost exact counterparts it is next to impos- Cih1o fO1. auaI, int 4o AI, o family to distinguish them apart This curious family is of Welsh extraction, but the boys were all born in New Cas- tie. Their mother dying shortly after the birth of George and William, Mr. Lewis bought the coal bank in Nesshan- nook township, put up the cabin above described and removed thither.
 For one year he had housekeeper take care of the children, but since that time no woman has ever crossed the threshold of his humble home
 MT. Lewis has an aversion to their society, and when he makes his month ly visit to New Castle for supplies he buys at the stores located on the out skirts, and if perchance he sees a woman on the sidewalk he will take the middle of the street. The sons very seldom visit town, and when they do always in company with their father, to whose side they cling more closely than ten-year-old boy.
 None of the family is able to read or write and they are consequently very superstitious. They have no faith in banks and, although worth probably ten thousand dollars, hoard their money. The income from their coal bank is quickly changed into gold, to be deposited in their safe. This safe,ac- cording to neighborhood gossip, would baff1e the ingenuity of the most expert bank robber. It consists of a stout is placed at the bottom of a well twelve feet deep located underneath the cabin. The well is filled with stone and from a trap door a common gas pipe three inches in diameter leads to the box. Deposits in the safe are made by dropping the coins down the gas pipe. The men never take anything out and a coin once dropped there is supposed to be salted down for life.
 There is said to be three pounds of dynamite secreted in the well which can be touched off by a secret fuse at any time in case of an attack by rob- bers. A knowledge of this fact has doubtless kept the Lewis family free from the notorious gang that has been committing depredations in Lawrence county during the last year. The fam fly is not known to have any relatives in the country and who will get the contents of the iron box and their real estate is a matter of much speculation. They have no intimate friends, their dealings with the world being confined to selling coal, and in this connection it might be mentioned that five large dogs are used by the men in hauling the coal from the bank. These dogs are treated as members of the family, sharing the same roof and eating the same victuals. Father and sons take week about at cooking. They do their own baking and washing and three pounds of sugar, it is said, lasts them nearly a month. Every member of the family is an inveterate smoker. None of them is ever sick and they attribute their good health to the use of tobacco.