The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-09-06
A QUEER FAMILY.
Five Eccentric Men Who Lead
Very Strange Lives.
They VIII Not Permit . Woman Il
Cross Their Threshold - Their
Money Is all Deposited In
Strange Safe.

Strange Safe.
At the mouth of coal bank in Mes.
shamrock township, six miles from
New Castle, Pa, stands little two
roomed cabin, built mainly Of logs and
plastered with mud. The roof is made
Of clapboards and the one door of the
cabin is plank that swings on pair
of rude wooden hinges. Everything
about the cabin has an air Of antiquity,
says the New York Advertiser.
The occupants are miners and their
appearance is in keeping with their
surroundings. The father, John Lewis,
Is a widower, seventy-three years OF
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
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 1t is as white as snow. For over
fifty odd years a razor has never come
upon his face and he regards his whisk-
ers as almost sacred.
Mr.. Lewis has four sons, who are nc
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-
sible for even those intimate with the
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-
mock 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.
Mr.. 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 .
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 a ten-ycar-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, 40
cording to neighborhood gossip, would
battle the ingenuity of the most expert
bank robber. It consists of stout
iron box three feet square. This box
is placed at the bottom Of we'll twelve
feet deep located underneath the
cabin. The well is filed 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 II
supposed to be sailed down for life.
There Is said to be three pounds Of
dynamite secreted in the we'll which
can be touched off by 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
lily is not known to have any relatives
in the country and who will get tho
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, 1t 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.
Evolution OF tho Noglige Shirt.
When the neglige shirt first became
popular, says the Philadelphia Record,
1t was a flannel or silk shirt with soft
collar and no cuffs to speak Of. Its
object was to relieve man Of wearing
starched bosoms and collars and cuffs
in hot weather, when they are not only
uncomfortable but likely to wilt down