The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-12-09
LIVES ON A PENNY A DAY,
\ Man Who Collects a Penny n Year
From Each of 300 Persons.

From Each of 300 Persons.
Indiana's queerest character, the man
who lives on a penny a year" has just
gone into winter quarters at Hecla,
Aetna township, Whitney county. and
slowed away I'm his rude old log house.
he will live as snug as a bug In rug
all on a penny a year. Hecla is but a
settlement and it does not even claim a
place on the railway and general maps.
but on the map Of Indiana it is indicated
by q small dot. just about whore Noble.
Kosciusko and Whitney counties join
Though it has no other claim to noto-
riety, it is the home Of Frank Henlig.
whose method OF gaining a livelihood Is
probably more ingenious than that prac-
tlced by any other man in the country
the home of possibly the one man in the
nation who realizes 10 a greater extent
than any other one the value that Is
coined up in the penny, which so many
have no regard for. IL Is this disregard
on the part Of the many and his very
highest regard for II that furnishes him
a home. a good living and small ac-
emulation Of money.
Mr.. Henlig is known all over Northeast
ern Indiana as the man who lives on
penny a year" This is in part truth. He
lives by the accumulation of,pennies. and
now has almost all of Northeastern In
diana under penny tribute to him. He is
known far and wide and has in. a measure
taken the place OF Mother Goose. Aladdin
and the bogy man in the nursery stories
I'm homes all through the district which he
covers. From the cradle the little ones
are told Of him and the way he comes
around once a year, and when the oceu-
pant Of the crib grows 10 a point where
instruction comes a part Of hie this queer
character Is used as a lesson In eco
Monies. The preachers use his frugal
methods and his careful work as the text
for their sermons, and the big boys and
girls who have no regard for the small
coin make him the butt Of their ridicue,
and thus he is known in every home in
his district.
He was born and raised In New York.
was surrounded by refined friends. wealth
and happiness. lie received a college
education, and, as the story should go,
no naturally fell In love with neigh
boring girl. a Miss Van Wyke. They
were engaged after the due season Of
love-making and thus the matter stood
until the civil war, when Henlig left for
the front. The lovers cOrresponded regu-
larly for three years. but in the beginning
OF the fourth their letters were lost and
correspondence was made almost i'm
possible and at last 1t was discontinued.
When tho end came he hurried back to
New York TO marry the girl Of his dreams,
when he arrieYd he found she had married
another He never called on her. but as
though In dream he got together what
little he possessed, and, dazed and with
out a definite haven, he stole out of New
York never TO return. His money gave
out ami he was al last driven TO ask for
bread To keep the inner man alive. At
last he sank to the level Of tramp and
migrated here and there with the sea-
sons. riding box cars and begging One
night twenty years ago he strolled into
Hecla and the next morning was found
seriously sick with lung trouble. due 10
exposure Mr. Happman took him to his
own home. washed and cared for him and
nursel him back to health. II was the
first kindness he had realized for years.
and though he returned to the road In a
few weeks, the kindness of these poor
HOOsier people had found a responsive
chord, and, after tramping five or six
years longer he returned TO Hecla and
the Happmans gave him the use Of an
old loghouse I'm a remote strip of WOODS.
This he converted into a comfortable and
neat home. He had plenty Of wood TO
keep him warm. but the question or food
came up.
He conceived the idea of asking every
one OF the people within easy reach OF
his log cabin for n pledge of l penny
year. The demand was so trivial that IL
provoked nothing more than jeers and
ready compliance. At first the amount
was inconsiierable. but in the interim
he had managed 10 secure a small PEN
sion. and thus he was able TO exist by
practicing frugality.
1t became such a great joke ABOUT Hen
iig living on penny year that the news
readily spread down the country roads,
and when he called around the next year
ho was informed that families further
down the road wanted 10 see him. The
curiosity in the man who hal found so
much in pennies spread rapidly and he
became a curiosity whom everyone want
ed 10 see. He had in the meantime wisely
extended his pledge TO the little ones as
well as the old people and that Is now
the secret OF his great success.
THE first stories fond mothers tell their
ofrsnrine is about the strange man who
comes once n year 10 collect pennies. and
the little ones are given a penny 10 give
~ him while the older children all look
forwarI IN his coming with pennies stored
away. He always comes around about
the same week eyery year and ia known
IN all Of them Thus by the children
nossibly more than the old folks the story
81 the strange man has been carried
yearly farther down the country roads,
and annually his rips have become longer
until now he is unable TO answer the de-
mands te go farther down The road.
From the work OF a few days In collect
ing his trivial revenue 1t has gradually
become the work Of months. AMI now It
requires about seven or eight months.
and Re could put In the entire WE'VE II
he would.
II is claimed that ne makes considerable
money out OF his penny collections now
His territory extends over parts Of all
the northeast corner OF the State. The
estimates as TO his income vary so greatly
that ha takes In as much as s. day In