The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-11-10
I'VE



aebt
Anaastaslce oI the pIeferene
people foE living unde grour
aroug Is h8h short time aeQ
Southport n Iaacsshire
heus snains little way oui IL
town had always elected the curiosity
6 those residing in the neighboFhoo
because it tFas supposed to Be tenantea
and yet the wiudoWs remained boarded
up ana the building lell into prema
tare decay tof went Qt sp1 Some
people however eaehe en be aea
that 81 cid lady Lived Shere 5 fs
was seen to leave the house occasional
y and 60 into the town ta puIchfsa
the necessaries fof her existence,
statement which the tradesmen eon-
lirmeds says London Iit-Bits
at length, nothing have Been seen
of this strange tenant for some time,
the police took the matter i'll hand and
entered the house BY force, but dis
covered nothing until they reached the
cellars, although their suspicious had
previously been aroused by finding coal
and other things generally kept un-
derground in large room unstairs.
Further search proved the cellars to be
most luxuriously furnished, and in one
Of the antique arn-chaiFs sat the old
lady, dead, She must have lived by
herself deep underground for nearly
ten years, stunning the light of day
except when it was absolutely neces-
sary for her to go out.
Another peculiar case comes from
,Dorsetshire, and will be well within
the recollection of many Of the inhab-
itants Of the county. A gentleman Of
means, wishing to build a house, se-
1ected site he thought would suit his
purpose, for it was on the summit Of
the downs overlooking the sea. His
reason for choosing such a strange spot
was because he wished to be where he.
could continually hear the roar Of the
waves against the cliffs below.
Some architects were instructed "a
erect the building, but they said that
unless lit was Of extraordinary strength
it would, in all probability, come down
upon the occupants head in conse-
quence of the terrific power Of the
gales that visit that part Of the coast
during the winter. But the gentleman
determined not to be outdone, SO he
actually furnished one Of the old SNUG
glers' caves, numbers Of which are to
be found in the chalk cliffs near Lyme
.lanelar
dNel piac he Fed for Fan years.
and only abandbned t TO enter the
bonds Of matrmony
Speaking of caves reminds us that
Britain numbers among its population
some people who live entirely in un-
derground caves, They are the fisher
men who inhabit the far north coast
of Scotland, and the caves occupied
have either been carved out at some
prehistoric time by the action Of the
waves or owe their origin to the SNUG
glers of other days. This lifelong ex-
istence underground affects the cave
dwellers in a rather peculiar manner,
for it has been noticed that practically
without exception they are Of small
stature and might very faYorably be
compared to the inhabitants of Lap
land.
But men OF note have frequently
found fascination in living beneath
the earth. Saurier, whose novels are
SO popular throughout France, was one
Of these, and many Of his finest works
were written underground, or rather
under water. He was a very eccentric
man and had in his garden large lake.
One day, worried by the noise around
him, he conceived the idea of having a
study erected under the lake with a
roof Of plate glass to it. This was done
at enormous cost, and in that room
Saurier lived throughout the day.
When not busy he had only to look
through the glass and watch the fish
as they passed to and fro.
The late duke Of Portland, it will be
remembered, passed the later years. Of
his life in the underground cellars of
WeIbeclz abbey, and lived there until
his DEATH entirely cut off from the
outer world, where the sun could not
reach him. Elizabeth Browning, too,
wrote many of her finest poems in the
cellars of her house, where she was
compelled to live after her sight had
given way.