Evening star., 1900-08-18
PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDERGROUND
Some Curious Whims Narrated of Ec-
centric Folk.

From Tt-Bits
An instance of the preference of some
people for living underground was brought
to light a short time ago near Southport
In Lancashire. A large house standing a
little way out Of the town had always
ELECTED the curiosity of those residing in
the neighborhood because 1t was supposed
to be tenanted. and yet the windows re-
mained boarded up and the building fell
into premature decay for want of repair
Some people, however vouched for the fact
that an old lady lived there, for she was
seen to leave the house occasionally and
go into the town to purchase the neces-
saries for her existence, a statement which
the tradesinen confirmed.
AT, length, nothing having been seen of
this strange tenant for some time, the DO
lice took the matter in hand and entered
the house by force, but discovered nothing
until they reached the cellars, although
their suspicious had previously been arous-
ed by finding coal and other things general
ly kept. underground in large room up-
stairs. Further search proved the cellars
to be most !uxuriously furnished and in one
OF the antique carved armchairS sat the
old lady, dead. She must have lived by her
self deep underground for nearly ten years,
stunning the light of day except when 1t
was absolutely necessary for her to go out
Another peculiar case comes from Dor
setshire. and will be we'll within the recol-,
lection of many of the inha abitants of the
county. A gentleman of means, wishing TO
I build a house. selected a site he thought
would suit his purpose. for 1t was 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 to erect
the building, but they said that unless it
was of extraordinary strength 1t would In
all probability, come down bpon the occu-
pants head in consequence of the terrific
power of the gales that visit that part of
the coast during the winter But the gem
tleman 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 Regis.
In this strange and lonely dwelling place
he lived for seven years. and only abandon
ed it to enter the bonds of matrimony.
Speaking of caves reminds us that Brit
ain numbers among its population some peo-
pie who live entirely in underground caves.
They are the fishermen 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 owe their origin to the smugglers
of other days. This lifelong existence
underground affects the cave dwellers
been noticed that practically without eX-
ception they are Of small stature and might
very favorably be compared to the inhab-
itants of Lap,and.
But men of note have frequently found
a 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 un-
derground, or rather under water. He was
a very eccentric man and had in his gar
den large lake. One day, worried by the
noise around him, he conceived the idea of
having study erected under the lake
with roof of plate glass to IT. This
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, II will be re-
membered, passed the later years of his
life in the underground cellars of Welbeck
Abbey, and lived there until his death, en-
tirely cut off from the outer world. where
the sun could nto 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.