The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1907-06-27
MILLIONAIRE nERMITS.
AmOng Them Some Misery Americans
Two Russians, and a FrenChman.

Not long ago there died in Ne,
Y. York Samuel Dunlap, an octogena
=. rian, who although he could any da
have written check for millio
and yet have remained rich, live,
= for forty years with a housekeepe
as sole attendant, on the expendi
!, tnre--arart from drink-of a work
" ing man. During al this tons per
iod he was known to purchase on,
q suit of clothes, cheap pair of gray
trousers. and two top coats. HI
|, had four straw hats in sixteen years
t and for the last of them he paid !
shilling.
i Mrs, Ealden, his housekeeper
used to cut his hair once a month
and she had instructions to save tbs
hair and put it in a mattress, "as it
Was 6 pity to waste it," and when
Mr.. Dunlap's frock coat showed
signs of wear she cut off it's tails and
converted it into a jacket. For the
last eight years Of his life this odd
man lived entirely in a back room of
his house and spent his time in
drinking whisky and champagne
his one extravaganza which he
would often consume five bottles in
a single day.
A similar eccentric was George T.
Cline, of Chicago, who left over a
million pounds sterling at his death
a short time ago. After the Worlds
Fair Mr.. Cline bought a hotel of
seventy-five rooms and lived there
alone in single room, occupying
his time in playing the violin. For
days together not glimpse of him
was seen, and then he would repair
to a cheap restaurant and eat meal
which cost him five pence, and for
which he provided the tea. He
allowed himself twelve shillings
month for food, and apart from his
beloved violin found his principal
pleasure in seeking out Irishmen
with rich brogues and buying food
and liquor for them in order to hear
them talk.
III {. thy, VI ccptI covered nut Oh
the summit of mountion in Penn
sylvania there is living today men,
Der of one of the richest families in
America, man reputed to be enor-
mously wealthy. From years end
to years end this hermit of the hills
spends his days alone; he does
his own cooking and housework,
washes his own linen in a neigboring
stream, catches his own trout, shoots
his own game, cultivates his own
vegetables, milks his own goat, and
makes his own bread. He never re-
ceives or sends a letter, never sees a
newspaper. and holds no communica-
tion with the outside world with the
exception of an occasional chat with
a young farmer who brings him
flour, eggs, and meat once a week.
Another millionaire, hermit, who
very few years ago died in Moscow,
was Mr.. G. G. Solodovniyoff, who
had made fortune variously esti-
mated at from four to ten millions
by colossal speculations on the
Bourse. So many and varied were
his investments that it was said the
handling of coupons alone gave en-
ployment to ten girls. And yet this
lord of millions, who might have ri
vailed kings in the splendor of his
palaces, lived for years in tumble
down two-story cottage, surrounded
by sordid and rotten furniture. For
weeks together he never put his head
outside his front door, and he spent
half his time in his dressing gown
When his will was opened it was
found that he had left the whole of
his stupendous fortune for philan-
thropic purposes, from building
schools for girls to providing cheap
lodgings for the working classes.
When Mr.. Paul Colassen. the fam
Gus hermit of Paris, died recently, it
was stated that for the last twenty
seven years Of his life he had lived
on a diet of eggs and
bread, supplied to him every third
day by an old servant, the only hu-
man being he ever allowed to enter
the magnificent mansion to which he
had retired on the tragic death of
his favorite nephew. During all these
years he had nursed his grief in SOL
itude, never once, so far as is known
leaving the gorgeous palace which he
had converted into a prison.
St Petersburg recently lost her
most remarkable character in the per-
son of millionaire count who, in
spite of his immense wealth, lived a
life of the most sordid poverty and
elf-denial. His figure, clothed in