The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1912-11-19
FIND HALF MILLION
IN RECLUSE ROOM
MONEY AND NOTES UNEARTH'
ED BEHIND BOLTEO DOORS
OF HERMlT'S DEN.

st. Petersburg, Nov 1S-The au-
thorities of st. Petersburg are en-
gagged in distributing s500000 which
has Just been bequeathed to a num-
Der of churches and monasteries in
somewhat singular circumstances
The number of religious establish
ments that are to benefit by the
legacy is said to be as many as
200, and as the viii, is not little
complicated in form the proceedings
are likely to last some time.
The money was accumulated by
an old woman who mad all the char
acteristics of a parsonage in Dick
ems or Balzqc Nine. KOlobova was
thought to have died a pauper, and
indeed, was buried as such, but lb q
sequently it fell to the duty Of th4
police to search her rooms, as there
was talk of a fabulous hoard said
to be hidden in the kitchen. At
first the police found small trace OF
any wealth beyond quantity OF
furs of some value, irreparably CAM
aged by moths. For the rest the
rooms seemed to have served for
hnncn
for old newspapers and for piles of
rags
Fairy Tale Comes True.
On beginning TO make a clearance
however they soon discovered what
they had thought was a fairy tale
was more than true In almost ev-
cry nook and Granny they came
across packets all very tightly and
neatly bound up, some of which
contained bank notes and Others
share certificates or title deeds, while
in the piano, an old and worthless
instrument, they discovered quite a
number of rolls Of gold. In conse-
quence Of their discovery they de-
cided to question the young servan.
girl who nursed the old woman in
her last hours, and ultimately, with
the help of others who long ago had
had some acquaintance with the re-
cluse, they were able to piece to-
gether something of Her history.
Ten or twelve years ago the re-
cluse had her sister livilg with her,
and at that tine, although some
thing of a peculiar person." she
was by no means hermit-like in
her habits. Every Sunday she would
receive countless priests, beggars
and Sisters of the Poor and would
have some money to give to each.
Since the death of her sister, how
ever. her door has been closed to all
strangers, and only her servant and
her landladv ever set eyes on her.
It is said that during all this time,
and for several years before, she
made it a rule never to open the
windows. She prided herself that
she never washed and never paid
for heating purposes.
Heat from Gas Lamp.
All the heat that she required she
got from the gas lamps in her room
but in the winter she would some
times move into the kitchen (eXpell-
ing her servant, and placing her for
the time being iE her own room, de-
spite the cold), and these were the
only occasions on which she had a |
fire in the kitchen stove
As a rule she prepared her food |
herself with the aid of a lamp placed |
on the piano, and in her very last |
days she threw the unconsumed frag-
ments into the piano case. Every |
door was decorated with an assem-
blage of bolts and bars, SO that the
house was more like n prison than
iwellipg place, but as though these
precautions were not enough, the
niser had fixed up double series