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Show A MISER WORTH $50,000. t he Brooklyn Police Take Steps to Ilav Bertha May Cared For. A policeman on duty in Lafayette avenue, ave-nue, near Franklin avenue, in Brooklyn, early on Friday morning met an old woman apparently in pitiable destitution. destitu-tion. Her feet were bare, she had no covering on her head, and the single skirt she wore was fastened to her waist with a coarse piece of rope. She was trembling with cold, was emaciated and was altogether the most deplorable looking look-ing human object tho policeman had ever encountered. He was about to take her to the police I niiiLiuu tu give iier Biaeiier wxien sue lOlU him that she was looking for a Mrs. Townsend, who lived in the neighborhood. neighbor-hood. The policeman found Mrs. Town-send, Town-send, and the latter said she would take care of the woman, with whom she was well acquainted. It turned out that the woman was the owner of a fine four story brick house at 834 Bedford avenue, had a bank account of $15,000 and possessed other property, and that her entire wealth w-as estimated at between $50,000 and $60,000. Her name is Bertha May, and she has long been the solitary occupant of the big Bedford avenue house. Not even a dog, cat or bird has shared her seclusion. She ia li years old and has been a widow for nearly 50 years. Her husband, Ed- j ward May, had a wig 6tore in this city when she married him. and she has carefully care-fully watched over the fortune he left her. Mr. Townsend escorted the aged recluse re-cluse to her home yesterday morning and then went around to the Clermont Avenue police station "and called the attention at-tention of Captain Hardy to the wretched wretch-ed condition of the woman and the necessity neces-sity of providing for her. Captain Hardy sent Detective Sergeant Fitzpatrick to the house to make an investigation. Fitzpatrick secured an entrance by representing rep-resenting himself aa a building inspector and made a tour of the premises. He reported re-ported to Captain Hardy that from cellar cel-lar to roof the house was in an intoler ably filthy condition, and that there were several years' accumulation of dust on the old fashioned furniture. So miserly is the old woman that she will not even buy the food she needs and won 11 ntTo ..it not a benevolent benevo-lent family iu the neighborhood supply her daily with bread and coffee. New York Sun. j |