Death of a Collector

Throughout most of his 53 years and various careers, Jesse Burgess Thomas of Washington, D.C., had been a compulsive collector. As a member of the Merchant Marine, an editor for a Tokyo newspaper (Japanese was among his six languages), a naval historian and a part-time cab driver, he had amassed a staggering collection of both valuables and junk--hand-tinted Japanese slides, 30 broken umbrellas, first-day issues of stamps, old cottage cheese containers, nautical charts and Oriental altar pieces. In addition, Thomas had acquired an annoying habit: not paying his rent.

His landlord gave him several warnings and then took him to court. Last week, to carry out a court-ordered eviction, a deputy U.S. marshal and a crew of twelve moved into his apartment and dragged his belongings onto the sidewalk. There, passers-by wantonly began to loot and destroy. When Thomas returned home to see his treasures scattered about, he collapsed on the sidewalk from a heart attack. In half an hour, he died. His neighbors argued over who was to blame: his landlord, for showing too little compassion; each other, for showing too much greed; or the local police, for not protecting his property. On one point all were agreed: Jesse Thomas had died of a broken heart.

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