Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1873-02-05
The Story Of 0 Singular Character

n, dr;vo With some friends over
pomfret Hills CT, tho other day, we
called on a si.gilar cbaracter--a man
who is 80 vars old, who is deaf, dumb
and hind Whether ho would have
hoen dnab or not had he been blessed
With ,lc sense of hearing, IL IS impos-
sibl. @ q tell, but hisglimmeringsof in.
t,llc.t ure evidently rather feeble =
M Tho man is wpd developed physically;
/. Of ordinary hight has n stout thick
neck and looks strong and robust /;
has n.scr eaten anything but milk /;
bns never tasted water nor particle
of food but milk, Thirty years on
dear milk and muscular system to
correspond Can we sny now that
milk Is for babies and calves, and not
br strong men. This man had full
set of strong double teeth clear round,
and every one of them had to be pulled
out, us he tore his clothes TO pieces
with them. As he didn't use them to
chew milk with, he probably thought
he must make some use of Them, us
they were evidently made for some.
thing, and his clothes furnished excel
lent material on which to exercise
them.
Another popularity Of this strange
being is that through all his life long
he has chewed razor rather, !
should say, has gummed il since his
strong teeth were taken from him. -
From infancy his mother has had to
place rag in his mouth us soon as he
had taken bis food: She said he gave
her no peace till she put il back. He
distinguished strangers from the neigh
bors and those who had visited him
before. ! took hold OF his hand and
he took it in both of his and seemed
to be considering; then he passed his
hand up the length of my arm, and
patted his head and chest and made u
singular gutteral noise. His mother
said that was his way of expressing
joy-of showing that he was pleased.
His principal enjoyment seems to con.
sist 10 having his mother get through
with her work and sit down by his
side. lie has swing in the room, in
which he spends good part OF the
time swinging. Sometimes when his
mother steps out, he will lock the
door so that she cant get back again
which shows that he has some wit
about him, or trickery at least. He
is always very wakeful at night and
rouses bis mother out OF bed many
times in the night. She says he has
lived TINS without good nights rest
for 80 years, with the exception of
Saturday and Sunday nights.
Every Saturday night he calms
down like lamb, and keeps that
night and all day Sunday after in the
strict letter of the old "bluo laws" OF
Connecticut. His mother attributes
this hebdomadal to tho fact that she
changes his clothes on Saturday night.
But il is probably owing TO the mere
fact Of change from the ordinary rou.
tine. This slight ripple of change is a
change TO him, and the rest sort of
weekly landmark in the dreary, mono
tonous blank Of his life. Perhaps
through the cloud and mist of his
vacant mind he welcomes this slight
ripple, and thus in bis poor way com
putes the flight of time. What mean
eth il to such mind as this? To
wake and sleep, TO draw the breath,
TO take pint of milk. The sun goes
round, the seasons change, but naught
of this knows he. Nations arise and
nations fall-'tis the same to him.
One dreary round, forever blank-wi'l
death improve his state! T! The bird
that flies, the fish that swims, has bet.
ter life than this.