The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-12-02
A NEW YORK HERMIT.
Thomas williams, the Strange Man Who
Lives In a Hole on the Bank Of
the Niagara River.


n grease-spot Of relative on earth; am
81 years old, and have seen more mis-
ery, want, sickness and suffering than
any man living. l have been an out
cast for nine years. During that time
| have walked five thousand miles in
search of peace. went from Prescott,
Canada, to Ogdensburgh, thence to
Utica, New York, Camden, Philadel-
phia, Erie, Pa, down to New Orleans,
from there to Pensacola, Fla, and back
to New York. have lived all summer
in a sandhill at Point Albino, and am
now building this house to live in this
winter" With these words the most
singular man within the radius of hun
drcds of miles of Buffalo began con-
versation the other day with a stranger
who found him at work. He stood on
the bank of the Niagara river, about
quarter of mile below the Canadian
terminus of the international bridge
There, close to the waters edge, and
not foot above high water mark, he
has dug hole in the ground about six
feet square. He is building a hut of
pieces of fence boards and driftwood, to
be afterward covered with sand and
earth. His tools are potato hook, an
old hammer, piece of bucksaw blade
stuck in handle, and broken shovel.
He was dressed yesterday in pair of
patched and ragged overalls, held up
by single suspender made of cloth,
over q shabby coat buttoned into the
overal!s like shirt His hair and
beard were long, gray, and matted
thickly. He wore an old, battered
straw hat, and was barefooted. All
the possessions he had apparently were
a few apples, two empty, blackened to-
mato cans, some pieces of carpet, a pair
of old pantaloons, ragged coat, two
p irs of unwashed stockings, two pairs
of shoes, and box made of a piece of
stove pipe. His clothes were fastened
together with wooden pegs, and all about
him seemed the result of an ingenious
study of vagrancy The charred re-
mains of stump lay upon pile of
earth thrown up from the hole. At his
feet huddled bony, sneaking dog,
whose long gray hair was full of thistle
burrs, and resembled its master in its
yellowish hue of dirt
Yet the man was neither crazy, fool
ish, nor very much depressed by his
condition. He rather gloried in his
poverty. The bent of his converse ion
was to gain the sympathy--and the cop
pers-of his callers. Near the hut
passes the main roadway, over which
the farming neighborhood of Fort Erie
pass TO and fro.
II have not used soap in four years"
he said, looking at his soiled hands.
There is potash in all soap, which, if
taken, is deadly poison. got some
into my system once when silver bur-
nisher, and it nearly killed me. | was
mass of boils, was paralyzed, and lost
my hair. 1t was then that made the
discovery that cured mel went and
lived in the ground. All Diseases"
said he dropping the saw and using his
hands to make gestures, "come out of
the earth, either through rich food or
drink--as our subsistence comes from
the earth. | dug a hole in the ground
like this and lived in it, sleeping in the
sand. | tell you could feel the dis
ease leaving me like fever when it
cools. / am now as sound as q man
can be. ! am nimble, can dance, and
do dance, can run and have walked
thousands of miles. am never sick. |
shall live a good many years yet, and |
want {"
"What do you do to pass away the
timer" was asked.
81 study myself. know myself, my
weaknesses, and my sins. | have got
rid of the tobacco and rum habits en-
tirely. cook my own food and | know
how to do it. do not like to beg, but
do when | cannot pick up a living. |
do not read much. All | know of let
tiers is what have picked up from
scraps of paper and from hearing men
talk have composed few songs,
words and music OF course | cannot
write them, but sing for my friends
and play the bones or whistle"
care you not afraid of freezing herep
In the winter the ice will pile up all
over your hut"
mo. ! guess not. As for the cold,
can stand that. Cold weather is
healthy. have slept ont here since
Monday. and we have had frost nearly
every night. Iput on t o pairs Of
stockings, the other pantaloons, and lie
down in the hole under the carpets. !
shall have stove in here as soon as l
get the house built
There will not be room, will THEREBY
ooh, yes, build a stove of my own
invention by turning a kettle upside
down and connecting 1t with draft
and mud chimney. | build the fire
under the kettle Here is box have
used as cooking pan. made it out
of short piece Of stove-pipe, and fas-
tened sheet-iron bottom on it by
pounding the edge over with sticks.
Strange to say it will hold water |
use II now as a treasure box, and keep
thread, knickknacks and song book
In it. / like minstrel songs. No,
think shall have no trouble here on
account of the cold weather. wish
had a bible and some books to read.
don't 90 much on the bibe--think it Is
like cranb rry sauce on turkey. twill
not make a square meal OF itself. Still
don know about It,"
Ing this wayp"
"Well, my father was an lrishmar