Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-10-09
THEY TOOK TO THE WOODS.
A Man and His Wife Crushed by AIisfor-
tunes Seek a Secluded Home.
Globe

tune, Seek a Secluded Home.
Boston Globe.
Queer habitatiOn?' Well, I should
say 1t was. It's rather seldom that YOU
see people who have lived within the
pale Of civilization, and especially with
in the borders of a good New England
city, taking to the woods, unless they
happen to be possessed of some insane
VagaTy.
If you should come suddenly upon the
rude abode IN which Thomas HAYES and
his wife have managed to support life,
or rather to exist, for the past six weeks,
you might infer that it was q deserted
gypsy camp, but would be as likely to
think you had been carried back a few
centuries and had discovered q habita-
ton of primitive man.
In a secluded spot, in the Great Past
ur6, so called, about mile out of the city
on the road to SWampscOtt, IS, or was, a
rustic hut. 1t was constructed Of tree
bOughs, a convenient ledge forming one
side. Nothing about its external or in
ternal appearance would indicate that it
would be desirable as a habitatiOn in
cold or inclement weather, and during
the heated term most people would pre-
fer a cosy cottage on the beach. But
those who had taken refuge under this
shady canopy were not Of the class who
escape the discOmfOrts of the city and
take their ease in seaside cottages; nor
were they Of the well-tO-dO laboring folk,
whose industry makes a paradise of a
tenement in a back street. And yet
dreams of such happiness many times no
doubt, filled the minds of Thomas Hayes
and his wife in days gone by. They
could once find pleasure in a happy
home, surrounded by children, enviOus
of none in the world, and caring for little
save their own happiness, But such days
have evidently passed for them, and
their chief anxiety now, apparently is to
solve the problem Of existence as easily
| as possible. No children gather about
their hearthstone now to fill their hearts
with gladness. A few years ago Thomas
Hayes was making a good living as a
morocco dresser, and, with his little family
occupied a tenement house on Thorn
dyke street. Two years ago his four
children were carried off by diphtheria;
matters went from bad to worse, until
this Spring he found himself hOuseless
and without employment. In their eX-
tremity he and his wife built the hut be-
fore alluded to, and took up their abode
therein. Little did they reckon or care
what people said or thought They had
passed beyond the influence of pride or
ambition to do better. For six weeks
they had been living in this manner, and
but for the fact that the minions of the
law invaded their retreat on Friday night
they might have continued thus until
fate brought them to a worse condition.
1t was rumOred that they had been com
hitting small depredations in the neigh
bOrhoOd, but no aggrieved party had
complained to the police. A small guam
tity Of oatmeal and a number of bottles
which were found told the story OF how
sumptuously they had Jared. The couple
were brought the District Court Saturday
morning on a charge of vagrancy, but as
nothing more serious was charged they
were allowed to depart on probation,
promising to find work and abandon
their present course.