The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-05-14
ELECTED BY THE BOSTON BOARD OF
HEALTH.
The life and Savings of filthy old MANA
former resident of Londonderry.
From the Boston Herald, May sth,

Historic Charter street yesterday lost
one of its best known residents. The in
dividual in question is not dead. To the
contrary, he was SO very mch "alive'
and his abode likewise was SO very much
"alive, that the loss TO old Charter street
became necessity from a sanitary point
of view. While every living soul on
Charter street knew old man Cole, he
was not a social lion among the residents
In fact not more than six people had a
speaking acquaintance with him. No
body was in the position to tell, first
hand, a strait story of the old fellows
"home" life. Perhaps for this reason
he was the better known. All the facts
that could be got at came from people
who had formed keyhole acquaintance
with his 'home," and even the hleagre
testimony gathered in this way showed
that that term, as applied to his den,
was at best pleasant delusion. Beside
the testimony was gathered a long time
ago, for many years since the dust SO
begrimed the lock that there wasn't e..
nough of a hole left for an eye te pen
citrate the mystery beyond. But the mea-
gre stories improved with time, and the
man became the subject of greater inter-
terest as it sped along. For 20 years bnt
one human being beside the occupant en-
tered the strange dwelling of the strange
recluse. He was the refuses only
friend, and he never told the curious
public enough about what he saw to
satisfy the outside craving on single
point. This so unkind and eXasperating
that the neighbors gave vent at times to
righteous Indignation. For Al years
the old man lived alone with his filth
in the loft, whic h yesterday he so sud-
denly vacated. 1t is at the corner of
Lime alley. The windows, were it not
for the long accumulations of dust upon
their panes, would give an unobstruct-
ed view of Copp's Hill cemetery. The
pleasantly situated room which these
windows once lighted was the parlor,
dining room and chamber of the recluse.
A similar room in the rear was his store
room. The occupant is known as
THE HERMIT Cole"
The hermit Cole is a frugal old soul,
and his storeroom gave out wonderful
proofs of the fact yesterday afternoon.
When he lived up in Londonderry, Vt,
half century ago, he was known as
David j. Cole. His father was cobler
and made the leather that came out of
BuXton's tannery into shoes for the vii
lage people. David learned how to make
shoes, too, but he didn't like London
derry and a cobbling life, so he came
to Boston when Is years old. He used
to be serving man in Beacon street
mansions, and took care of the residen-
ces when the owners were summering
elsewhere. He became woman hater,
and, as he grew older, he besame miser-
ly. He hired lodgings at the place which
he left yesterday, and degenerated into
a buck sawyer and coal HEAVIER. He read
stories about noted misers, and the mi.
ser became his ideal. He lived so within
himself that he observed that he arous-
ed peoples curiosity, and made them
indulgent. He liked it. He poked about
the streets and fished east-off articles of
all description ont of the cutters and
unfrequented byways of the city. He
lived on few cente day, and the de-
sire to save grew so strong tibet he drag
ed home everything that seemed to have
the slightest intrinsic value. He got a
little stove, picked up fuel enough TO
run it, bought the CHEAPEST food in the
smallest possible quantities, did his own
housekeeping" and gradually devel-
oped into "hermit.,, For over a quar-
ter of century he never made the &C
quaintance of piece of soap, and time
long since became to precious to waste
in washing. He gathered old newspa-
pers. wrapping paper, incapacitated UNI
brellas, canes, pieces of common wire,
cast-off clothing, empty barrels, pieces
of iroe, old bones, battered tinware,
fractured pots, and bushels of such
miscellany as is to be found only at the
city "dump." The empty barrels were
filled, shelves were filled, every hole
and corner was filled, and in order to
make more storage room, "the hermit
Cole" covered his storeroo with net.
work of ropes, and hung the ropes as
full ar they could hold of his curious
collectihns. There was nothing one
could think of that wasn't in that room
As wood sawyer, the old man had
never thrown away a saw blade or 6
wood budk. The bucks were rheumatic
and confident stand, and the saw blades
were worn down to almost nothing il
the middle. Some had been actually
worn in two, but the ends were careful
ly saved and stored away. As coal
HEAVIER the old man had never cast of
a worn out basket, and there were doz
ems Of the remains Of the old things
patched up with canvas and rope yarns
In the storeroom there were at least
Two DOZEN OLD HATS,
fur, cloth, silk and straw. Then ther,
were boxes and trunks and old stove
) all filed with dust and "valuables." Ii
the front room there was a mattress, Sc
worn with age and service that whel
handled it fell in pieces. The pillow