Savannah morning news., 1885-06-22
THE HERMIT OF NORWOOD.
A Rival OF the Insane Prophet o
Newport.

Newport.
HACKENsACK, N. j., June 16.-Nestling
near the woods at Norwood, In Bergen
county, is quaint hut in which dwells
hermit. He is a man of strange appear
ance, with George Francis Train" look
about his eyes. His name is Logan, but
be docs not claim any relationship with
the celebrated ''Black Jack" Of Chicago.
The hermit was recently visited by his
daughter. who resides in WestcheSteT,
Pa, about thirty miles from Philadelphia,
and who is ladylike person, well dressed
and OF pleasant manners.
In coming TO visit her father she had an
idea, it Is thought, that he had comiorta-
bic dwelling where abe could be sheltered
and enjoy the beauties OF nature. as the
place where the hut is built ia charming
one. For miles around the RamapO hills
can be seen, and here and there fair val
leys appear where babbling brooks wind
their course to the lOwlands on their way
to the Hudson. Near By is the spot where
Andres execution took place, and also the
historic house OF Tappan where the trial
occurred, now falling into decay, no one
seeming 10 think il worth while to spend
few dollars to protect the ruins from the
ravages of the seasons. Near by, also, is
the French settlement OF Neuvy, about
twenty-five miles from New York. A short
distance from the PERMITS residence are
the ruins OF the hotel which was built
some years ago with the object of enabling
tourists to realize and appreciate all the
charms described by Mr. Beecher in his
Norwood" Down in the valley waving
fields Of grain are seen and the landscape
is as fair one as the eye could rest on.
L0gan's house is a unique dwelling
place, where he is indeed ''cribOed, cab
ined and confined" 1t is very diminu-
tive, and is built of rough boards fastened
together in the rudest fashion. In the
walls are interstices through which the
wind bowls during the long winter months
as the recluse waits for spring to come
and while the time away as best he can.
The chinks also serve to 0dmit the mos
quitoes during the sultry days of summer.
One of his faVorite occupations is indulg-
ing in calculations, and his progressive
calculus is strongly worked. Tie figures
and figures for hours upon hours upon the
yield of his coming crops. During the
winter uights he almost scares passerS-by
ont their wits by shouting to them and
offering to sell them the whole of his bean
harvest.
A few days ago, when called upon, he
was engaged in a profound calculation OF
how much time he had spent in cutting
large number of poles for the growth of
Lima beans This at present is his hobby.
He shows long tables of figures giving the
number of his visits to the woods and the
number of hours consumed in obtaining
the poles, the time occupied in sinking
them in the earth, the prices he paid for
the beans, etc. There is scarcely a sub
ject in nature or art on which he cannot
talk fluenuy.
He boasts, like the hermit Sprague, of
Newport, who lived in a cart during the
winter, that he has solved the mystery of
life, and that be can get along rs happily
as DOgenes in his tub, free from trial and
care. All he insists on is that people will
not keep the sun from his Lima bean crop.
His wants, he says, are few and easily
gTatified. A great many people visit him
daily and are a good deal impressed with
the mixture of sound, shrewd sense and
arrant nonsense that characterizes his
conversation.