Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-08-05
FOUND IN A GAVE.
The Dreary Mountain Refuge of an On.
happy Swiss Lover.
y Tate

happy Swiss Lover.
Pittsburgh (Pa) letter.
A hermit, living in damp, dark cave
In one of the widest ravines to be found
in Allegheny County, was discovered six
weeks ago few miles beyond Mansfield.
A farmer was out one afternoon prospect
ing for natural gas territory. A forest OF
considerable extent covers one corner OF
his property, and into this he ha 1 plunged.
In about the center of the woods there is
deep hollow, at the bottom of which is a
little stream. Following this to its source,
the farmer found a narrow path leading
further up the hollow. He thought it
worth while to investigate further, and,
passing along about two hundred yard s,
he suddenly stopped at the edge of large
opening in moss-covered rocks. There, in
cave about six by eight feet in size, he
was confronted by human being, whom
the farmer designated as "wild man."
Edward Gaber was the hermit's name.
How long he had lived in the
cave before the farmer discovered him is
not known, but, judging from what he
told after his capture, and from the ap-
pearance Of his path out of the cave, it
mnst have been two or three weeks at
least. He refused to talk with the farmer,
of the property did not object to the oc-
cupancy of the cave, and so the hermit
remained there for over month longer.
1t was evident, however, that he was
sta rving to death. He did not steal anv
thing from surrounding farm houses and
never stirred further away from his rocky
den than the spring. Children heard with
fear of the "wild man. and could not be
rod TO- ,t,,~o rs
On several occasions the farmer sent or
took food to the hollow and left it at the
spring, but the hermit did not touch it,
His sole diet, he afterward said, was
berries and apples. At last he grew SO
weak and feeble that he could not evan go
to the spring for water.
The county home at Meadville is only
two miles away, and the superintendent
and two of his assistants went to the cave
on Sunday to rescue the starving man. He
was mere skeleton. The clothes fell in
tatters about his limbs and his feet were
bare. He was too weak to offer cny resist
ance to the men, and they had to almost
carry him to the poor farm.
For more than twenty four hours he re-
fused to eat any thing, but on Monday
evening he was coaxed to swallow some
After that he ate regularly. He talked
nationally enough, but beyond giving his
name as Edward Gaber, refused to tell any
thing about where he came from or what
led him to seclude himself.
81 was SO unhappy" was all he would
say.
He sometimes talked in his sleep, and
the attendants heard him say, "Switzer-
land is SO far off," and "She was too
cruel" Once he uttered the name of a
woman, and it is believed h is trouble start
ed with love affair in Switzerland. He
was very restless and wished to go back
to his cave. Anticipating an attempt to
escape, the attendants were told to watch
Gaber carefully. They did so until early
yesterday morning, when at four O'Clock
one of them lay down.
The moment he turned his head Gaber
boted out of his chair and dashed to the
window. He leaped out with a wild yell,
falling two stories, and he was so badly
injured that he died two hours later.