Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-02-23
ENFORCED ADDITIONS.
A Connecticut Hermit Bathed by
the board OF Health.


Globe, there exists character rs
strange in his way rs "the leather
man. or any other of Connectieu's
freaks. Jabez Hurd is his name, and
Jabez is a hermit. He was at one time
in very comfortable rcumstancos as
Connecticut farmers go, and may be
now for all any one knows Of him or
his affairs. But Jabez does not believe
in the cardinal principle that cleanli-
ness is next to godlness Some OF his
neighbors do. however. and that is how
il came about the other day that he
was given a bath by Clinton's Board OF
Health
There's bit of romance in Jabez'
life, and that romance was what led up
to his becoming the hermit that he is.
Many years ago he met and loved a
handsome young widow. who. so say
the Clinton folks. was far and away
handsomer than any woman who had
ever lived in Clinton. He courted the
widow, and us he was good-looking
where he made the mistake of his life.
so say his friends. With married life
trouble began, for the widow with the
pretty face and the perfect form turned
out to be n perfect shrew, and she
made Jabez' life burden. He couldn't
tame her by ordinary methods. and
was averse to trying the heroic meas
ures resoriei to by Petrucho, as re-
ported by one w. Shakespeare some
years ago She ruled the roost with
an iron hand, and made her husband
understand perfectly that she was the
senior and ruling member of their mar
ital partnership.
Jabez stood this sort of thing as long
as lie could well do so. and then. find
ing life with shrew wasn't worth liv-
ing. he deserted her. He chose for his
homo the commodious barn belonging
to his brother. refusing that brothers
offer of home in his ample house.
and made the well-filled hay-mow OF
the barn his bed. For long time he
kept out of sight OF every one. and
maintained. us he has since continued
TO do. absolute reticenco about his af-
fairs. He would hold verbal commune
cation with no one. but by written
message expressed W llingncsS TO eat
of the food from his brothers table if
it WAS left IN the barn for him. Every
one in Clinton knew, Of course, why
Jabez had abandoned all the gayety of
life II that town. There WAS no secret
about that. In fact, it was talked about
SO much that the shrewish wife immed-
lately left town, and just now no one
knows just where she is.
Jabez' brother, after the life in the
hay-mow had continued for some time
objected to that sort of thing. He tried
TO induce the hermit to return to a CIV
ilzed form of life in his own house or
that of his brother. But Jabez
wouldn't listen to such appeals, and
declined absolutely and with much
vigor TO leave the barn for more COM
portable home. Finally a proposition
to build for him CABIN hut near the
barn met with his approval. and ne
agreed to occupy it. So the hut was
built and there for several winters aud
summers Hurd has lived refusing to
hold communication with any one and
apparently satisfied with the purely
animal existence he passed. His meals
were obtained from his brothers
house. The vctuals were left, how
ever, just outside the kitchen door, and
Jebez would sneak up from his hut
grab the food rs if he were stealing it,
and 1c~ak back to his cabin and de-
vow ~
That cabin wasn't the pink of neat
ness. On the contrary, it was exactly
the opposite. So much the opposite. in
fact, that it became source Of much
annoyance to the good people of Gin
ton. Finally complaints about the hut
and its equally dirty occupant were
made to the Board OF Health of the
town, and they were asked to abate the
one nuisance if possible and wash the
other. The board, after due delibera.
ton, for Jabez was powerful man,
decided to try and fumigato the hut
and give Jabez bath,
The absence from town of Jabez'
brother, who had put up with so many
years of his idiosyncrasies. gave the
Board of Health an opportunity to get
in their fine work recently. and they
availed themselves of that opportunity.
They went in a body to the pretty farm
on which the Objectionable hut was
situated. But consultation of war
was held when they got there, and it
was decided that the safest and surest
way TO capture the dirt-intronched
Jabez was TO decend upon the hut as
skirmishers. This plan was carried
out, and, as the sequel shows, was sue
cessful. The advocates of cleanli-
ness approached the hut from