St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-03-11
THE PARK HERMIT.
A Handsome Woman and Her Handsome
Husband.
A "BLACK BRUTE" RELIC.
Tie Queer Old Man Of Golden Gate Park
His Yorkshire Pup and Flock
Of Quail.

making his home in Golden Gate Park
is not generally known. He is little,
old man, with long, white beard. iron
gray eyes and acquiline nose, and he is
generally to be seen in his shirt-sleeves.
Like Robinson Crus0e and Rip Van
Wrinkle, his dog and his gun are his
principal companions.
Of the thousands of visitors to San
FranciSco's grandeSt pleasure grounds,
very few have ever thought it worth
the while to inquire of this eccentric
character for information, and there
fore it is inferred that but few of our
city's inhabitants know anything of the
little, old mans romantic history OF the
solitary life he leads.
After the Examiners young man in
troduced himself and told his mission,
the old man gave him an askance, con-
templative survey and mechanically
quoted the reporter:
"What is my name, and what do L
know? Well, young man." he slowly
remarked, Il know by sighta the fine
turnouts this city affords, and by name
know nearly all their owners, and my
name is William d. Stott."
"And Pm English, you know he
might truthfully have added, and his
dog Bruno is shaggy, butternut York
shire terrier of human-like intelligence.
But, though he is native of merry old
England, he did, in the month of Octo-
Der, in the year '52, renOunce forever all
allegiance and fidelity to any foreign
prince, pOtentate. state or sovereignty
whatsoever, and particularly ito the
queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and
became naturallzed American citizen.
And this man is, perhaps, one of the
most Independent of San Francisco S
100000. Like DiOgenes, the hermit OF
Golden Gate Park is a philosopher, and
passed that singular mans philosophy
of living-the science of reducing to a
minimum all human wants and having
each of these few wants satisfied.
Philosopher StOtt, who, by the way,
is close observer of persons, and all
nature, in fact-both animate and in
animate-is man of many theories, one
of which is that the iron used on the
rOadbed in the park is disastrous to
horses! in travelling these driveWays
of meteOric stone and dust, the native
form of iron, the horses shoes, he
claims, creates all electric current and
st;tfens the sinews of the animals.
"Oh, yes" responded the old man"
give seen number of mischievous
and sinful sights in this park that some
folks don't know Eve seen, but it
wouldn't be safe for me to relate them.
It's business for me to close my eyes to
these things and to keep close mouth,
you know. I'm here to be relied upon,
and to great extent depend upon the
generosity of the public; ofttimes l
get only a dime for unloOsening the
reins Of a horse and giving him drink,
but ten dimes make dollar, you know.
and few dollars month are quite
enough for Bruno and ]. The expense
of fuel nowadays is no concern of
mine, since it costs me nothing. |
keep these hills and underbrush clear
of decaying wood, and this fuel is
enough for Bruno and |. do my own
cooking and make my own clothes, and
do my own mending. | have no prop
erty to annoy me, and l am too old to
pay poll tax. | go to the city about
once in three months for few gro
ceries, and as for theaters, once in five
years is often enough for me, The plays
nowadays are nothing beyond what l
saw in the olden time of my boyhood.
And SO, you see, my expenses are
merely nominal. Yes, sir: am happy
and a cOntented man, and this is more
than many of the rich see can say.
well, without giving names, l don't
mind telling you that not many weeks
ago beautiful. handsomely attired and
well connected woman of this city, who
often drives in the park, called me to
her phaetOn one fine afternoon, while |
was watering her PAGER, and asked if l
would not do her favor.
1T all depends. madam said I.
You know my husband, don't you?'
she inquired.
eyes
"'Well, want you to spot my hus-
band for me. want you to do me this
favor and will see that you shall never
regret it,
"'Madam,' said I, Il don't want a
broken head at my time of life; l don't
believe | could survive it; Pm afraid if
| should Oblige you the chances l would
never regret it would be against me. |
shall have to decline your spot bust
ness.
"Well, sir, strange as it may appear,
only few days after this conversation
with the handsome woman her husband
alighted from his coupe and came into
my cabin and, without saying she was
his wife, described this same woman
infinitely, also her turnOuts, and wanted
me to keep an eye on her and her aSSO-
ciates in the park and report to him.
y told this man as inOffensively as l
could that | was entirely satisfied with
my income-that didn't care to jeop-
ardize my position by undertaking any
outside jobs.
With becoming dignity William Stott
waters the horses of the city's aristO-
Gratis and SnObS and dudes and fast
women who drive out for an airing over
the smooth and winding bOuleyardS of
Golden Gate park.
But quenching the thirst of painting
horses is not all the labor the subject Of
this sketch has to perform. Mornings,
moons and at eventide he rings the city'S
2,000-pOund bell, which hangs in the
tower Oh the east hill in the park, and
the wOrkmen obey its changing sum-
mons and begin and end their daily toll.
Besides all this, he has another sunrise
and sunset duty to perform-the feed
ing of a legion of quail, now number
ing some 500 or 600.
These birds are the fourth generation
of descendants from a parentage that
were wooed from the low and brushy
oak-grOwths in the park by StOtt's rice
and wheat and WinsOme ways, and each
successive one of these four years has
brought these quail to feel more and
mole sat home" with the old man of the
park, and now, like the flock of quail
that came within reach of the 1sraelites
of old, the present generation of quail
that abide in our park stick closer than
brother to their white-bearded friend,
the hermit bell-ringer of Golden Gate
park.
When the reporter remarked some
thing about the cloud of quail which
one day came and lowered about an an
cient people just as they were becoming
hungry OH their march from Egypt to-
ward Canaan, and spoke of similarity
of intimacy on the part of those early
day birds and their present San Fran
cisco descendants, and then put the
question: 81 suppose you help your
a.