The sun., 1894-05-13
A HERMIT OF THE BRONX.
OBD BILLY LEE AVID his lear.
SCREENED EhIR IMONG THE ROCKS
Hts D.n Rssehss sys weed Fsth Fro- wee,
Fsrus-His Independence. siissss, and
Love OF Rottt,as saa Tobseeo.


H,s D.n Re.es.s sys weed Fsth rro- wee,
Fsrus-His Iasepsussses, siissss, sud
Love OF ssutuds sha Tobseeo.
The strong weather beaten. ill-elad neurs
OF old Billy Lee IL familiar to every man
woman. and child in West Farms. but not ons
OF them can tell N even the name he is known
By IL his own.
Ask man or boy to direct you to the old m an.
home and he will tell you to cross Samuel
street bridge; follow the road until you come
to . little footpsth, and follow that until you
come 10 the place; you can't miss IT,"
That Is true but you might easily mistsks
Old BIlly's only home for the lair Of some wild
beast The footpsth winds northesstward over
hill and hollow through one Of the most pic.
turssaue portions OF Bronx Park. IL leads to
q small ledge OF stone cropping out nom the
side OF one Of the many little mounds and hill.
locks which help make the park beautiful
Some convulsion Of nature or the persistent
action OF frost and heat have riven and broken
of great slabs Of the rock and piled them In
confused mass. which leaves q hollow big
enough for q man TO crawl into and sit and a
narrow space running crosswlse OF the hollow
and long enough for tall. but not over-par-
ticular man to stretch himself at full length
for his nights rest
The largest slab OF rock roofs over the
hollow. Two big trees. butternut on the one
side aud q chestnut on the other. are respon.
sible for the fall OF this slab to the position 1t
now occupies
Rooted In what was once merely.s cleft In the
rock, the sturdy trees grew until the now
massive roots crowded thel slab out. and
finally toppled It over on the smaller slabs
which now support It Fully half the big
butternut tree died in the struggle. but
enough Of Il still rem aims to help the chestnut
form . great leafy shade over the strange
habitation in summer.
For at least fifteen years Billy has lived the
life OF hermit In this rocky den. He 10 nova
bearded but still sturdy man OF about 55
years Of age. He uses tobacco. but refuses to
touch LIQUOR. From the woods that conceal
his den he has collected wagon loads Of broken
branches. saplinRs. and the like, and these he
leans against the ledge OF rock TO form .
frontage to his sin gular habitstion.
As the weatherrGrows colder he brings more
and more OF this wrecksge Of the woods and
leans It up in front OF his den In the effort to
keep out the cold. As the warm days Of sum
Tier. until In the heat OF Summer only a single
layer of branches remain to shield him from
STR strsnaers % who % SIander p upon @ % his abode ' 10"
the aisbo n. n: ~ .ss
age, no one was s6l. to lure him from his com.
restns place on even B. c9Ses.
nights OF the blizzard" Ia his rocky cave. and
seemed none the worse for the experience.
stranger When excited or snnoysd he NUT
ter. and grumbles to himself In . queer GLIB
two or three 0 fs%Iiss s is 10 West Fnrm. h.v.
looked after and beiriended the old man as
. he ow ". but he
any; favors from any one. He will take tobacco
4 offered. but when he wants money to supply
Mrs. Fowler. who lives on Glover street. West
Farms, an Alfred Loweth, and vile. who
West Farms. are am ons old BiIIy's best friends.
or late years the old man visits one or both
eonsonted to aecep. shelter In T'i M. EowetR's
kn. Kitchen IA on & psrtsulrry t stormy nights H
pSs' SSn Gss Sa Hi honest S' 'f /. tell.
little Of his history.
IA th. M & h1Ts'h hs has been no,s to Learn OF him
he came from Ireland and had wife once but
that his wife left him. some,imes he claims
often that no one knows what to believe about
.Biliys accent corroberates but only in .
slight degree. his story OF having come from
Ireland. while the English name Of Lee seems
He can read and % seems to @ sa,os l reading such
newsPapers as are sometimes handed him. but
Whether can w 70 the stor. e oa
two or more articles Billy forGets to bring
i P
Il Billy buys them all and always brings back
the correct change.
Charley, the village barber. outs Billy's hair
to the BARRIERS for so long time that his hair
became q tangled mat which the barber re-
fused to dull his shears in cutting 30 Mr..
Loweth concluded to turn barber for once for
was surprised to ind BilIy's hair and scalp as
clean as any one could desire.
The local police have never intsrfersd with
the harmless old fellow. but once he wandered
away to Pelham Manor. and q constable ar
ae;'sd ns him "a as v,s5.ns and Judge ins
since then no oas has been able to induce
Billy to walk In tho direction OF Pelham Manor,
The boys have been far lsss eonsidsrats OF
the old hermit than the police and several
that he faced his den with and burned him out.
Billy now carries all his possessions with him.
Usually they consist OF two or three coats. one
or two odd pair OF pantaloons, and some odds
and ends OF underwear.
All OF these things no matter how wealthy
he may happen to be In old clothes. he now
carries with him whenever he leaves home for
fear they will be burned By the boys. On tho
hottest OF days he Puts on as many suits as he
hangs coat over his head and shoulders with
the collar hitched about his forsheAd to ksspit
In position while he walks with his bundle
clasped in front OF him with both hAnds
the surplus clothing he owns. but les on tho
bare and rocky bottom OF his den Fear OF set
ting his leafy screen Ablaze keeps him from
building IRE In or about his home. and how
he has kept from freezing 70 death on The
rocky den is q source OF wonder to all who
"Hs is a simple minded old man Who will bs
found dead In his odd home some day. the
way Mr. Loweth sums p the history and pros
ma a n n Iu La