The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1897-10-19
HERMIT OF ANTRIM.
AN EDUCATED MANS SOLITARY Elk
ISTENCE IN IRISH CAVES.

One Can Tell Whence He Came-His
Food Consists Of Potatoes Only, but He
Cooks Them Before Eating.
There are portions of the north of Ire
land where nature assumes a grand and
wild aspect. On the coast of Antrim
there is no armistice in the furious bat
tie that, since the first ages of the ter
restrial globe, was engaged between the
waves and the rocks. Columns of basalt,
like gigantic sentinels, stand on guard
to resist the invasion of the ocean, and
the profound excavations made under
the granite rocks that protect this por-
ton Of the soil Of La Verte Erin prove
that the waves must have frequently
made mostyigorous onslaughts and only
retired after they had mined land
which they could not conquer.
1t is not difficult to imagine that this
majestic and desolate site should have
seduced one Of the vanquished ones in
life, one who had absolutely decided to
separate himself from the society of
man. The real hermits are becoming
more and more rare-indeed, it was be-
lieved that they had completely disap-
peared-but if a vocation for that singu-
larly abandoned profession could still
be felt by any one it might be in the
presence of the marvellous spectacle Of
that sea whose waves never subside. of
those grottos whose pillars and vaults
possess a power which the art Of the
architect can never equal Nature her
self seems to have created in those rocks
a refuge for the shipwreoked, for the
prescribed and perhaps also for those
who despise the vanities of life.
About ten years ago mysterious in
dividual made his home in the grottoes
of the coast of Antrim The approach
of any human being seemed to inspire
him with an invincible repugnance. AS
soon as the cavern which he had select
ed for his refuge was discovered by the
fishermen of the neighborhood he imme-
diately disappeared and took up his
quarters 20 or 80 kilometers farther on
in another retreat which appeared more
inaccessible. For few months his
domicile was in an old abandoned mine,
the principal gallery of which advanced
under the ground to the distance of
about five kilometers, but as the inhab-
itants Of the nearest village had long
before carried away the beams that sus-
tanned the vault to convert them into
firewood the hermit was obliged to quit
that dangerous refuge, where he was
constantly exposed to the danger of be-
ing buried alive. So he installed himself
in a grotto, the access to which was
| more easily discovered, but it was less
obscure, less humid and less liable to
cave in. There he fattered himself that
he would find at least some of the con-
ditions of existence that belonged to the
men of the caverns. But it was in vain
that he hoped to return to the life of
the first ages of prehistoric humanity.
He was obliged to pay tribute to the
exigencies of civilization and to mani
fest less repugnance for all contact with
his fellow beings.
One day he found an empty barrel
that the tempest had tossed upon the
shore, and he could not resist the temp
tation of bringing it home to serve as a
bed. Some indiscreet persons, taking
advantage of his absence to visit his
apartments, discovered that he had a
pot for cooking his food Where did
that cooking utensil come from? Was il
also piece of wreckage rolled up upon
the sand by the furious waves, or was
| it the last souvenir of civilized life car
ried away by the anchorite who, while
endeavoring to return to the conditions
of existence that belonged to prehistoric
times could not abandon the habit OF
cooking his food?
That is question which has never
been answered, and it is also impossi-
BILE to find out where he gets the pota-
toes upon which he lives. Did they come
from the discreet charity of the poor
fishermen of the neighborhood, who at
the proper time renewed his provisions,
or in separating himself from the world
| did he make arrangements for the trans
| portation of his modest provisions? That
is also a mystery which has never been
fathomed. One point, however, is GER
tain, and that is that the hermit deter
mined to live upon potatoes alone. One
/ day sailor offered him half of his din
ner. The hermit pretended to be glad to
accept the gift, but he never touched
the food. In the absence of the kind
hearted sailor he tossed it into the sea.
Apparently he also vowed that he would
never enter house and never touch a
piece of money. He kept his resolutions
Nothing could ever induce him to cross
the threshold of any one of the little
houses of the fishermen, who began to
have a sort of affection for him, and
never once was he known to beg The
only liberality that he would accept and
that he solicited from the munifcence
of strangers was a match to light the
frewood gathered for cooking his pota-
toes.
The Rev. ]. H Bernard endeavored
to lift the veil that hid the origin and
antecedents of this mysterious person
age. The man of the caverns of Antrim
endeavors in vain to live the life of a
savage. 1t has been recognized by more
than one sign that he has received a
good education. From time to time he
reads to the fishermen some passages
from the Bible, but he never comments
upon them. There is no evidence going
to prove that the man has any particu-
lar form of insanity beyond, perhaps,
the harmless one Of the love of solitude.
He is always clean and neat in appear
ance and seems to be sound and vigor-
Gus in body. He speaks with no accent,
so that it is impossible to fix the locali-
ty from which he came. He seldom
smiles, but he doesn't look sad On the
contrary, he has resigned and perfect
ly satisfied look. Who he is and why in
the world he lives such an extraordinary
life nobody can tell.-London Figaro