Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1898-12-09
A MAN WITHOUT "A NAME
mARooNED ON A BLEAK NOVA SEQ
TiAN COAST FORTY YEARS AGO.


The blue books pub ished by the
government of the province of Nova
Sco.ia are, as q rule, pretty dry read
ing, and that called the Financial
Returns is one of the dryest of the
lot. Yet there is one line in the FL
nancial Returns behind which turks
one of the strangest mysteries, which,
after forty years, still remains a mys-
terry. The Financial Returns give
all expenditures from the office of the
provincial treasurer that is, all ex-
penditures made by the province Of
Nova Scotia. One line reads:
jerome. .......................... s10i 90
Few, if any, members OF the present
legislature know what it means. They
only know that it has been there for
many years, and therefore some one
is receiving S104 every year, but who
and what Jerome is or why he
should receive anything they do not
know. The item was there in the old
days before confederation - before
there was any Dominion of Canada
and Nova Scotia was a separate l.
ony.
One day, forty years ago, relates
the New York Sun, the people living
about the narrow strip Of rock and
land on the Nova Scotia side of the
Bay of Fundy, known as Digby Neck,
observed a ship on the horizon. Her
movements were unusual. She seemed
to be aimlessly lowering about the
same place. When darkness came
she was still there and her mission
was an object of much speculation to
the fishermen whose little cottages
were the only residences in the neigh
borhood OF that rugged shore. Next
morning the vessel was gone, but
there was a man, or piece of man,
on the beach. His legs had been cut
oil above the knee. The work had
been recently done and by a skilful
hand. The wounded stumps were
carefully bandaged. The man was
apparently about nineteen years old,
with soft, flaxen hair and blue eyes.
His white skin, delicate features and
shapely hands betokened that he was
probably we'll born and well brought
up. His underelothing was of finest
linen and his outer garments of good
material, but of cut differing from that
of any people the fishermen had ever
seen. He seemed to be suffering from
some terrible shock. Beside him on
the beach was small keg of water
and bag of ships biscuits.
He was taken to one of the cottages
and nursed and cared for He gradu-
ally recovered but was gloomy and
silent His vocal organs seemed all
right, but il the cultural sounds he
uttered were meant for words, nobody
could make out what they meant.
Pedlers who were from abroad and
seafaring men who had a smattering
of foreign tongues went to see him,
but his language, ii language it were.
was strange to them all. Perhaps
no effort was made to teach him Eng
lish or perhaps his sullen disposition
rendered him unapproachable, or the
shock to his system when his legs
were cut off dulled his mind so that
he could not learn. Certain it is that
although forty years have passed since
he was marooned in the mysterious
manner described, he has never con-
veyed to any living being by speech a
single thought.
There was not letter or PAPER Of
any kind nor marks on his clothing
to give the slightest clue to his name,
home, nation lity or history. The
people called him Jerome" because
they thought some of the sounds he
made with his voice resembled that,
but except for this he has remained
for forty years man without a name.
In time the poor people of the village
felt they could no longer bear the bur-
den of the waits maintenance, and
they applied to the authorities to re-
lieve them of him. The poor commits
sioners of Digby county did not see
why they should bear the load. He
certainly was not Digby county man.
They accordingly applied to the legis-
lature ofNova Scotia to take care of
him.
Pending investiga' ion the legisla-
ture appropriated the sum Of $l04 for
bis maintenance. Investigation failed
to discover any more than was already
known and the grant was continued
year after year.
Jerome" lives now with a respec-
table French Acadian family near a
place called Saulnierville, on the Bay
Of Fundy shore, in Digby county.
1t is on the main post road of the
province, and in bygone years pas
sengirs by coach would stop to see
and inquire about the man, but in
lime they got so accustomed to seeing
and hearing of him that they would
simply wave the hand to him as he
stood in front of the house summing
himself. He has always been very
tond of warmth, as though he had
come from a hot climate. In the sum-
ner he basks all day in the sun. In
.hilly weather he huddles behind the
kitchen stove.
He is still the silent, gloomy man
ae was when he first landed, keeping
20 himself, eating at meal hours such
'ood as is placed before him, never
attempting to read or write, and never
having given any indication VIII ther
ne can do so or not.
Various stories Of a mutiny on q
Tessel, Of stolen heir being put out
If the way, Of a nobleman whose es-
ates are in the hands of another are
lmong the versions Of the mystery
which have had credenee from time
% time, but none Of them was ever
more than mere guess.
"Jerome's" early history remains to
his day a mystery, and although he
Enjoys good health, age is now COM
ng upon him, and it is doubtful if
any solution will ever be found un-
less this account should meet the eve
Of some one who was on the vessel
from which it is believed he was
landed and he should make known
The facts concealed now for nearly
half century.
The old coach days have long since
passed; the railway which runs from
Yarmouth through the land OF Evange-
line does not go near the shore, and