The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-01-26
Discovers q Lonely Dweller on
Petrol Key.
WRECKED YEARS AGO.
Lives in a Coral House With 4
Negro Wives.
Exacts a Promise That His
Secret Be Kept.

Charlotte Harbor Fla, JAN 26-Jaek
Sherbon, skipper of the fishing smack
Maud NJ, tells remarkable story OF ms
finding a hermit on one OF the PetFel
Kew islands about $50 miles southwest
of here. ,a 81 q
The smack was forced to land at
small KEY one day last week on account
of shortage of water. The island was
a beautiful one about three miles long
by two wide, with a sandy beach around
one side and a thickly wooded center
The captain and one of his men went
ashore, thinking the island was uiin-
habited They searched for an hour
without finding water, when suooeHiS
they struck a smoothly worn pain
leading into the interior. Following II
up they came to beautltu1 sprlh6
where the water gushed out of the earlh
in q strong stream 1t was surroundeo
by a stone embankment and nicely aug
out. showing the work of man.
Being curious, while the man il- Wa $50, ~,
ing the barrel, the captain walked alohS
on the path leading into the interior:
About a quarter of a mile rurtner on
he came to a barricade of fallen trees
across the path, and a SHARP apoo t9ioe
luted him, Halt, or Will shoot.
Behind the barricade stooo d tan I LilGA1'
dressed in an Outland1sh costume, n.y.
ing an old musket in threatening az
gaunt and wild looking, with an IN
faanse chest. While his voice was NOT
unkind vet his eyes were nerce anu ne
looked forbidding. The captain au-
vanced and began talking to him in a
kindly way, telling him he did not mean
any harm, and would IKE TO KIN" WIZ
lived there. .o;,,
The hermit finally allowed the captain
to climb over the rocks and go with MN
to his house. After five minutes wax
they came into little clearing IN the
midst of which was handsome mousse
in the form of a fort built out OF coraI
rock and two or three outpu1lolhSS
nearby a portion of the land was Gull
tivated, while bananas and other ITulls
and shrubs were growing in wiz lux
llriance Three or four women were
seen off to one side, but at the approach
of the captain they all rushed into the
house The hermit made the captain
sit down on the outside of the house on
the steps, refusing to allow him 10 go
into his house, and they mad ha4I
hours talk
AFTER a great many questions the her
NIT stated that he had been wrecked
on the island a good many years ago,
how many he did not know, and that
he had lived there ever since. Three or
four years after he had landed there,
another vessel had been wrecked, ana
he rescued four negro women, who were
on board, and they had worked for him
ever since.
The captain glanced into the house
and saw that it was furnished IN a
luxurious manner for that out-of-the-
way place, with rocking chairs, silk
dfvans and other fixtures of the kind.
The old hermit began to grow uneasy
at the captains inQuiSitiVeneSS, ana
finally abruptly intimated that he had
better go. The captain still expressed
a wish to look into the house, when
the hermit raised his gun in a threaten
ing way and called out in some unknown
tongue, upon which three of the negro
women ran to the door armed with old
cavalry swords, and screaming at MIN
in a most threatening way.
The captain turned and retraced his
steps. Going back, the hermit made
him promise that he would not land
there again nor tell the location of the
island, threatening to refuse to allow
him to take water for his vessel if he did
not accede to these proposals. The cap
tain was forced to do this, and, under
the gun of the old hermit, he and his
man rolled the water barrel to the shore
and it was sent to the vessel.
Captain Sherbon says the hremit was
the most picturesque individual he ever
saw, and he thinks he must have been
about rs years of age He was clad in
a picturesque costume of colored cloth,
was well armed, and beside his musket
he had two pistols in his belt.
There have been many rumOrs about a
hermit the island in this section, but
this is the first authentic story that has
corEe to hand of the man. NOtwith-
standing Captain Sherbon's discourag-
ing account of his reception, a party is
being gotten up here to leave next week
to go to the island and explore it, and
some of the older fishermen think that
some treasures may be hid away on the
island, and that the hermit is either an
old pirate or smuggler, and that he does
not wish visitors for fear of losing his
long boarded gain.