The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-03-10
HERMrTs OF THE PACIFIC.
Men Who Live Alone ON Barren,
Wind-Swept Islands.
Prom the New York Sun


Prom the New York sun
Wind swept, a mass OF sand shifted at
every whim of the wind, the home of the
wind gods OF the Pacific. san Nicolas Is
land would not be considered attractive as
a place of residence, yet as our yacht
rounded 20 off spit of sand that reached
out into the sea smag shanty could be
seen on the rocky shore and near by
man and twod ogs. The island appeared 70
De about ten niles long. perfectly fiat on
top, rising to a hight of 200 or more feet
in places and cut and scared by the wind
in marvelous fashion.
After many attempts TO land we sue
Ceedod, almost at The risk Of our lives hop
ing to see the sole inhabitant of the dreary
spot But he had disappeared and We
made our way TO his shanty-a single
roomed affair under the lee of the hills
! near the beach. on the door was the sa-
tirical notice: No trespassers allowed on
this island"
Desolation could not better be illustrate
ed than by this island about sixty miles
off Los Angeles county, Southern Califor-
MIA; yet there lived man who delighted
in his surroundings. He finally came along
the beach, appearing mysterious
iy. lie was Frenchman,
small of stature, with a ma
! hogany-colored skin, deep-set eyes and
kindly expression. on this head was O
great sombrero-lke hat, tied by a string
beneath his chin. On his shoulder he car
red an old-fashioned shotgun and a can
teen of water a cane or staff completing
| his outfit. Two shepherd dogs which fol-
lowed at mis- heels were his sole compan-
ions. He was very reticeht, and refused the
papers offered him ana had no desire to
| hear of the world. We told him of the
ending of the war with Spain, but he did
not know there had been a war. He had
! turned his back on the world longt ago:
had two faithful friends-hs dogs-and
was not dependent upon Anyone. When
| asked why he did not collect che Indian
implements so common on the island he
expressed feeling of disgust and fear,
Eliminating that the terrible winds with
| which the place was accursed were due to
! the robping of the graves as he put It,
| He complained of nothing but the winds
which sometimes drove him out of his
house at night and forced him to take
| refuge among the rocks along shore That
night we had evidence of this, as the wind
rose and blew hurricane from the island.
in clear sky, finally blowing the yacht
away into calmer seas.
Sixty or more miles to the south is the
|. Island of San Clemente, about twenty-five
miles in length, where lived an Irishman
up to the present year. His name was Gal
lagher, Gallagher of San Clemente, aud he.
too was at war with all the world, though
it is but fair to say that once a year he
left his island home and repaired to Los
Angeles, where he diligently spent his
money, then returned to live alone for an
! other year. Gallagher preferred his own
socieiyland that of his sheep and dog. He
never was afraid of their overreaching
him, he once said. He lived on San
Clemente, fifty miles off the coast, for
twenty years, and was finally stricken
with paralysis, being found by some fish
ermen sitting i'm his chair looking out over
the sea and unable to move. They took
him to Los Angeles where he died.
At Santa Catalina Island thirty miles
from land there are several men who pre-
| fer solitude TO the world, and have turned
their backs upon civilization for reasons
best known to themselves. One of the
most isolated places Of this group is San
Miguel, small island opposite Santa Bar
bara. Here a man lives alone. Two years
! ago the island was shaken by an earth
quake. The cliffs fell in, the harbor
changed, and a small vessel was wrecked
Twenty miles south of this is an island
known as Anacapa, the eyer-changing 1t
is about mile long, very narrow, with a
small sloping MESA upon which all the
pelcans of the Pacific slope seem to nave
settled. There is no water here, so it is
said, except what Is caught in winter.
and the few sheep upon II obtain what
they get by licking the dew from each
others wool. On this desolate sea aten
spot lived a man for many years, content
ed to be left alone, resenting any intru-
sion
These strange characters are found an
along the coast. The writer once found
man living contentedly on a rock off the
Maine coast. completely out of the world;
and on small key in the Gulf of Mexico.
hardly three feet above hfgh-water mark.
lived two men years ago from choice,
men who had dropped out Of the world,
changed their names, and were dead to the
past. Rarely are such men criminals. Oft
ener they are individuals, who have had
some experience that has turned them
from their fellow men