Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1900-07-28
RE CLUSe CT MAINE.
Unknown Why He Chose the Life of u
Hermit, Unless 1t Was Love.

Hermit, Unless II Was Love.
George s. McIntire, philosopher,
mathematician and astronomer. one CT
the most peculiar characters that New
England could produce, Diogcnes Of
the nineteenth century, died recently
mt his room Oh Green street, Bidd.e.
ford.
A hermit who had no aversion to
clViilZation and people so long as his
peculiar ideas were not infringed up.
on, Il recluse for the most part, yet
quite free to talk with those whom he
| had confidence In, this peculiar man
with books and slate under his arm
has been In and ont among the people
or Biddeford and SncO, harmless and
shonest and known and understood ly'
almost everybody for as many years
AS most Of those who are now living
can recall.
In his youth, what gave promise o
being an unusually bright mind was
warped and perverted. some say by
Sickness some by Il love ntfuir, until
his relatives and others who had an
interest In him could do nothing else
than allow him to follow his own pc
'culiar inclinations.
For years his companions had been
his books, arithmeticnl problems hay
ing chief interest for him. He was IN
adept In mathematics, algebra and
geometry. The more difficult the prob
lem the more he enjoyed it. Astrono.
my was only u secondary interest, yet
all that related to that science was II
delight to him, and his Information
was as extensive in that line as In
mathematics.
These studies We're his life. He
read the newspapers regularly and
was we'll Informed upOa current
events, but most Of the happenings
of the world with which he had been
in touch so long We're regarded by
him as wrongs and crimes.
His views were peculiar in the eX-
treme. He believed that marriage
was the greatest crime in the tata
l6gue. Though he had not lived as
long nor had all the advantages and
opportunities upon which to base his
estimate as Solomon had, he agreed
with the wise man that all was vanity
in this life
He refused to eat meat or flesh of any
kind. He believed that nature had
provided In fruit and vegetable form
all that was necessary for the sus
tenance Of humans. He maintained
that the lowest OF the animal oder
had rs good right to live rs man
kind, and that to slaughter an OK to
satisfy a carnivOrous appetite was rs
great crime as to murder human
being.
He obtained his food by the charity
Of others, his clothing was IL matter
Of the utmost Indifference to him,
and his garb was one Of rags. If not
arrayed like the lilies of the field, it
was at least true that he took no
thought Of the morrow and toiled not.
He was n great lover of nature and
when the weather permitted spent
most Of his time In the fields and
woods, never separated from his
books. He had religion which was
of his own conclusions and he had
little fellowship or respect for the
more regular forms of religion.
The hermit's age was Il subject upon |
which he was always sensitive. He
had been sick for n long time, Though
lie still kept about town.
An incident which shows sOmcthin
of the character of the man occurred
Il year or two ago, when he
had trouble with one of his great toes.
He endured it for while and then
cut the toe off himself and for weeks
carried the severed member around in
his pocket, wrapped in paper.
Take 1t all around. Mr. McIntire
was the most remarkable of all the
old characters of BiddefOrd history
and his death removes figure that
was as familiar as peculiar.
He leaves several relatives and 1t
was not their fault that he lived the
life he did. His peculiarit!es We're
such that he could not be influenced
or induced to fall into the Ordinnr
ways Of men.-Lewston (Me) Jour-
nal.