Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-06-16
GEORGE LANE.

ty years ago. lie was surely psycno- logical study of marked interest, being what is called one of natures sports" or abnormal products. On one side he was plainly an idiot and on the other he possessed some faculties and powers far beyond those of common folk, who are considered sound and wise. The facts herein recorded are of our own reservation. or related to us directly by the brother of the subject, Edwin Lane, Esq.
 Det us look at George Lane first as the idiot. He was about five feet and a half in height when standing upright, but usually stopped very much as he walked, his long arms hanging for ward. His body was long, his legs very short, so that In walking he seemed to lift and jerk himself for ward as bears are seen to do that have been trained to walk upright little. One easily imagined him & skilled ''ourang," who had just got perIna- nently upon his hind legs, needing only to touch his hands to the ground occa- sionally to steady himself a little. Phrenologically speaking he had finely developed head, large and full, save for two depressions on the back head He had a good appetite, was healthy and strong. So much for the physical man. His manners marked the idiot. His speech stranger could not understand, being a com pound of grunts and half stammered words. supplemented with uncouth gestures. While eating his meals he would eat voraciously while, head low down, then stop and grunt, lift- ing his head sideways, quickly glanc- ing up as if startled, then go on again. I saw him once standing in the horse stall, soberly and diligently chewing hay, evidently quite seriously thinking himself at home in the business.
 On a funeral occasion l attended at the house he was becomingly serious, sharply watching and initiating the mourners, apparently that he might exactly conform, shedding tears ana applying his handkerchief to his face duly with the mourners. &.
 He had a peculiar musical taste and ability. He would sit for hours with board two or three feet long. resting on his knees, and rub ribbon blocks over it in various ways, s,producing different sounds in kind of method Of his own, forming kind of crude har- nony at times. Tn this he found great enjoyment, often leaning back in his chair and grunting his delight at some strange combination of sounds. In warm weather he found an instrument of grander proportions. using the side of a long, old-fashionew barn. rubbing the pet ribbon blocks up and down as far as he could reach upon the different blocks as an organist touches the keys of his instrument. After years of this kind of perform af1ce the boards on the side of the barn were worn in many places quite thin.
 His literary education. if we may so call it. was limited to learning most of the letters of the alphabet so as to know them sing1y at sight, but he was unable to form them into words or to distinguish words so far as could be discovered. He could count as far as five or six, beyond that he became all confused in the way we understand as counting So far we see the idiot, but he was something more, in which we are constrained to class him as a genius. We need to keep clearly in mind that he could not read the sim plest sentence, that he did not under stand single printed word as we do. He could not count or mathematically calculate after our manner or under standing, yet he had decided literary tastes and wonderful mathematical powers and knowledge of some kind. He manifested great interest in books. and papers, in perusing which he spent much of his time and plainly found intense enjoyment.
 While reading he did not hold the book or paper as we do. with lines horizontal, but mith the lines running up and down. If anyone gave him a paperpaperv with page or column per pendicular. he at once shook his head and turned 1t with lines up and down before him. While perusing his pa- per he would stop occasionally, lean back in his chair and laugh, as If much amused.
 That he gathered some impression, entered into some understanding of what was in the paper. was proved in many ways. He would be greatly in- terested in some part, and carefully lay the paper aside, till his sister came to visit them at the old home. when he would eagerly go and get it, plac- ing 1t before her. pointing to some item that had interested him, would say in his peculiar, grunting jargon: Read. read" .t
 There was another peculiarly about his reading. He would begin to read when 1t was growing dark. and con- tinue till hardly anything was distin- guishable to others in the room. At first thought one would naturally SUD- pose that he could not see or really read. but was simply ape-like, imitat- ing or indulging in some kind of id- iotic amusement. .~
 One simple fact among many others destroys this supposition. He kept all the old News-Letters carefully filed away in the house aarret. hundreds of them in different piles. If by chance, IS happened number of times. an item or article was spoken of by the family in conversation as having been in some News-L Letter. say a month or year before. and the desire expressed to see it again. George would shamble away up into the old garr often in the darkest night. without light. and there in total darkness select the paper