The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-03-01
SlLENCED BY WHIPPING, '@s {
HIS SPIRIT BROKEN.
From His Eleventh Year. Jerry Mil
Ter, Now Past Forty. Has Been Her
mitlfke In His Loneliness.

Sienced by whipping he thought he did
not deserve, ,Jerry Miller is now hermit
in lone farmhouse in the wild regions of
Ohio not far from Chillicothc.
He is now past 40 years old and no one
can remember having heard him say d
dozen connected worcs
The silence which he has preserved for
thirty years came upon MIN when ne was
boy of II at work on his fathers farm
close to the phce he now inhabits in soli-
tuGe. shrinking away from the public gaze
and refusing aways to accept even the
kindly meant offers OF aid
His father Who is still living, Is said to
have been a stern taskmastcr and a firm
believer of the old ideas OF punishment.
Jerry was accused by his father Of some
offense which the boy stoutly denied.
His father. thinking the boy guilty of the
offense. said 10 would whip both for the
original ofrens and then for not telling
the truth about II.
The boy protested and pleaded with his
father but without avail. The whipping
administered vas not a gentle one. but the
boy took it stoldly and did not even cry.
The boy went about his appointed work
in silence and seemed to be greatly de-
pressed over the humiliation that had been
put upon him
The family thought at first he was only
sulking and the father openly said so.
A sister of the boy was particularly fond
of him and tried TO comfort him. but with
little success.
YEARS PASSED IN SILENCE.
The days grew into weeks. and still the
boy maintained Tie same gloom" silence.
The father then began to grow alarmed
and tried to get the boy TO tell what was
on his mind 1t was of no avail.
The boy would no; talk under any induce
ment that was devised by the father.
NOD xtfvG n
the farm in an int eIligent manner and never
complained.
From time to time he was heard to swear
at the oxen he was driving or at the plow
he was handling.
Years passed In the same dead silence.
The father was hsartbroken at the boys
termination and tried every means IN
his power to show the son th;I he was
eager to make amends for the wrong he
had done
The boy. grown 10 a man, worked on in
silence
Doctors were called il 10 see If there
was any mental effect in nm. but they
could make no progress. as mat battling
silence stood always a bar TO all inquiries
Ten years ago nc left the parental home
and took up his aooue in the mouse ne now
occupies.
!, He lives there alone. caring for small
patch of land which provides hln with all
he needs in the way % food. with a bit to
spare for an occasional purchase among
those he has come to know.
The house is as gloomy as its occupant,
and is bare Of all tie comforts noticeable
in the houses in tie vicinity.
The man has no associates and his only
diversion seems TO ccns.st in sitting for
hours on the front steps of his old house.
looking far away and apparently thinking
He is always on the alert against intrusion
when In these moods. and tSkes to hight
on the approach of a stranger.
. His brothers ard sisters keep an eye out
for him and sac that he does not lack for
the necessaries of life ana clothes enough
to shelter him.
His father and mother try often 10 induce
him to break his long silence but all they
ever get is a shake of the head and a sor-
rowful look from their now gray-haired
and worn-looknE son.
MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN SPEECH.
1t is the impression among those VINO
have known Jerry Miller since the day his
father gave him tire thrashi1g that he
could not now speak if he would. as the
long years of AsiieEce have probably rem
dered his tongue helpless from disuse.
The negroes about the neghborhood look
upon him as ao-t of strange being, who
those he does not like, and they show great
respect for him and all that belongs toSflis
simple. pOverty-stricken home
1t Is generally accepted as fact that
jerry Miller Will never break his seif-iIn-
posed silence. and will go down to his
grave as warning to all the rugged IA
theirs Of the valley. and in that way he
will have served a mission on earth a.
heavy cost to himself
In the meantime he lives a thing apart
from his fellow-men and Lroods upon his
sorrow.