The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1904-09-17
ISLAND HERMIT LOVES CATS
Strange Old California Fisherman
Has Nothing in Common with
His Neighbors.

Old Bob Brown is the hermit of Ter
minal Island and man of moods. He
1as two moods, one Of being good-hu-
nored, while the other is the very an
tithesis You can never tell which mood
will be in the ascendant when you meet
old Bob, says the Los Angeles Herald.
For Is winters and summers Bob
Brown has led a solitary existence in a
sumble-down old shack, holding himself
aloof from the outer world. Bob came
here when this place was called Rattle
snake island, and one went out il the
morning and killed snakes very much as
gardener nowadays destroys sna1ls. In
those days you could count the houses
IN the fingers of your right hand with
out reckoning the thumb, and such con-
trivances as shipping and Wharyes were
an unknown quantity. No man owned
the water frona or the strip between
ocean and inner bay, and Bob Brown Sc
lected a choice location and settled. The
hermit has been settling ever since. 1t
has been a repetition Of Indian chief and
army officer sitting on log, the new
conner ever urging his neighbor to move
or
During the % years o9 old Bob's stay
here Terminal Island has enjoyed a Won
derfu1 growth. Shipping interests have
sprung up as if by magic, wharyes innu-
merable have been built, railroads have
come and the place has become popular
as a pleasure resort. II Bob Brown haG
been an enterprising individual he could
easily have been a rich man to-day, liy-
ing in a palatial steam yacht instead OF
a miserable old house boat that would go
to the bottom in an instant If it were not
supported on logs. But the hermit was
fond Of the flowing bowl. Bob imbibea
and refrigerated simultaneously.
When Brown was in his cups he was o
hard man to handle. It mattered little to
him who the owner Of choice steak
might be, if he conceived a desire to pos
sess that edible. He had a broad idea OF
the ownership of things and he helped
himself to what he wanted Bob was
poor and friendless, and for these acts
he invariably was sent to jail
That is what has made Bob the hermit
"grouchy." He looks upon men as his
natural enemies. He elves apart with his
pets and seems well satisfied to be left
alone
Bob's pets consist of a few pink-eyed
rabbits and a retinue of sore-eyed cats,
which follow him about in a most I'M
feline like manner. Years ago Bob had a
dog, Ponto, and they lived hermits' lives
together. They were very fond Of one
another, and when Ponto died old Bob
mourned the loss Of true friend
The sore-eyed felines come and 20.
generation is born and generation dies,
but there is always a colony of them on
hand. Bob is fond &C them and they are
certainly fond of Bob, if there is any af-
lection in cats. Bob lives on fish, and he
goes fishing TN an old shell of boot that
never possessed name When he re
turns it is no unusual sight to see his
horde of cats leap into the water and
swim out to meet him.
This old fisherman, it is believed. has
seen better times. He certainly has had
a hard lot for the past quarter OF a cen
fury. He has been driven from one place
to another as Terminal has grown. but
he won't leave the island Bob the her
nit is old now and he intends to spend
his declining sears where he has lived SO
long, seorned By man but beloved by his
cats and rabbits.