The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-01-20
.LITCHFIELD'S LOVE LORN, LONESOME
 AND AGED HERMIT
Billy Woodruff, He Lost His Sweetheart Many
 Years Ago
For 40 Years He Has Lived In Quiet on the Colebrook River - Once a Beau Brummel.

8 little help by a wealthy woman
 who has taken an intrest in him, is William Woodruff.
 Woodruff is known throughout Litchfield County as the one hermit who will never engage in conversa- tion with anyone, nor will he allow himself to be within 10 feet of per sons when, through force of neces-
 sity, he travels through the wood and brush to Colebrook River for sup plies. The supplies are not what an ordinary man would purchase, but rather are in keeping with his strange notion of life. s@
 The hermit keeps aloof from every one. His only companions are some chickens. and these are about as old as any chickens. get to be, say resi- dents of Colebrook River. Woodruff has lived alone for the past 40 years.
 He doesn't want to mingle with any one. He won't mingle. And although
 several philanthroically inclined peo-
 pie have urged authorities to send Woodruff either to a poorhouse or to
 an sylum, he is still at Woodruff's hut so-called.
 Feeble, partially blind, suffering considerably from rheumatism anG with eyes that seem to sink into their
 sockets, Woodruff is a sight. He is oE6T GU years Olu, dIlu II u0 ever WdS 1 sick no one knew it but Dr. Ward ot New Boston. pr. Ward has, some way or another, been able to hold l limited conversations with Woodruff but the hermit has never informed his physician just why hermit life appealed to him
 1 Billy. the Hermit. looks the hermit 1 part. His hair is never cut, his beard is let grow, and his general appear ance suggests something inhuman He is as unlike a human being as any mortal man can be, and his speech reminds one of a gorilla.
 There Is g. story connected with Billy's life, as there always is to the life of hermit. Be that as it may, it is known that when Billy was a young man; just in the prime of life, and eager to take in the joys of the world as they came along, he se- cluded himself in the shanty where he was born, and stayed there for weeks. "A tilted man." his friends said at the time. Loved and lost and never the same" Just the same Billy carried the picture of girl around in his pocket up to the time he began to shun his companions.
 The clique that once had Billy as one of it's members coaxed him to attend the hnsking bees and barn dances. Young Woodruff refused to have anything to. do with the social fife, and got so that he would not rec ognize his friends when he met them. Always neat and natty in appearance, he began to show signs of careless ness He wore the same clothes for years. When his beard grew just so long he would cut it off himself; not going to the barber, not even to have his hair cut. He would take the scis- sors and clip his hair. He didn't care xx1ho ma r. ter2
 Billy is living bad. In seclusion all the time, in dirty and unsanitary rooms of the shanty (there are four rooms,) he hides himself away from the eyes of the curious, and away from all noises. It is quiet at the shanty at night Very quiet. The he the farmers dogs in the far-away valley can distinctly be heard during a still summers night, but that is all. And Billy lives through all this quiet ness, year in and year out, while the same stiffness would drive any sane man crazy.
 Billy has a needle and sews al rips in his clothes. The needle and ball of string is all that Billy needs to do his mending. His housework is accomplished easily. He bakes his own bread in the battered, broken and practically useless stove, and his ev- eryday life consists principally of the work of housemaid and that is all he does to keep his mind off his tro,1bles-if troubles he has. Billy hasn't taken a bath in so long that he doesn't know the meaning of the word and his appearance is such, with his grizzly beard and his apish look that women and children are in terror while passing the road near the shack.
 Miss DeWolf, a resident of Cole brook River, has taken an interest in Billy, and if he wishes anything at the general store at Colebrook River he can get it. Miss DeWolf will pay and she is quite willing to, frr she wishes Billy to enjoy himself in his own way as he always has. Miss De- Wolff sympathizes with the hermit, and he is apparently grateful. But, nevertheless, no matter how much he appreciates, he has never told why he suddenly left the world and its plea- sures and went to his shanty and stay ed there.
 Billy will probably be the last of several famous hermits who have made Connecticut their abode. The Leather Man, famous for years throughout the state, is dead. The Leather Man was known all over the state, in cities and towns. He had the wandering lust, and his peculiar tiles made him famous. He was al- ways completely dressed in leather, and never was intimate with his fel- loWmen to such an extent that he would converse regarding himself. An other eccentric character who was known throughout the state was Mort Pond. who lived around Winsted, Mort Pond was known by Winsted resi- dents. and always walked in the mid de of the road. He would come shambling down the street in the path of the horses, apparently not caring whether another human being was on earth or not He wanted to live alone, and he did. He didn't want to go into the world like other people, and he didn't Mortimer, when young man. was Beau Brummel with the voung damsels of the town. But there came a change in his life, some trou- ble. probably another case of She's ma rried the other fellow" and Mort went into seclusion. One day he dis appeared and has never been heard of. Searches were made for him, but no trace of him was found. Perhaps he's dead No one knows.
 The Ole'-clothes Man, whose name is John Brennan, travels around the state dressed heavily, all, because his mind became unbalanced because his fiancee was killed in a runaway acci- dent near Danbury, Brennan himself was badly hurt, and the news of his fancees death was kept from him un- til he was able to leave the hospital. When he was told he showed signs of insanity in a mild form. Later he summed his former companions, the same as Woodruff and Pond. He took to travelling and always wears two