The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1910-10-18
HEARD AND SEEN AROUND THE
GREEN.

Ii an address delivered recently DR.
Britton d. Evans, Of the state hospi
| tai at Morris Plains, told the follow
ing regarding an inmate of the insti
ltution:-
" had a patient under my care--s
dear old man--whose every appearance
was a living portrayal Of a character
istic resident of New Jersey rura
district. He had lived from childhood
| in Hunterdon county, New Jersey
and before a mental malady came
upon him, was an acceptable and re
spected citizen, beloved IN his com
munity. His place of abode, to him
was veritable Garden Of Eden, and
he never lost his love for it,
He frequently told me that he ha6
come to the institution over which ]
preside, for the purpose of taking
| charge of it and that while a great
many people called it an asylum, they
only did SO because of their ignorance
that, in fact, it was Government Re
| form school and that he was placed in
| it to take charge of it and control it.
"On several occasions he told me
that he had full charge Of the path Of
eternal life and that a certain doctor
of medicine in the county had tried to
take it away from him and that he
had gone to law about itand that the
courts had finally decided in his favor
and given him his rights.
On more than one occasion he
complained to me that he was annoyed
by one of the night watchmen. | said
to him !: Uncle Billy flor we all called
him Uncle Billy how does the night
Waterman interfere with your happi-
ness !? He replied:
g He comes in my room quoting
scripture"
/" / said Do you know anything Of
scriptures
I" He said / do; / was sexton to
the church where ST. Paul ulster
preach, and mighty good preacher
he was, too; but that's got nothing TO
do with it; this night man of your'n
comes into my room at night and
wakes me up and says, jerusalem,
Oh Jerusalem how oft would have
gathered you under my wings as a hen
gathered her brood, and We would not
:" i said: Uncle Billy; how does
that disturb you?'
T" He said: 1t disturbs me because
Iuster own that hen; she wern't a
hen anyhow she was nothin' but a
pullet; a speckled pullet; what they
call nowadays a Plymouth Rock or
Barred Rock. One time she disap-
peared and / didn't see nuthin of Ter
fur bout two weeks er more. / was
then livin' in the Garden of Eden, in
the land of Canaan, and l had sowed
down the nor'east corner of the Gar.
den in timothy. One night there
came up big storm-it rained and it
blowed--it blowed the branches off che
trees and blowed down my timothy.
l was walking round next mornin' to
see what damage was done and in the
corner of the fence 1 discovered this
speckled pullet settin' on her nest.
She had stole her nest and thar she
sot like major (she had laid sixteen
eggs) and yet your watchman comes
in and wakes me up and says to me,
Jerusalem, Oh Jerusalem, how oft
would / have gathered you under my
wings as hen gathered her brood,
and ye would not Now I think it is
time for this thing to STOP
81 said :: Uncle Billy, agree with
you and I'll see that it does not con-
tinue. This was qualification to
the dear old man who had, in the
vagaries of his mind, owned the land
where Adam and Eve had trod and
where they lived and enjoyed the
primitive happiness known In the
w0rld's history"