The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-06-03
GOES WITHOUT SHOES OR SOCKS ALL YEAR ROUND Unique Hermit Is George Wash ingfOn Gilbert of Ridge
 field Welcomes Visitors but Sidesteps Suffrage Question in
 Interviews


 from Rtdgef1eld center, lives George
 Washington Gilbert, a hermit famous l in many respects. In all proba bility 1 there is not an odder or more unique
 character in the state. Living as he l does, in the midst of crude environ | n1ent, he is, to all appearances. Q hap py man. In general appearance this | old hermit is quite picturesque He | gives one the impression of being
 rough and ready, not in the least fus
 sy or particular about the cut of his 1 coat or, for that matter, about any | thing else, says the Ridgef1e1d Press. George Washington Gilbert goes 1 barefooted all the year round on 1 frosty February mornings as we'll as | in the summer time. Headgear he
 seldom if ever, wears Although six 1 ty-seven years old, he is very well pre- | modest shock of hair and pedal ex- | tremities which are apparently stran- gers to soap and water.
 Although MT. Gilbert exhibits the
 usual idiosyncracies of hermit, he has qualities that*endear him to many a one. Happily he is not a misan- thrope, and loves to have a chat with
 other men, though of course there is
 at all times a great gulf or gap be- tween his isolated mode of living, and that of the rest of society. However,
 it must be said that MT. Gi1bert's hos pitality is generous and unreserved. He won't hesitate about inviting one
 into his shack and conversing about various matters and affairs. Of him. self he speaks freely, and tells one in- teresting anecdotes of his life and days gone by.
 Up to a few years ago this old re- cluse had lived in a dilapidated ram shack1e house, which had been erect ed before the days of the Revolution ary war. It had been the home Of his colonial ancestors and the genera tions that followed in their steps. But now this tumble down building has become an unsightly and irreparable wreck. The walls have caved in, the floors have sunk into the cellar, and the rafters fallen down. Only the massive chimney remains intact loom ing up like a monument in the midst of tumble of riff-ran and decay. The remains of this abode are but a short distance from the road, and the inn pression they impart is melancholy indeed.
 Tramping through the ruins, one comes upon many an odd relic. For here there are unique articles of all descriptions that were once in regu- lar use. As a matter of fact, they are worth seeing-and MT. Gilbert is not averse to showing them to his wis 1tors. There is mighty, cumber- some sword which one of MT. Gi1- bert'S ancestors took from a HeSSian soldier at the battle of Trenton, just before Washington crossed the Deia- ware; an o1d~tin perforated lantern of the Paul Revere type; an old box shaped contrivance which was called foot stove and which mi1ady of CO., 1onial days used to carry to church filled with hot coa1s to place beneath her feet; the remnants of an old din-t ner horn a hundred and fifty years old and which will at this day yield 8 l note that would make an automobile l horn jealous; an old pewter tea pot l and many other curiosities, such as 1 warming pans, andirons. wooden plat l ters, and a lone old fashioned wooden | bottle.
 A great deal more could be said | cluse-how he used to sleep inside 1 how he subsists on a. jail bird diet of bread and water; how he reads the | papers and at the same time has never | seen a trolley car and how he prizes | an old, old Bible that contains the | which is not printed in the 1 Bibles of to-day.
 When asked last Sunday for his 1 opinions about socialism ,a1coh o1isrn, 1 woman suffrage and kindred subjects, | MT. Gilbert intimated that he would l have nothing to say.
 MT. Gilbert is an old man. He lives | a sim pie outdoor life, and though his | code is so different from that of oth- CT men, he thinks nothing of it and 1 takes it all as a mere matter of fact l