Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1917-10-20
PIANO BOX HOME
SCHOLAR
NEW WORKERS ARE AMAZED BY
THE DISCOVERY.
Aged Mans Strange Abode Concealed
Five Years-Find French Classics
Among Miscellaneous Junk.

NEW YORK, n. Y-How George
Colby, known in East New York as
the Vermont street hermit" lived in
combination packing case and piano
box hut for five years is revealed by
his removal 10 the Kings County Hos
pital on an order issued by tie de
partment of public charities.
The disclosures that followed his
removal amazed policemen and neigh
bors, who for the first time i'll twenty
two years invaded his vacant lot and
picked their way along lanes that
were bordered by heaps of junk, in.
Guiding partly burned timbers and the
copper bottoms of wash boilers.
The examination Of the premises re-
yealed the life of twentieth century
hermit who refused 10 permit the ad-
vancng boundaries Of city Ia in
trude on his privacy. The lot in which
ne lived was protected from the sight
of the curious BY high fence.
Policemen and neighbors who knew
Colby's hut lay somewhere behind the
high peek proof fence was amazed to
find collections of valuable books.
files Of newspapers, collections of bot.
ties, trunks full of furs and dismantled
engines among the possessions of the
old man His home, a piano box To
which had been attached large pack
ing case, was found only after care.
full search.
AS cleverly concealed from he gaze
of the curious as ale the dugouts of
the French army along the battlefront
in France, il lay partly underground
and almost under the walls of his one
time home, a converted stable Iha'
was burned down five years ago. He
had lived in the stable for seventeen
years.
When Colbys case was brought to
the attention OF sthe department of
charities Dr. Arthur !. O'Connor of
lie Bradford Street Hospital. was sent
to investigate the mans condition and |
remove him to Inc Kings County Hos
Pital il it called for hospital care.
A policeman led the physician into .
the lot, a hole broken through the I
fence serving as an entrance. Colby |
was found lying on his couch when |
the lanterns Of the polcemen.and am:
bulancp driver We're flashed ON him.s /
As pr. OCann0r catered the hut |
three half wild cats scurried from IN
der his feet and hid themselves under I
the bed. While the man was being |
placed on q stretchsr the cats snarled |
their diapleasure. h ga 5uaf /
Since he was taken to the hospital .
his one worry has been the disposition |,
Of his valuable property" as he rer
fers to the collection OF books and old
metal. N 81 tN tl5 u+,t Fc
The valuable property, was exam.
inetf and workmen who appraised the
broken machinery and other articles
said there was about $3.50 worth Of
iron and steel in The lot A policeman
counted 235 pots and pans en- the
premises Among the pieces Of ma.
chinery was a pile driver.
Colby burned his own charcoal and
then used it in brazier for cooking.
His bathroom, provided With an ingen-
ious contriyance that served as
washstand, was located under a tree
and concealed even from the hut by
vines and tangled bushes. His bed
was partly burned couch, salvaged
from the fire and propped w by vol
ume of Cowper's poetical works in
Latin. volume of Ludwig won Bee
thoven's biography, and the satires Of
A. Persius Flaccus. ,,H...
The policeman and a neighbor de
clared that while Colby attended to
his personal wants and never permit
ted interference by outsiders, he al
ways went TO a nearby barber to be-
shaved.
Before he entered the shop he cali
ed TO the barber to cover all the mir
rors in sight, rcmarking in eXplana.
ton that he had no wish to see his
own face. 1t is believed he feared his
advancing age
The Vermont street hermit was
born in Windsor, w., sixty.five years
ago.