Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1918-11-08
PIANO BOX HOME
SCH0LAR-HERM|T
NEW WORKERS ARE AMAZED ~
THE DISCOVERY.
Aged Mans Strange Abode Concealed
Five Years-FInd French Classics
Among Miscellaneous Junk.

Among Miscellaneous Junk.
NEW YORK. N. Y.-How George
Colby, known In East New York as
the Vermont street hermit" lived in
a combination packing case and piano
box hut for five years is revealed by
his removal to the Kings County Hos
pital on an order issued by the de-
partment of public charities.
The disclosures that followed his
removal amazed policemen and neigh
bors. who for the first time in twenty.
two years invaded his vacant lot and
picked their way along lanes that
were bordered by heaps of junk, in
GLIDING partly burned timbers and the
copper bottoms of wash boilers.
The examination Of the premises re-
vealed the life Of twentieth century
hermit who refused to permit the ad-
vancing boundaries of city to in
trude on his privacy. The lot in which
he 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 a large pack
ing case, was found only after q care
full search.
AS cleverly concealed from the gaze
Of the curious as are the dugouts of
the French army along the battlefront
in France. it Lay partly underground
and almost under the walls of his one
time home, a converted stable that
was burned down five years ago. He
had lived in the stable for seventeen
years.
When Colby's case was brought to
the attention of the department of
charities DR.. Arthur ]. O'Connor of
the Bradford Street Hospital. was sent
to investigate the mans condition and
remove him to the Kings County Hos
pital IL it called for hospital care.
A policeman led the physician into
the lot, a hole broken through the
fence serving as an entrance. Colby
was found lying on his couch when
the lanterns of the policemen and am
bulance driver were flashed on him.
AS DR.. OConnor entered the hut
three half wild cats scurried from un-
der his feet and hid themselves under
the bed. While the man was being
placed on a stretcher the cats snarled
their displeasure.
Since he was taken to the hospital
his one worry has been the disposition
of his valuable property" as he re-
fers to the collection of books and old
metal.
The valuable property" was exam
ined 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 on the
premises. Among the pieces of ma
chinery was q pile driver.
Colby burned his own charcoal and
then used 1t in a brazier for cooking.
His bathroom, provided with an ingen-
ious continuance that served as Q
washstand, was located under q tree
and concealed even from the hut by
vines and tangled bushes. His bed
was a partly burned couch, salvaged
from the fire and propped up by vol
ume of Cowper's poetical works in
Latin, a volume Of Ludwig Won Bee
thoven's biography. and the satires Of
A. Persius Flaccus.
The policeman and q 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 call
ed to the barber to cover all the mir
rors in sight, remarking 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, VT, sixty-five years
ago.