New Britain herald., 1923-08-20
find RECLUSE DEAD,
ENDS GHOST STORIES
Man Had Been Living in Carrot
Of Summer House

New Lork, Aug 2o.---Identifioation
of the body Of man found Saturday
in the windowless garnet of a ram
shackle farmhouse near Nyack, N.
| Y, as that of Alexander P. Arhimore,
thirty-six, an electrical engineer, re-
vealed yesterday the strange story of
how the man, sick and In morbid re-
volt against the routine of city life.
sought to hide himself completely
from the world.
From early in May until some time
last month he secluded himself in the
unlighted garnet, venturing out only
at times for the bits of food he could
pilfer from the tents of campers on
Rockland Lake, beside the house. His
presence was not entirely unknown.
Never seen, he became a mystery.
Camprs who wandered into the house
heard feet upon the stairs. But when
they searched the upper floors they
found nobody.
"Spook" Stuff
BY the time the Chelsea Presby-
terrain Church, 23rd street and Sew
enth avenue, Manhattan, took over
the house for summer camp in
June. the phantom footsteps were
already the subject of low-voiced
stories at midnight campfres around
the lake. Only yesterday was it
learned the "spook" was the dis
contented engineer.
The cause of his death probably
will never be known. Perhaps it was
Gle AT
Adams, of No. 727 45th street Brook
Ign, believes he died of pneumonia.
engendered by exposure and the hard
ships of his unaccustomed isolated
life. Sheriff Brown of Rockland
Cunty said he believed the man
either starved or had a stroke"
Discovery of the body was made
by W. Y. Strange, No. 210 West 23d
street, treasurer of the Chelsea
church, and Charles Murdick of No.
410 West 23d street, who with Mrs.
Murdick have been occupying the
ground floor of the three-story huse
at intervals since June. Murdick
went to the attack Saturday. Soon his
cries brought Strange and Mrs. MUIR
dick. :.
Lying upon two small mattresses,
property of the Church, which had
been missing some weeks, was the
body. Beside it were two tin cups.
an overcoat and an empty milk bottle.
Except for shoes, the body was fully
clothed.
Coroner Flender said the man had
been dead six or eight weeks. That
was all, except for the discovery in
the clothing of a few papers and a
check book, from which one check
was torn. This check, for 50 and
made out to cash was left by Achi-
more, about June Is, in pile of
camp, from which a bottle of milk,
portion of cold chicken and several
cans of meat had been pilfered.
Strange found the check and cashed
it, returning the money to the church
funds.
Wanted to Be Alone
IF he had only let us know he was
here" Mr.. Murdick said, I'VE would
have been glad to give him food.
But he must have wanted to escape
all human beings.
Now that we've found the body l
feel that I knew all along there was
some one in the garnet. Several
times I heard footsteps on the stairs
or on the top floors. Once I chased
the footsteps up the stairway. But
when I reached the top could find
nobody. 1t was an uncanny feeling
we had with all those wierd noises
Several church members who came
here returned to say the house was
haunted-that they were afraid to
stay here. Usually many girls of the
church come here to camp, sbut the
phantom noises frightened them.
Some said ghost had come to visit
the church camp. We never saw the
man."
The story of Achimore's disappear
ance is as fantastic as his death.
Until two years ago an engineer EN-
ployed by the Western Union Tele-
graph Company. he lived with his
wife, Mrs. Mary A. Achimore. and
his son Paul, now aged six. at No.
Al West s1st street. Quitting sud-
denly he went to Concord, N. H., to
go into business, but soon returned to
New York, suffering from extreme
His wife returned to
Medford. Mass, to live with a sister.
Mrs. George Rogers. while Achimore
took up his home with Mrs. Adams,
then living at No. 449 Prospect Place,
Brooklyn.
From the moment he returned to
New York, Mrs. Adams noticed a
change in his demeanor. On several
occasions he disappeared for weeks at
a time, and once he was found living
in an isolated shanty near Andover,
n. H. His wife had him committed
to Wards Island, but the doctors
found he was not insane, suffering
only from an extreme morbidity. He
was released after several months.