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Show j A HERMIT FISHCRwIAN. -L-j-t ----- .Teflri-i Air-ymfhii -" " ; "Zeb. the hermit fisherman." lives in I a filthy hovel down near the ocean in the town of Slonington. He wears the old ! time fisherman costume of blue overalls, jacket and skull cap to match. He, too, way disappointed in love, and took to fishing in solitude for a livelihood. He next courted the Bihlo, and can repeat it from Genesis through to Revelations by heart. With a capital of $90, which he invested in a dory, he has amassed a fortune estimated at S-jO.OOO. For five i years he lived in a shanty, expending but ; SS a year for food. His clothes he wore i to shreds, and his fuel he picked up on I the beach. During that time he saved 1 $423, with which he bought his present I home. Here for thirty out of thirty-live J years it cost him but 23 annually for the necessities of life, while his earnings he invested in real estate. I The property purchased by him lies j along lho water front, and at that time . was at the mercy of the sea, which cast 1 its htiLre waves far inshore durini' n o-:iIa Zeb immediately began the laborious work of building a breakwater, or rather I a seawall. This he did alone and unassisted. unas-sisted. It is of stone, fully 500 feet in length and five feet in height The work was all done by hand, the big stones being furled in a home made wheelbarrow wheelbar-row and consuming a year's time. After this job had been completed Zeb began the erection of his first tenement I house. With a pickax, a spade and a I wheelbarrow he excavated for the cellar, ; using the dill lo till in the hole back of the seawall. Ho walled up tho cellar with stone nnd then secured carpenters to build a house. This cost him 700. The painting and papering be did himself. As soon as this ono was completed he began work ujion a second. He continued his labor, and now has ten houses, side 1 by side, all built the Barue way. Each of j these houses brings him a monthly rental of $7, and they are all occupied. I But lie has not neglected his fishing ! during this time. He has made from I $:J00 to $400, and sometimes $500 a year. 1 This money he turned into property or placed in the savings bank. It is supposed sup-posed by many townsfolk that he also pas considerable hid iu his Bleeping room, the armaments of which consist of a three pronged pitchfork, a hatchet and a stove poker. The past five years have been tuore expensive to him than any previous ones. His fortuno has accumulated accumu-lated lo such an extent that his expenditures expendi-tures now average $125 a year, which includes insurance, taxes, food and fuel. Norwich Conu.) Cor. Boston Globe, |