THE ESSEX HERMIT

Evening Star, Issue 19664, 17 September 1927, Page 4

THE ESSEX HERMIT

VISIT BY SWEETHEART AFTER FIFTY YEARS. Press Association —By Telegraph—Copyright. LONDON, September 16. The first sight of a woman for fifty years left the hermit Mason in a state of nervous distress. Tho woman says she is his former sweetheart. Followtho ‘Daily Mail’s’ map, she penetrated Mason’s retreat. His brother _ Thomas, hearing a woman's voice in tho hut, was so alarmed and bewildered time bo rushed for- assistance, plunged through two miles of ploughed fields, and implored the aid of a neighboring farmer and his foreman. Tho trio, after failing to locate a policeman, scrambled through the fortifications and discovered tho woman in the hut and still conversing with Mason, who was obviously upset. According to her story, she asked the hermit if he would like to go to London. He replied that ho would only go with her. The trio finally persuaded her to leave.—Sydney ‘ Sun ’ Cable. [A cablegram from London on September 5 stated that James Mason, the sensitive, ill-treated son of a Crimean Armv sergeant Jiving at Great Clanfield, Essex-, was jilted, the rejection of his suit resulting in an impulsive vow never to see a human lace again, except that of his devoted brother, Thomas, who also vowed to guard James from intrusion for his lifetime.’ Tin? same _ afternoon they pin chased two acres in a wild part of Essex, and commenced to build a. sort of jungle fortress secure against intercourse with mankind.]