Man Living Without Clothes

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 41, 18 February 1937, Page 3

Man Living Without Clothes

MELBOURNE, Feb. 4. The arrest of a young unclothed man in a deserted shack at South Lockwood, near Bendigo, ends in adventure which has had the district in a simmer of excitement and conjecture for a week. On several occasions during tho week the man was seen, but he eluded attempts to capture him. Mr Herbert Symes, an orchardist ' and grazier at North Harcourt, saw the man in a wheat paddock of his property and rode across on his horse iu an endeavour to question him. “But/he made off as soon as he saw me,” said Mr Symes. “Although I headed him, ho dodged me and escaped among some heavy timber. He was burned just as dark as a Red Indian, and he must have been very sore because he flinched in pain when he brushed some twigs on a tree. On his feet were what I took to be rough sandals. Fowls Missed From Runs. “All he had was a small bundle tied to the end of a stick, and a empty jam tin,” continued Mr Byrnes. “The bundle probably contained little else than a bowl, because later iu the day I searched tho timber in which he sheltered and found a fire, round which were feathers and fowl bones.” Other signs of the man were found iu the district. There were traces of a liro in a deserted hut, but the man was apparently almost constantly on tho move, for a watch on the hut later failed to result in his apprehension. Fowls were missed from poultry-runs in the district, and it is thought tnat the man helped himself also to apples and peaches from orchards. His exploits recalled those of the famous William Buckley, tho white man who went “native” and lived with aborigines. Habitation Avoided.

Residents in tho district were not greatly alarmed by the man because he avoided all habitation as much os possible and did not appear to be desperate. Several fleeting glimpses of him wore seen by others beside Mr. Symes, but always he ran swiftly away. Mr W. Ellis, of Quarry llill, near Bendigo, took a party to South Lockwood late yesterday to pick blackberries and the man api>eared suddemy from the thick undergrowth. His beard had grown to a stubble and his hair was long. He was limping, but when ho saw Mr Ellis’ party he ran away. Mr Ellis followed him for a short distance, but lost track of him. He called to him, offering food, but received no reply. Mr Ellis theu reported the incident to the police. Arrested by Police

Two policemen were despatched and accompanied Mr Ellis into the bush. They began a search at sunset and at 9 p.m. reached a shack, which was one of many that had been deserted since the gold-rush dhys. Tho windows and doors were barricaded, but smoke was rising from the chimney. The police forced open the door and saw the man squatting over a fire. Ho was about to eat some boiled beans which, he saia later, was the first meal he had had for four days. The police improvised a pair of trousers for the man by cutting holes in a sack with a knife, the man's only possession.

After having remained silent for three-quarters of an hour the man told his story. He did not explain why he had acted as he did, but ho said his name of Edwin Allen Morcom, that he was aged 33 years, and that he was a labourer. He had lived formerly at Maldon, in the Bendigo district. He said he had lived like an aborigine and had lived mostly on berries. He will appear in Court at Bendigo on a eharge of vagrancy.