A RIP VAN WINKLE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 221, 16 March 1912, Page 2

A RIP VAN WINKLE.

HERMIT DISCOVERED NEAR NEW BRIGHTON. '■ ___ Christchurch, March 13. Not ten miles from Cathedral Square, yet in a densely wooded and littleknown country—in fact, a s'ort of Nerer■Never Land —a party of week-enders recently came upon a veritable Rip Van Winkle. Old and bent, he confessed to be over seventy years of age. He has pitched his tent in a small cosy clearing in the broom and lupins, and there without a break he has lived for twenty-five years, to the knewledge of tfut few. In fact, so dense is the broom that even five yards away one would ■erer 'dream of a tent being hidden there. Of cheerful visage and healthy look, the. old hermit has all this time lived the simple life, not once having ventured as far as to the city, which to him now is an unknown city. Brighton is the only civilised settlement he visits, and there at lengthy intervals he trudges the three miles which separate it from his camp in order to get supplies. He is a respectable, clean-looking old chap, and his simple manner of living, has probably been the cause of his excellent health, which shows no sign of breaking down, despite his advanced age;