Mystery Of The Man At Meteghan Is Explained At Long Last By Senator King

The Story of the Stranger Who Was Found on the Nova Scotia Coast is Not Creditable to New Brunswick—He was Originally Picked Up Near Chipman With Both Legs Frozen.

The Strange story of the human derelect found by the people of Sandy Cove, Nova Scotia, on the shore near that place nearly half a century ago, which was reproduced in the Sun from a Boston paper, excited considerable interest.

It seems almost a pity to rob such a thrilling story of any of its romance, but the truth of the matter is the man was not left on the Nova Scotia shore by a gunboat, neither did he lose his legs in martial conflict. The mystery of the man of Meteghan is explained as follows:

Senator King of Chipman says this man was found in the woods about 25 miles from Chipman, forty-five years ago. He was lying on a brow of logs, almost frozen to death. How he got there, or who he was, remained a mystery. However, the man was taken to Chipman where he was cared for. His legs were so badly frozen that it was found necessary to amputate them in order to save the man’s life. The operation was performed by the late Dr. Peters of Gagetown, who was a very gifted surgeon.

The man was evidently a foreigner, the senator says but of what nationality could not be determined, as the only word he was ever known to utter was “Gamby” or what was interpreted as such.

By this name the man was known and referred to during his stay in Chipman. He seemed to have lost the use of his faculties.

The man was looked after by the overseers of the poor while at Chipman, but they tired of the job, or the municipality got economical, and it was decided to ship the stranger to other parts. He was brought down to St. John in a steamer.

Senator King says he is not sure whether it was at the insistance of the St. John authorities or the Chipman people that the man was sent away from the province, but he recalls the fact that he was put on board a coasting schooner and taken to Nova Scotia, where he was inhumanly abandoned, a helpless waif, legless, and speechless as far as coherent utterance was concerned.

In those days communication was limited between the provinces, and newspapers were not so enterprising, consequently it does not seem to be remarkable that the Nova Scotia people did not learn of the inhospitable action of their New Brunswick neighbours. The man's plight, and the mystery of how he got there, appealed to the sympathy and interest of the good villagers, and it seems a pity to detract in the smallest degree from the Halo of romance which surrounds their pet tradition.