A Sad story
--
Freak of an Old Fisherman Rendered Insane by the Loss of his Sons.
--For several days past an old man, of bronzed features and weather-beaten aspect, has attracted the notice of people on the dock in the vicinity of the freight depots, by his singular actions.
He will stand for hours at a time looking off towards the lake, holding in his hand, high above his head, a piece of paper, or a fragment of a broom, with which he appears to be making signals.
Unheeding the stares of passers by, or the jeers of thoughtless boys who gather around him, there he will stand, patiently waving his signal and gazing intently far out upon the lake, muttering incoherently to himself meanwhile.--A sailor who knows the old man, gave us, this morning, an inkling as to his history.
He was a fisherman on
Lake Michigan, and reared his children, four sons, to the same calling.
In a great storm which swept that lake four years ago this fall, his sons were all lost, with their boat.
The father, with the prophetic vision of an old fisherman, saw that a great storm was coming, and his boys were far out on the lake.
From a high position on shore he attempted to signal them to return; but the storm, which came on with the suddenness and rapidity often remarked on
Lake Michigan, overtook them before they could reach the harbor; the boat capsized in the gale, and the frantic father saw his four sons, the stay of his old age, perish among the angry waves, and he powerless to aid them.
His mind never recovered from the shock.
He clings to the vicinity of the lakes, and is almost constantly occupied in watching the waters and making imaginary signals to his sons.
When there is a storm on the lake his agitation is very great, but at other times he is possessed with a quiet and harmless melancholy painful to behold.
Poor, desolate old man!--
Cleveland (Ohio) Plain dealer. 
