Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1853-08-17
The Boekhannon Mysaery.

Inc last OoeeFveg glveo the folloWln!
explanation of the wonderful phenome
mon" which occurred in Buckhannon shor
time since
G~ The CIarksburg Register copie
an editorial from our last issue in rela
ton to that strange phenomenon. Tn,
editor of the Register seems inclined t.
poke a little fun at US about the affair. III.
says: lA
eff it were not for the we'll known
Temperance pocliyity of the editor of the
Observer and the good people of Buck
harmon, we should think they had all ia
ken too little water in their brandy"
We confess that a person, at "a distance
might come to the same conclusion thai
friend Cooper hints at. We say, serious
ly. that we gave correct account of the
affair, and there is a mystery about il
that we are not able to solve. We will
state what was seen next morning, but
whether it has any connection with the
sight of the previous evening We know
not. There is veil drawn over the Sc
ven or eight intervening hours that we
have not the power to penetrate. We
leave our readers to form their own con
illusions
On the morning following the phenome-
non, several gentlemen, wEo were riding
down the Clarksburg pike. few miles
from this place, discovered very strange
looking object moving along slowly ahead
of them. As they approached it, they
saw something like quilts or bristles pro-
jecting in profusion, from the body of the
.nondescript. AS they neared it, they
began to think some hug eporcupinehad es-
capped from an itinerant menagerie; but inn
agine their surprise. when they found their
supposed porcupine was a human being. 1t
appears that during the night he had fall
len into rather rough hands, and was in
vested in complete coat of tar and woll
the latter being substitute. no doubt,
for feather. After being discharged by
the company he had fallen into, he spent
the remainder of the nigh in farmers
barn floor, in which was considerable
quantity of the chaff of Mediterranean
wheat; and in consequence of the tar
oozed out through his clothing, the long
boards, in the chat, adhered, and gave
him that poreupinish appearance.
The question may now arise who is the
person that was found in this sad predica-
ment ? Owing to the great excitement
in various portions of the country, and the
one thousand and one tales that are in
circulation respecting it, we will give an
outline Of the circumstances to which this
individual owes his resinous dress.
He came to this country some or z
months since. passes himself off for a
physician, pretends to tell the number of
scars upon. the body and their precise loca-
ton by feeling of the pulse, is native OF
Germany, and is known to the communi-
ty as the Dutch Doctor'' What his
proper name is we do not know. He by
some means, become connected with We
ry sad affair. A young girl of respec-
table family was seduced. by a fiend in
human shape, under circumstances too
horrid to relate. In order to conceal her
shame, the unfortunate female was hurried
off, against her will as she alledges, with
this ignorant and bearish foreigner, which
was only making bad worse. They went
as far as Wheeling or little beyond, re-
turned to Fetterman and said he had mar
ried her, and by threats made her tell the
same tale. In going to Wheeling he
treated her very harshly. Part of the
journey was performed on foot. and upon
the least complaint. he would threaten to
blow her brains out with pistol which he
carried. Two of our citizens were al
Fetterman when the Dutchman and the
girl returned rom Wheeli ng, and found
upon a little conversation with her, that
she was glad to have an opportunity to
get out of his clutches. and they, conse-
quently, brought her home to her friends.
Much praise is due to these gentlemen fol-
this act Of kindness to poor erring fe-
male. whose wretchedness had been in
creased, tenfold, by being hurried off, for
purposes the most vile. with an agent de-
graded enough to carry out schemes black
as hell itself.
Soon after the return of the girl, he
was prowling about in the neighborhood
saying that he would have his wife, as he
called her, at the risk of his life. This
boldness. on his part. is strong circum.
stantial evidence that he had laid and
comfort" from some source. A few
mornings afterward he was seen passing
down the pike as heretofore described.
This is the character that excites the
generous sympathy of certain class oil
people in this county. Why this hue and
cry against the town for the act of violence
towards him Is there any evidence that
there were not as many country people
engaged in it as town people Is the
whole town any more responsible for the
acts of few individuals, than the whole
country is for what few in the country
may do? We have not the least doubt
that the country can be condemned on the
very same principle by which the town i:
condemned. And we would advise these
warm supporters of that great man, the
Dutch Doctor" to reflect little before
they let their feelings run so high. AS t.
the propriety or improperly of the course
pursued towards him, we have nothing
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