Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-03-20
DAILY DEMOCRAT.
THE "WHAT-IS-IT". OUTDONE.

THE "wHAT-IS-IT". OUTCOME.
The wild Man 81 she Weeas-An
covered In the Forests oc WAR
rem County a NOndescript Ant
n0l Of Singular and f'rkg0e1sa1
Appearance Roaming Az Large
-'Irush stranger than Fiction.
From the yicksburg miss. Hersld, lst.l
The following extraordinary story
which for want ofspace " have been com.
PEELED to condenss-we have received from
perfectly reliable source. About twenty
I've miles from this city, but Ia this county.
10 small stream Known - Bear creek,
which smptiss into the Big Black river
The margin Of beth shees Streams, in that
vicinity fss miles hack, 10 - Almeet impen-
stnbls swamp, grown up With caasbsakss
and vild tangled vinss, bot 6llsd up With
oil kinda of gams, inclsdisg bear, deer. and
turkeys.
In pursuit Of this game many young men
resort to this spot with their hounds. Ros
eems time past, strange stories have beea
told BY the negfose Of % extraordinary an
ianal seen near these swamps The nsgsoss,
| in their usual manner, gave ,graphic and
startling descriptions Of his appearance. but
usually winding up with the declaration
that Il IVES the devil which bad been seen
BY them. One peculiarly. IS described By
The negroes, was that from the tracks he
seemed to be going both ways ct once
| That 10, one foot pointed to the front and
the other to tho rear. These stories we're
laughed Al and dsridsd BY the citizens, no
one believing in any such statements. This
extraordinary creature bad often suddenly
presented himself among the negroes in the
early twilight, causing great eonsternstion
among them. He 10 described By the ne.
sroes a. being about eight feet high, saeh
eve, in their language, ''as large ~ hens
ese."with no nose and no upper lip, his two
eve teeth - large - mans thumb, extend
Ing down over his chin about eight inch:
Is: his right fsot points directly 70 The
front end the left one to the rear, and The
measurement of the track 10 just twenty.
three inches in length his finger nails arr
perfectly hard and solid, and ere shout siz
inches long; the hair on HE hsad-wLish h
stiff and wlry-swseps the ground % b.
walks, and il parted in the rear and bseugh,
dewn in front on each side Of bic singularly
formed chest, which 10 net round nor fat
bat IL angular like that Of fowl. The bali
on the body Of this singular being 10 very
J still and grows TO the rear, parting At TIL
angle Of the breast bone, growing back ant
uniting With . long still growth on BIZ
spiae. which extends back about one feo
like the spinal in Of fish. or the bsistlss a
The back OF boar-the hair on his arms Il
parted and grows In the Same way. making
8 long. thick brush on ohs back Of the arns
extending from the shoulders 20 the poin
Of his middle finger; the same peculiarly
10 Observable on his legs. This singular
and hsssibls object, the negroes represent
hes bssn sssn 81 them q different timea
rendered hidseus By the unsarshly hewlingl
Of this unknown animal. No white psfsenl
has ever seen him until ressntly, when b,
was discovered By . hunting party. Sever
} d neutrality-suspicious. OF ours-me
} on last Thursday week With view Of bsai
} hunting in this swamp; they were accom-
, panied By about Aftssn vel trained Bee,
dogs. They prepared fos the hunt early il
the morning, and, whom about commencing
their attention Vas attracted to an unusual
u large human track in the soft soil; upos
, examination il was discovered that tn,
track was constantly being reversed. II
an instant the stories Of the negroes occur
red to the party, and at once it Was deter
mined to pursue the creature which hsi
made this track. The dogs we're instantly
called and encouraged to follow the track
which they did promptly. The gentlemen
mounted upon good horses found but littll
dit3culty in keeping up with the hounds
In few minutes IN object was pressnts!
to their view which sent chill to the hear,
Of every member of the party. They had
uasarthed = nondsscript. A being-sppa
rsntly human-suddenly arose from bic lail
turned, and for moment sood in silen
inspection Of his pursuers, and then, instant
! ". With yell truly terrific wheeled, ant
with the speed Of the fastest hosss rushet
away bsfsrs the dogs.
This wild and exciting chase Wa contin
ued for distance Of nearly ten miles, whsl
ct last the terrible monster, foaming viii
rses, Was brought to bay upon the bank .
the Big Black, and turning with fury un
} parallelsd, il seized the foremost dog viii
both hands. and BY the exercise Of super
human muscular strength, buried ito lonl
talsns in the body Of the hoWling brute, an,
literally tore the dog ssunder. Droppin,
l SuiS ~ tuelsusty Se'Leu Su0 ucAt ouO boOt u
two immense tusks through the skull of tn
doomed dog. Ons ofthe hunters, becomin,
alarmed for the safety Of the party, drew hi
revolver and fred twice at the monster, bu
evidently without effect other then to fright
en- it by the report, when, turning with
hideous yell, it plunged into the river. div
I ing and remaining under water fully fiv,
! minutes, when it would suddenly sprin
high into the air, screaming with the voic
Of regiment of soldiers. 1t finally swan
. to the opposite side and disappeared in tn
] mel shboring forest, since which time it ha
, only been seen twice by white persons. -
Several attempts have been made to cap
ture 1t, but up to the present time withou
success.
What this strange creature is, no one cal
conjecture. The gentlemen with whom VI
have converted represent it % . black ma.
about six feet high, but in other respects r.
.. sembling to great degree the desert ptios
.. given BY the negroes.
1t has broken the negroes from attend
ing loyal leagues At night in that section .
I country.