The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1869-07-17
SATURDAY MORNING, JULY II, 1863.

the woods for hours, but with no success,
further than the finding of camp fire
and the track of barefooted man i'm
printed in the soft soil of marshy part
of the forest; and the whole party, at
about 3 o'clock p. NJ, returned to Mr..
Browns house, and getting ready their
teams, started back to Woodruff village.
The party had proceeded scarcely fifty
rods from Mr.. Browns when on the
outskirts of the wood, and within twenty
rods of searchers, appeared the veritable
Wild man of the woods! Mysclf, Capt.
Buchanan, and others Immediately
started in full pursuit. We approached
within six or eight rods OF this strange
being without attracting his notice, when
suddenly, with wild, unearthly shrek,
he notified us that we were perceived.
L drew my rifle, intending to halt him
or send bullet crashing through his
skull I ordered hin to halt, when he
spraug with the agility of deer toward
the woods. I did not fire because on
second thought 1 doubted my right to
take the life of any human being, how
ever wild, until he had at least violated
some law.
$50 far I have related facts, which
will be vouched for by at least 100 per-
sons. will now give you n perfect
description of this wild manor animal
or "What is it'-as she. or it appeared
to mo. He was barofooted. bareheaded,
and wore no clothing except an old pair
of soldiers pants; his hair, which was
black, spriukled with gray, was from
two to three feet long, frizzly and matted,
hanging over his neck, face, shoulders,
and back, reaching. half way to the
ground; his beard reached to the waist
band of his pants, aud was jet black /;
this together with springing, jerking
hitch in his gait, gave him moro the
appearance of wild animal than hu-
man being; aud though am not of a
nervous temperament, may all the saints
in heaven shield and defend me from
ever meeting sm"h fandish ln,Li.~
being face to face again! The long,
matter hair; the thick, black, uncombed
beard; the wild, glaring, bIood-shot eye
balls, which seemed bursting from their
sockets; the savage, haggard, uuearthly
countenance; the wild, beastly appear
ance of this thing whether man or ami
NAL, has haunted me continually by day
and night; aud 1 do not wonder that
when this strange being raped on the
school house windows, children were
frightened half out of their senses, and
refused to be pacifed; for, although
have seen the chiefs of fifty different
tribes of Rocky Mountain Indians,
painted for the war path, and have
looked with wonder on the stuffed gorilla,
Barnum's "What is it, the u,au monkey,
&C., 1 never beheld anything in the hu-
man form half as hideoas as the wild
man of Woodruff woods
"I will close by saying that twenty
five years ago man named William
Little suddenly disappeared from Wood
hull, and has never been heard of since;
and as the farm on which the wild man
spends most of his time was formerly
owned by the absentee, it is supposed by
some that the wild man is none other
than William Little himself, returned in
this disguise to the home of his youth.
But / hardly think this theory the true
one. do believe, however, that a
woman and baby are somewhat mixed
up in the matter"