The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1874-01-29

I
q the s. I'm " here the hunters found him.
His Wife's health, he said. was poor,
and her mind very weak His daugh-
ter MelEina was born in 1850. She
never had any care from her mother
after she could walk. and no clothing
except cloth wrapped about her
when it was cold. William was born
two years afterWard, and was treated
in the same way. Palks and his wife
believed that it was useles t. clothe
their children out in the wilderness
where they lived. Neither of the
children ever spoke a word beyond
their strange gibberish, which they
apparently understood. They ran
wild in the woods, living on roots,
beech nuts, berries, and sometimes
killing and eating snakes and toads.
Walking so much on their hands and
knees, hunting their food, oceasioned
the distortion of their legs. Melvina
/ had always been of q docile, gentle
/ disposition, and easily managed. w IL.
liam was quite the contrary He was
vicious and ugly from the time he
| could creep, and, at the time the hun
ters discovered the family, was getting
quite Interchangeable. aa 81
The ssfarEn was used merely to
raise enough potatoes and pumpkins
to furnish food for the mother and
father. The children seldom ate &C
home, and slept in the woods when the
weather was not too coId-sometimes
being gone for days at a time.
DEsERTIoN OF THE MOTHER.
In 1857 the wife of Parks left him,
stating as reason that "Billp was
getting go uAmanageable and ugly
that she was afraid of him. She sOok
with her another child, baby, and
had never reIurnd. Up to the time of
the visit of the hunters Parks had liv-
ed alone in the mountains with his
wild, mute, idiotic children. If he
had occasion to go away he always.
/ tied Bill up in the house with a strong
rope, for fear he might kin Mclvina.
Parks said he found them great bur-
den, and their care interfered with his
studies. Surrounded by Wretched-
ness and filth, the father of these bf1te-a
like offspring had learned the Bible
almost by heart, being able TO repeat
whole chapters at will from any pof-
ton of il. He was also well versed
in history and mathematics, and had
Invented a system of shorthand write
ing, which he used with wonderful
dexterity. He exhibited specimens of
penmanship executed by himself
which were really elegant. He also
reeited selections from Shakespeare
in a manner that astonished his hear
ers. He said he regretted his wife's
absence very much, as it prevented
him from investigating an important
genealogical theory of his.
THE WILD CHILDREN LEASED FOR ExHI-
BITIoN.
The hunters left. finding it difficult
to credit even what they had seen and
heard. When the news of the exist
ence of the sWild family" became
known the "farm" was besieged with
callers, and two enterprising individ-
uals conceived the idea of securing the
family and exhibiting the"Wild mutes"
about the country. Parks was willing
to engage in the enterprise, and leased
his unfortunate offspring for the pur-
pose. He accompanied the exhibition,
s-lectnring" upon the circumstances at
tanding the lives of his children and |
himself, The "mutes were taken
about the country for few weeks, i
but the speculation proved failure,
and they were returned to the wilder |
ness. Removed from restraint, they
tore to shreds the clothing that had
been placed upon them as soon as they
reached home.
After the first excitement created
by the discovery of this family had |
died away they were forgotten. The |
arrest and Incarceration of one of
them has again bfougt them forward, !
and revealed still more sickening /
chapter in their history.
INFANTICIDE AND MURDER.
Parks, the father, says that after
theirreturn home from the exhibition
tour Bill became more and more yio- I
lent in his temper. He made several /
deadly assaults upon both his sister
and father. A few months aftertheir
return Melvina gave birth TO q child. |
This child she and Bill killed in the
woods and fore it to pieces. Not |
long afterward Bill attacked his sister |
and killed her with an old knife that |
Parks used to cut up pumpkins with /
Parks buried his daughter, and ever /
since that time has lived in deadly /
fear of his son.
THE WILD BOY ATTEMPTS PATRICIDE
One day last week Bill attacked his
father, knocking him down with a
CluD. i 0e OlU man SOl away 4TOul /
him, however, and came to this place
for an officer to arrest him. Two men /
went to Parks place aud succeeded /
after struggle in capturing him
They put suit of clothes on him and /
brought him to Tunkhannock, and /
lodged him in Jail. As soon as he
was placed in the cell he tore off his
clothing, and is now perfectly naked.
Hundreds have ffocked to the jail to
see him. Parks returned home, and /
is now living entirely alone. and pro-
badly finds ample time for his studies.
The wild mute, maniac son will doubt /
less be sent to the insane asylum to
spend the rest of his days.
It seems Incredible that in this en-
lightened age, within the sound, as il
were, of the church bells of populous
town, such case of ntter depravity I
aud wretchedness could exist. But I
the above are the facts, which can be I
substantiated by plenty of reliable
witnesses.
ITEMS FOR HoUsEKEEPERs.-A |
or vinegar is good to set colors, red,
green or yellow.