The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1876-07-29
A STORY ABOUT WORMS.
Singular Superstition and Ignorance of n
P.nnsy lyania Community.

The Allentown penn itegtsterof last week
contains the following curious narrative:
"Mr. George +. Ilersh, Of this city, while on
a recent visit to Ielerlown, met an acquainl-
ance who related II most singular story con
corning an army of worms and the supposed
cause OF Their presence. The occurrence took
place in Bucks county, ana The story is this:
AS | was al home They lold me that about IA
mile and u halt away tuere was an army OF
worms marching from one given point Ia the
other aud thence back again. This seemed
very strange 10 me, aud came to the conclu
sion that | would go ana see Tor myself. Con
sequenly | mlched IN The carriage and droye
to The place. | tied my horse 10 the lehce
aud commenced to examine, aud 10 my great
astonshment l beh,ld the worms in great
numbers creeping ut The place named, Just
from one gwen point TO the other, Il distance
of about three or four hundred yards. No
worm is TO Ue seen anywhere else, TINS
worm travels only morning and evening
evenings after sunset and mornings till about
: or . O'Clock. In The day time ihey lie con
cealeG under rocks and IN openings. l saw
them lie under rocks one against the other.
1t 10 50 full al their marching Tune that you
cannot help killing number al every step
you take wnen walking through that place.
II Is Il worm about an lncn Or an inch and u
quarter long, having whltish or yellowish
color, with u black stripe over lis back. 1t
has sixty.siX ieet, win which II hurrics itself
along al II lively speed. When you catch The
worm II screams. IL has also a very often
sive odor. 1t is 50 tender that If you touch
il II litlle hard II goes 10 pieces. 1t Is moi II
destructive worm, AS 1t only eats earth.
never saw such IA worm, and the curiosity OF
them p Umped me TO procure some; so j
a al in.
alcohol. hundreds Of people flock To that
place to see The worms, A man has been
mere from Philadelphia for the purpose of
procuring some OF them. The cause or pur.
pose of these worms, as some explain it, is
This: 'Aa old man, Mr.. Egg, II Catholic, was
living there for some time, but being some.
what derangcd, lac AT tunes revealed some OF
the secrets OF Their schemes and designs,
which aroused u deadly hatred among his
brethren. Consequently, one evening about
live or six weeks ago. II man came along in
Il sulkv, and stopped at MIR. BIS, where
this Mr.. Egg was AT the lime, and told MIN
that he had TO go with him. The old man
refused, when the other took out his revolver,
pointed II at HIM, and told him II he did not
20 along hc would shoot him. So, Tor better
or worse, he had To follow ON. At another
Catholic dwelling he CHR. Egg was again
one of the boys AS the cause of his being car.
rien away. Since that time nothing has been
heard of Mr. Egg until last week, when 1t
was reported thai he Was found near Quaker.
town IN heap Of bushes, shot in the side.
Since that time these worms have commenced
this marching from the home where Mr.. Egg
lived to the house where he was taken from.
This creates immense excitement among the
people. No one knows who this man was
out some Catholic family with whom he con.
versed and also stayed during part OF the
night. As there was not much SAID or done
concerning the abduction OF Mr.. Egg, these
worms now stir up the people, and investiga-
ton Is made in order that the abductOr aud
murderer Of this man may be brought le the
light. Aud pray the people NOT To let this
matter rest, but Ia do the utmost 10 bring this
devil In chains"
In another paragraph the Register adds the
following: Mr.. Charles Eckert, the Insur-
ance agent, was in Bucks county last week,
and by u friend taken 10 the place where that
singular army OF worms, mentioned in detail
in another column OF this Issue, holas forth.
lie reports that the place is visited by many
people from all sections of the country, and
from distant places. Last Sunday an i'm
mense crowd was on the ground watching
The marching OF these curious worms. Sci
entifc men who have seen specimens of the
worms say they never saw anything like
them, and can give no reasonable theory for
their presence in this peculiar locality. Mr.
Eckert says the account of our correspondent
concerning the worms is correct The PEG.
pie In that vicinity, which Is, We are told, a
very benighted one, believe in the abduction
and murder Of old Mr.. Egg. The excitement
is intense and constantly increasing. The
place where this curious phenomenon, II we
may SO call it, can be seen is about three
miles from Dunnelltown, near Pleasant Hill. p"