The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1878-11-13
A WILD MAN.
4 Fearful Prodigy Captured in
the Woods of Tennessee and
Brought to Louisville for Ex-
hibitiOn.
ro1isrille Courier-Jonrnal.


and wonderful creature. He will b,
exhibited throughout the country by
Manager Whallen. of the Metropo
Titan, who is third-owner in this re
markablc being. who promises tt
successfully battle all scientists who
desire to give satisfac ory eXpla
nation of his unnatu raj appearance
Before entering in to the details o
his capture. which form quite thrill
ing and Interesting episode, a des
cription of the curiosity, which Promi
ses TO excite more attention than Bar
NUNS 'What is it?" will be given
At a distance the general outline ot
his figure would indicate that he is
only an ordinary man. Close in
| spection shows that his whole body
is covered with layer of scales
which drop off at regular periods, in
the spring and fall, like the skin of
a rattlesnake. He has heavy
growth of hair on his head and a
dark reddish beard about six inches
long His eyes present frightful
appearance. being at least twice the
size of the average sized eye. Some
oc his toes are formed together,
which gives his feet a strange ap-
pearance, and his height when stand
ing perfectly erect is about 6 feet 5
inches. A nervous twitching of his
muscles shows a desire to escape.
and he is constantly looking in the
direction of the door through which
he entered. His entire body must
be wet at intervals, and should this
be neglected, he begins immediate
ly to manifest great uneasiness. his
flesh becomes feverish, aud his suf-
ferings cannot be alleviated till wa
ter is applied. At times he is dan
gerous, and yesterday morning when
Mr.. WhaIlen attempted to place him
in a wagon, in which he intended to
bring him to the theatre, it occupied
some time. The strange creature
acted i'll the most mysterious man.
ner, refusing obstinately for some
time to get into the wagon. He has
quite a sharp appetite, having eaten
a meal yesterday morning that would
have fully satisfied at least four
men. With the exception of fish,
his meals are all prepared in the or
dinary way, but the fish is eaten en-
tirely raw. DIR. Broyler says that
when alone he will sometimes NUT
ter an unintelIigible jargon, which it
would be impossible for any one to
understood, but that in the presence
of visitors he remains perfectly ST.
lent. Yesterday afternoon, from one
to four, a ,.rlvate exhibition was CIV
en-. and a number of ply sicians were
present, among them Drs. Brady and
Cary Blackburn, who said that he
was a great curiosity. DR.. Black
burn said that his scaly condition
could not be attributed to any skin
disease, but undoubtedly he was
born in that condition. He will be
on exhibition in one Of the private |
rooms of the Metropolitan Theater
this afternoon and tomorrow be.
tween the hours of enc and four
o clOok.
Only physicians and those special
~ invited will be allowed admission.
His exact age is not known. but for
the past eighteen years he has been
running wild in the Cumberland
mountain in Tennessee, near the
Caney Fork and Big Bone creek.
He has been the constant terror of
the community. although he was
never known to attack any one until
the day of his capture. DR.. G.. @.
Broyler, OF Sparta, Tennessee. says
that since the surrender of the Con-
federate army it has been his inten-
tion TO capture this creature and ex.
hibit him throughout the country
The DR.. says the parents of the wild
man are respectable citizens of North
Carolina, named Croslin. That their
son is mysterious freak Of nature
they did not doubt, they they could
not account for his scaly skin. A,
the tender age of FIVE years. having
always been possessed with a rowing
he left his home and
plunged Immediately into the noun.
famous region of Tennessee. Here
he lived as best he could, subsistmg
on the products Of the country. such
as roots and herbs and small ami
mails that he could capture. When
he was in the water he was in his
element. lie would dive down into
the depths OF the inland lakes, re-
naming under water for consider
able length of time. and finally
emerge with both hands filed with
small fish, which he would devour at
once in the raw state. DIR. Broyler
says that until about eighteen months
ago he had not attempted to cap
tnre. although he had been watching
the creatures actions for the past