Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-03-13
AN ILLINOIS
A Child With the Body Of an Adder and
the Hiss Of a Serpent.

Paw Paw (Ill.) Letter in Chicago Tines
About seven years ago a family
removed from an Eastern State to the
township of Paw PAWN this (DeKalb)
county. From all appearances the
family, consisting of the parents and
two children, lived in harmony. They
had not lived long in their new home
when the husbands sister arrived from
the East and took up her abode in
their family. She was fair, and in
some way formed the acquaintance of.
a young and Jealous minister, then
feeding a flock of lambs in a neighbor-
ing city. Through her bowitching
manner and surprising loneliness Of
form and face he became apparently
deeply enamored of her. 1t is alleged,
however, that he deceived the girl
and never intended matrimony. As
a natural consequence his action GRE
ated great CONSERVATION among his
flock, and especially embarrassed his
victim Of misplaced confidence. SO
great was the excitement that the
reverend gentleman left for parts I'M
known. Though nothing transpired
to show the guilt of the unfortunate
girl, she was often goaded to madness
by her sister with the constant accusa-
ton of disgracing the family. In re-
venge she went to her brother, who
often sympathized with her, and made
some false, startling and ~disgraceful
revelations rejecting on the character
OF her sister (his wife) in connection
with the polluted pulpiteer. Brooding
over his misery, he went into the hay
field. He had not worked long, however
until he discovered huge snake crawl
ing in the grass. Prompted by a spirit
of revenge, the irate husband picked
it up, secreted it in his pocket and i'm
mediately went to the house. In the
doorway he met his innocent wife, who
was utterly unconscious of the great
wrong that had been perpetrated upon
her. Approaching her in his rage, he
put his left arm around her neck and
shoulders, and with his right hand
drew from his pocket the e-ver-accursed
snake, which he abruptly thrust into
the bosom of her dress. Frantic with
terror she disrobed as rapidly as pos
sible, but not until the reptile had
glided through all the accesses of the
clothing next to her person. This
event, though momentary in its full
hllment, was an evil the sad effects
of which brands an unfortunate
creature during its existence. Time
passed rapidly away, until the
birth of child revealed the eyer-to.
be-regretted incident. In the mean
time the innocent wife pleaded and
clearly proved her innocence and
wifely virtue. This allayed the anger
Of the husband, and again united the
heads Of the household. The above
are Observation-Disclosures facts, while the
Times reporter witnessed the follow
ing in person On a back, out-of-the-
way road, that crossed an expanse of
prairie, the Times correspondent dis
covered the house, consisting of
apartments built after the manner of
an upright and l., and standing at a
considerable distance from the road
He stopped, and his knock at the door
was responded to by an intelligent
looking, middle.aged woman, who in
ylted him to come in and sit down.
Everything about the house presented
a neat and home-like appearance.
When he made known the object of
his visit he was led to a spacious room.
where, in a basket about seven feat
long and three feet wide and two feet
high, lay the animated specimen that
combines in one body the human and
the Qphidlan, After removing tho
wooden Blankets hat covered the form
it uttered a prolonged hiss similar To-
that OF a snake. 1t il a male, nearly
hye years Of ego, and is five feet seven
inches IN length, Being unable to
attain an upright position no crawls
about similar 10 reptiles. He is
speechlols, and makes no utterance
except to hiss, The head is bald and
spotted on the crown. The mouth
contains fangs. He is carnivoWus,
broathes slow and can live a long time
without food, Tho body is perfect in
FORM but spotted with black, while
the arms and lower limbs arc like the
body of a snake, scaly, flexible and
taper to points.