Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-04-20
A Kentucky wild Man.

on him Sence. Tine CO71ttne72t.
A Kentucky Wild Man.
Among the passengers the other night
bound for New York from the west on
the day express was wild man, who
occupied seat in smoking car, No. 15S.,
He was accompanied by James Harvey,
and Raymond Boyd, his csptors, both Of,
whom belong in Paducah County, Ken
lucky. They had three second-class.
tickets to New York, which privileges
them to three seats in the snloking-car
of any first-class train. When the day.
express arrived at the Broad Street sta
tlon, at eight o'ciock, James Harvey ran
down the platform into the restaurant
and purchased box of sardinesy and
some sandwiches for the wild mans
supper. His companion remained in the
smoker in charge of the wild man. He
was dressed in citizens dress AMI wore
big cloth shoes. His hair reaches nearly
| TO his waist and falls over his shoulders,
completes covering his back; his beard
| as long and thick, while his eyebrows
are much heavier than those of an or.
binary human being, There is nothing
| imbecilic in the wild mans manners Of
| actions. He can not talk, and seldom ]
makes any sound whatever except low
howl like leopard His actions are as
much like those Of the hyena in the .
Geological Garden as 1t is possible for
| anything in human foriu to be. Ray
mond Boyd, who seemed 10 have perfect
| control over the wild man, said his body
was covered with coarse, brown hair as ;
thick rs the hair on horses hide. The
! palms of his hands looked like The paws
of bear, and his tinger-nails, which
were over an inch long, resembled the
claws of an eagle. :
| He was first seen in Paducah County
thirteen years ago, and was known as
''Mum, the Hermit because whenever ,
anyone accosted him all he would say
was, ..Mum's the word. SIS He lived in
an old pine hut in the woods for about !.
five years, and was seldom seen by any
one. Finally he abandoned the hutand /,
took up his abode in cave under a
ledge of rocks known as the "'Lizard
Rock" A little over six years ago two q
or three citizens of Paducah County,
while out hunting, saw him running into
his cave without stitch of clothing on
him. Three years ago it was discov-
cred that a thick coat of hair had grown
all over his body. Boyd and Harvey
j built man-trap for him over three days
before he entered it. He was not afrai,A'
of any bird or beast of prey, but ran ter
rified away from any human being who
approached him. 1t took two DAYS to ;
accustom, the man-beast to their press
ence. The tinkle of small dinner bell +.
they used had great influence over
him. He watched the bell intently but
would not touch it. ls. 81. tiuo~ fs'N lfaH
Some time ago farmer missed calf
and two sheep, which had strayed off.
They were tracked to NUNS" cave;h
here all trace of them was lost, and it is
supposed he deyoured them. 5 In his
cave, which he had occupied for the last
seven or eight years, Boyd and Harvey
found the skeletons of small animals and
the skins of over fifty snakes. Some, of
the skins belonged to the most venomous
!. species of reptiles. The floor of the
: cave was alive with red and green liz
j ards, and hundreds of toads hoped
: about. The wild man ate the box of ,sar-
! dimes voraciously and the two sand
witches which were handed him were
, greedily pulled apart. He ate the ham
and threw the bread away, Whenever
: a train passed on the opposite track he .
crouched down in the corner of the seat
terror stricken. After the train passed
liO NOul0 NttA Ills u1llQ w nAo Cttt ttih0 AiSttu
with look of animal cunning stealing
out of his restless eyes, like panther
about to.pounce on its prey. Every time
the engineer blew his whistle the wild
man would grab the back of the seat with
both hands and hold on until the whistle
J ceased blowing. Boyd had a little tin
music-box which he manipulated with q
crank. The one tune of empty is the
Cradle was ground again and again to,
the great satisfaction Of the ex-hermit,
who sat and looked at it silently, but
would not touch it. Gfst FaiF.sh
When Conductor Harry Smith took
out his glistening nickel-plated punch to
cancel the tickets the wild man watched
, the punch intently until he heard it snap.
Then he got down in the corner of the
sat fairly shivering with fear, and set !,
up a low howl supposing, evidently, that
! Conductor Smith was about to wing him.
Boyd and Harvey said that there was
story to the effect that the wild man had
originally come from North Carolina,
and that during the war he had been a
sharp-shooter on Bald Mountain, and
that shortly after the war he had muir.
dered whole family of settlers in the
mountain and fled. Both Boyd and
: Harvey appear like shrewd fellows, and
J expect to make fortune out of their
prize. Their great anxiety and fear ID
that the authorities will interfere with
them and claim that the man is simply
, lunatic and place him in some institu-
, ton; They had the snake skins in box
r in the baggage car, together with some.
other curiosfties found In the cave. Boyd
) said that the wild man will not touch
anything but fruit and meat, which he
r eats ravenously. and much the same as
a wild beast. Cigar smoke bothered him
t. good deal, and he kept driving it away
from him with his claw hands. When
j the train arrived in Jersey City the men
took a carriage and said they were going
D to take the New Haven night boat from
4 the foot of Peck slip and avoid daylight
t crowd in New York. M hflGdeiTnh Press.
Il. r Isl 49, -s------- -- Zsaig ri a
II Robbed Of Her, Tresses. .a.ls qls
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