Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1883-04-05
A KENTUCKY WILD MAN.
A Man Covered with Thick Ha'r. who
Refuses Bread but V0raciousiy Eats
Neat and Keiishes Fruit
Philadelphia Press.

| the day express was wild wan. who
occupied seat in smoking car 1873.
He was accompanied by his captors
james Harvey and Raymond Bovd,
both Of whom belong to Paducah CO.,
Kentucky. They bad three second
class tickets to New York, which priv
ileges them to three seats in the smok-
ing car OF any frst.cl,se train. They
were on their way to Bridgeport, Conr.,
to make arrangements with P. T. Par
mum to exhibit thier prize in connec-
ton with lis circus.
When the day express arrived at
the Broad street station, at s o'clock,
! James Harvey ran down the platform
into the restaurant and purchased a
box OF sardines and some sandwiches
for the wild mans supper. His COM
panion remained in the smoking car
in charge of the wild man.
He was dressed in citizens dress and
wore big cloth shoes His hair reach
es nearly to his waist and falls over his
shoulders, completely covering his
back, his beard is long and thick, while
his eyebrows are much heavier than
these of an ordinary human being
There is nothing imbecile in the wild
mans manners or actions. He can
not talk and seldom makes any sound
whatever except a low howl like a
leopard. His actions are as much
ike those of the hyena in the zoolog.
ical gardens as it is possible for any.
thing in human form to be.
Raymond Boyd, who seemed to
have perfect control over the wild
man, said that his body was covered
with coarse brown hair as thick ag that
on horses hide. The palms of his
hands looked like the paws of the
bear, and his finger nails, which were
over an inch long, resembled the claws
of an eagle.
He was first seen in Paducah Co
thirteen years ago, and was known as
"Mum the Hermit" because whenev.
er any one accosted him all he would
say was, "Mum's the word" He
lived in an old pine hut in the woods
about FIVE years, an! was seldom seer
by anyone. Finally he abandoned the
hut and took up his abode in a cave
in ledge of rocks known as Lizard
Rock" A little over six years ago two
or three citizens of Paducah county
were out hunting, saw him running
into his cave without stitch of cloth.
Jog on him. He was seen severa
times after that wearing no clothing
Three years ago it was discovered tina
a thick coat of hair had grown al
over his body.
nDrI aud Horuax b,,i1t n h,4v
for him over three weeks ago, snC
placed big piece of freshly killec
beef in it, They watched the trap
three days before he entered it. He
was not afraid of any bird or beast o.
prey, but ran terrified away from any
human being who approached him
1t took two days to accustom the man
beast to their presence. The tinkle Of
q small dinner bell they used had q
great influence over him. He watched
the bell lntently but he would not
touch it.
Some time ago farmer missed a
calf and two sheep, which had strayed
off. They were traced to "Mum's
Cave" here | trace of them was
lost and it was supposed he had de.
voured them.
In his cave which he had occupied
for the last seven or eight years, Boyd
and Harvey found skeletons Of small
animals and the skins of over fifty
snakes. Some of the skins belonged
to the most venomous species of the
reptiles. The floor of the cave was
alive with red and green lizards, and
hundreds of toads hoped about.
The wild man ate the Cox of sar-
dimes voraciously, and the two sand
witches which were handed him were
greedily pulled apart. He ate tke
ham and threw the bread away. Wher
a train passed on the opposite side o.
the track he crouched down in the cor
liner of the seat terror stricken. After
the train had passed he would put hh
hand to his ear and listen With loot
of animal cunning stealing out of hi
restless eyes, like ~ panther about t
pounce upon its prey.
Every time the engineer blew hi
whistle the wild man would grab th'
back of the seat with both hands anC
hold on until the whistle had ceased
blowing.
Boyd had little tin music boz
which he manipulated with a crank
The one tune of empty Is the Ora
die" was ground again and again t
the great satisfaction of the exhermi
who sat and looked at it silently bu
would not touch IT,
When Conductor Harry Smith tool
out his glittering nickle-plated punch
TO cancel the tickets the wild MAI
watched the punch intently until h'
heard it snap. Then he got down IL
the corner of the seat, fairly sniveriDt
with fear, and set up low howl sup
posing, evidently, that Conductor
Smith was about 70 wing him.
Boyd and Harvey said that there
was story to the effect that the vile
man had originally come from NORTH
Carolina, and that during the war ht
had been sharp-sootey on Bald
Mountain, and that shortly after the
wer he had murdered whole family
Of settlers in the mountain and had
| fed.
y ~ no,~l ,,,d IIarvaXv apppap lilo