Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-10-02
A TENNESSEE STORY.
Eox Hunters Encounter Wild Man in
nfarshall County.
From the Washable american.


From the Nashville i mericdn.
Monday night in the quiet recess of the
reporters room the following remarkable
story was related by a citizen Of Marshall
county, living at Chapel Hill. Marshall
county, as is well known, is in certain
parts one Of the widest sections Of the
State; is varied in all that great va
riety Of scenery for which Tennessee is
famous:
''Nly portion Of old Marshall" said the
speaker after a prolonged stiffness, "has
been shaken from centre TO circumfer-
ence over the excitement produced by the
discovery of a genuine wild man in the
cedar brakes near this place. Mr. Red
Jones and J ohn Wilhoyt, two old noted
1oX-hunters. gave chase to a red fox, as
they supposed. last Wednesday night, but
the dogs acting SO queerly led them 10
believe IT was something Of a larger ami
nal than they bad been used TO trailing,
and Of a more sagacous kind. When 1t
was tackled it gave fight and literally
tore three of the pack to pieces, and then
fed to the jungles Uncle jim Taylor,
who resides three miles and half from
Chapel Hill, OF whom most every body In
this county knows, was the next one
TO meet this animal. About daylight the
next morning he was awakened by some
thing fighting his dogs, and ne went to
the door with a light and was confronted
by this hairy creature wbichlgave signs OF
distress in gutteral sounds. On first be-
holding this mOnstrOsity in human form
he was prompted through fear TO search
for his gun, but at this juncture the yelp
of the leading hound broke the spell and
as If struck with terror it fed into the
darkness as the thirts-seven hounds came
bounding like the wind IN its wake. Az
ter two hours hard running IL stood
ground and gave battle at place called
Pole Bridge, a deep chasm over which
this structure spans, a wild and lonely
spot. The hunters for the first time had
now ample opportunity to scrutinize
their game; IL was at the far end Of the
bridge seen standing erect with a heavy
limb raised in the act of striking. His
eyes flashed and bis teeth chartered furi-
ously Neither being armed they could
only look on in establishment. He was
about five feet tall, with dark brown hair,
shaggy and long, his face covered with
bushy hair down to his waist. When he
observed the men be retreated, beating
his breast, and made straight for Duck
river, ;hree-quarters of mile distant, and
was seen to run along the shelving rocks
OF a high bluff and disappear, 1t is
supposed, into cave, as the dogs could
not i0ilOW.
This part of the county could certainly
conceal any wild animal from the sight Of
man for years without the fear of being
disturbed. Right here commences the
great cedar glades, an extended belt Of
wild and unsettled country, and an I'M
broken wilderness. The dividing line
from the cotton fields and timbered lands
Is waste noted tor many crimes commit
ted in its sOlitudes by John A. MurrelPs
band. who made it the rendezvous for
mnrderers and horse thieves. And dur
ing the war 1t was a haven for guerrillas
and counterfeiters that infested its bor-
ders. A party has been organized to
scour the neighborhood this wild man
was in last, and they viii use strenuous
efforts to capture him alive. 1t seems
hardly credible that such a being could
have existed in this State so long without
being detected.