New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1889-05-22
THE MAN WOI F.


On two former occasions we had re-
ceived like reports. but had given
little attention to them. The super
stitious natives of India have many
strange beliefs. One of them is that
a brother who has murdered a
brother turns into a man wolf, and
roams the jungles 100 years as a
penance. While they hold this
animal in fear and terror, as well
they may, they reason that if he is
killed, another relative of the family
must take his place and serve out
the remainder ofhis sentence. There
fore, while they would talk to us of
these monsters, they were always
very careful not to locate them and
bring them into danger Wehad long
before made up our minds that there
was nothing so very queer in find
ing wild manin the ungles of1ndia.
Children are carried off by semi-wild
men Or wild animals almost daily,
and even the civilized countries have
their wild men roaming through the
forest. We we're willing to pay a
round sum for the capture of a man
wolf, believing he would turn out to
be only a wild man, but at the same
time a greater curiosity then a gorilla.
We had been making our head
quarters in village for several days,
batting our traps for hyenas and
having natives on the look out for
serpents, when one mid-afternoon I
got into hammock slung between
two trees on the outskirts of the vii
lage and dropped to sleep. My two
white men were already asleep in
hammocks some distance away, and
such Of the natives as were not out
for us were lying by to pass the heat
Of the day. There were two or three
children playing at the door of a hut
near me, but making little or no
noise. 1t was as quiet as if a spell
had been placed upon every inhabit-
ant. [ had not slept over half an
hour when a mosquito bit me on the
cheek and started me up. I lay on
my right side, and through the
meshes of the hammock could see
the edge Of the jungle, about forty
rods away. The children were still
at play, and were hundred feet
nearer the jungle than 1 was. Al
most as soon as I opened my eyes /
saw a dark object leap from the cover
of the thicket to the shelter of a sin
gle bush on the cleared ground. 1t
looked to me in the brief glimpse [
had like gorilla. [ measured the
leap afterward with a tape line, and
it was twenty three feet.
[ did not start up, but rubbed my
eyes wide open to identify the
strange creature. 1t had covered
until [ could see nothing but, black
spot, and it was two or three min
utes before it moved again Then it
suddenly leaped into view, bounded
for the children exactly as a monkey
leaps, and before I could call out it
had seized a little boy about two
and half years old, and was re-
treating with him. 1t was on it's
hind legs, both arms around the child
and running with great swiftness.
The body was naked and hairy, but
was convinced that it WAS that .ot
a human being. [ yelled out, and
the creature whirled about, raised
the child on high, and with "a
shrill scream of anger, dashed it
down on the hard baked earth with
a terrible force Then it shook it's
fists at the villagers swarming out,
and, dropping down ON all ifours,
bounded away into the Jungle. We
found the child gasping it's last.
That fling had broken almost every
, bone in his body. 1t was not until
the villagers were convinced that
had seen the creature and was
assured or it's identity thatithe head
man acknowledged it to be man
wolf, and that it had long been a
a menace to the locality TWAS, he
said, his cousin, who had killed a
brother fifteen years before AS the
creature had now killed three children,
against whom it seemed to have a
particular spite, and as it's presence
menaced the safety of the
of She village, he would give his. con
sent for US to seek it's capture. [
hplysad him To roach this commission
by a present valued at 800, and by
agreeing not to give the matter
awayin any other village.
The first thing to be dome was to
learn the habits Of the creature. He
was known to eat meat, roots, banks
and almost anything else which came
in his way. He must sleep, but no
one couldsay when, as he had been
seen prowhng around at all hours of
s the daV sind niOht Ha.wras vary