The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-04-04

1t has not been a great while since the
newspapers and other periodicals, of both
America and Europe, with great gravity
and erudition were discussing the Man
with Tail, alleged to have been dis
covered on the frontier of AMMAN, in
Asia, by NJ. Paul d'Enjoy, the explorer
The first information with regard to the
discovery of this missing link was pub
lshed by the Bulletin of the Paris Geo
graphical Society, to which publication,
1t appears, M. Enjoy himself forwarded
the data. The information was to the
effect that the Man with a Tail belonged
to the Moi tribe of semi-enlightened saw
ages; that NJ. d'Enjoy had found him up
a tree and had enjoyed the happiness of
an interview with him. AS one result of
the interview, the Moi Man with a Tail
had agreed to accompany the explorer to
civilization But before civilization was
reached, according to the story, the miss
ing link slipped the golden cable-died,
and was gathered to his tailed fathers.
The periodical publications of America
and Europe as before said, took up the
matter and discussed it gravely and learn
eddy. They went upon the assumption
that the lacking factor in the Darwinian
theory had been supplied, and that It was
now possible to trace the descent of man
back through tailed men to monkeys, and
finally to primordal protoplasms. Some
of the disciples of the new journalism"
to add realism to scientific truth. went
to the length of printing pictures Of the
Annamite Man with a Tail, his abode in
the trees. etc. They pictured a man with
a caudal appendage almost long enough
to sweep the ground-the accentuated tail
of brown monkey. They showed his
body to be muscular and rough But his
face in the pictures had decidedly eau.
casian characteristics. They Furthermore
dilated in extenso upon the Annamite
country; its primitive condition and the
undeveloped state of its people.
tt transpires, according to late advices,
that about all Of these notions with re-
gard to NJ. dEnjoy's Man with a Tail
are erroneous. The explorer himself never
claimed that his Man had more than "a
deers tall" that is, probably an inch or
two long. There are anthropological au-
thorties who MAINTAIN that all of the au-
thenucated facts go to show that NJ
d Enjoy came upon freak and not upon
type; that his missing link" was not
the wanted link in the chain of human de-
scent at all but deformed semi-savage
person, whose isolation from civilization
alone made him peculiarly interesting;
that the creature did not live In the trees,
but instinctively climbed a tree for the
purpose of concealing himself upon the
approach OF a supposed enemy. These
conclusions are strengthened by letters
from the explorer himself.
Thus the fine scientific sensation is dis
sipated. like a ripe thistle crest by a puff
OF wind. The Moi tribesmen do not oc-
cupy the halfway ground between men
and monkeys. d'Enjoy's specimen was
not characteristic, but deformlty. An
nam Is not a country in which evolution
is only half way up TO date.
But how about South Carolina? II APP
pears from published accounts that there
Is at least one Man with Tail in that
state. He Is said 20 be a native of Ben
Tillman's county. Edgeheld. and 70 wag
a tail some twelve inches In clrcumfer-