The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-10-28
5elrrt MisrrllanlJ.
Sea-People.

Why is it we hear nothing Of the
mermaid in our day! Is it true that
it has become extinct; that the voice
of the siren is no longer heard where
it once led the unwary on treacherous
shores: that sailors, welded to the be-
lief that it has its home in the sea. now
search iii vain for this curioas creaturez
The prudent man hesitates to give I
definite answer. for les than fifty Years
ago Il school of mermaids was seen on
the coast of Scotland. and it is but sixty
years since the last catch was made
Still there is the fact that in our day
no mermaid has been seen. This has
led to the belief that, like the dodo, the
roc. the dragon and the ccntaur, it is Il
thing OF the past. The skeptical man
even denies that the mermaid had
ever an existence. and holds that the
creature, half fish, half human, sprang
lIOili luc ulalll Oh SOihc NlStaSlt. MLO
told stories and spun yarns for the
marines. But the horse of Eocene
Europe was something between a
Shetland pony and a pig, with three
separate hoots Oh each of its feet" and
the scnihuman man of the Miocene
ace encourage the belief that the con-
Meeting link between man and the ape
may yet be found, perhaps in some
tastness in the interior of Africa: in
deed some travellers claim that in that
land of dark forests there is tribe Of
dwarts, human in aspect, but wearing
tails. And who has not laughed over
the circumstantial stories connected
with the sea-serpent2 Yet, if reports
speak true, Professor Baird has faith
in that willy creature, and knows no
reason why we should doubt its exist
encc.
Unfortunately we have no living
i ccimrn of the mermaid, and 10 dried
o !es, for that matter, other than those
that have come to us fl ON Japan: but
what more have we Of the dodo than
the drawing in the British Museum?
and if we reject the dragon, of which
we have litcraIly ly nothing but clliyies,
we throw dscrcCit on the Scriptures
the words put into the mouths OF
David, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, to say
nothing of the great red dragon that
has so large n place in Revelations
We have no such high authority for
the existence Of the mermaid during
the years that it had a place in the
fauna Of Europe, but many interesting
narratives Of its habits, both at large
and i'll captivity. nave come down to us.
There was an extraordinary catch
Of this Kind in the days Of Kin! John
Il in>r.nan, taken on the coast of Sui
folk, where it was kept in confinement
tor Il time. The body of the creature
above the waist (tor all below was coy
cred with scalrs) was hairy. but the
crown Of the head was bald, which
added much to its human aspect
''llrc would not or could Mt uttcraHy
Specchc, although to trvc him they
hung him up by the heels frudimcmtary
heels. probably) and miScrably tor
mentcd him. But he slept well when
left alone, land would gctte him to his
couchc at the setting of the sunnc and
rise again when it rose. One day
they allowed him to bathc in the sea.
first taking the prccaUtion to stretch
three nets across the mouth Of the
haven that he hight not escape; but
diving to the bottom he clmr up out
side OF the nets. AMI WAS Given up for
lost: in which. Ii however. they were mis-
taken. for he ct'n to them Lninr al
hi- o vn :,r,."r e, rrl r".Hlynrl with
iI,H; tNr N ,nth> after,