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

! WaS hrru9ht to church. where liz
showed no tokens Of alteration Al
length. when he was not well LOOKED
to, he stole away to the sea and never
after appeared.
Bat captured mrrmrn have not al
ways been 81 irrrvrrcnt \ father OF
/ tie Society of Jesus, returning tt
Rome from India, reported that dur
! inc his travels he has seen "a seaman
adorned with an Episcopal mitre" II
! did not bear its confinement well, and
| having been let loose. it made its way
down to the sea; but ''brfore it finally
disappeared it turned and bowed il
thanks for its liberty
AS general thing the mcrmaids cap
tured proved to be far more drvou1
when brought into the church thai
| mcrmea. In 1903 a mermaid taken in
a lake in Holland. ",hrown thithe,
| forth of the sea. was carried into the
city of Haelem, where "she suffered
| herself to have garments put upon her
and admitted the use of bread. milk
and similar articles of diet: also she
did learn to spin and to do many other
things after the manner of women; also
she did devoutly bend the knees to the
image of Christ crucitied, being docile
in all things of which she was COM
manded of her master; but living there
many years she always remained mute" !"
Stories are told of other mermaids that
became quite domesticated and made
themselves useful about the house, al
though. owing to the singular iorma-
tion Of their lower member and the alb
sence of feet. their movements on land
were necessarily constrained. and were
ut times awkward
Numbers of baby mcrmaidS have
been caught. Ole seen sporting with
its mother on the coast of New Spain
was taken alive and kept in a tub of
water for several days. when it died
for want Of proper nourishmcnt. This
specimen, when examined BY the Royal
Academy Of Science, at Paris, was
pronounced very child-likc in the up
per half of the body; but the fingers
were wehbed. and 'sthc hair OH its head
was coarse and more weedy than that
If an infant. OF mercilildrcn inter
rstn- accounts have been preserved
or two taken on the shores of the Isle
of Man one died of injuries it had re
ceived. but the other lived and seemed
skin was of Il pale brown color, the
scales were tinoed violet and the hair,
or what was taken for hair. was of a
greenish cast. Its mouth was very
small and delicately shaped, and, al
though it had no teeth, it fed with
avid.ty on shclltish, and drank freely
of milk and water, which it sucked
through Il quill, showing that it had
learned to feed from Il bottle.
\ tiny merchild, scarcely two feet
in length, caught in 1895, was exhib-
tied that year at the fair at St. Ger
main. 1t was very active in the vessel
in which it was kept. fed freely on
bread or small fishes, and while feeding
looked earnestly at the spectators-a
pecnliarity that WAS variously inter
prctcd 10y those who watched its move
ments. Although female the fea-
lures were extremely ugly, the skin
was harsh, the ears large and the tail
was covered with the regulation scale.
The coast of Scotland in the early
part Of the present century was very
good fishing grounds for mermaids,
and had it been worked properly some
fine specimens might have been cap
turcd As it is we are not without
evidence of good catches in that quar-
ter. Elizabeth Mackev. daughter OF
the Rev. David Mackay, was very cir
cumstanal in her account of one that
she and her cousin saw in 1909. The
face Of this creature WAS round and
plump, the nose was small, the eyes Il
light blue and the checks Il bright pink.
The hair, 'oi :. grecnsll oily cast, was
very abundant, and at times the waves
washed it about the creatures face in
a manner that seemed to annoy her;
nor was this the onl V thing that caused
her annoyance, for "A bird lowered about
her head as though disposed TO light
there, which kept her waving her long
and slender arms and we'll proper
toned bn webbed hands to battle its
'ii'I - HIS " ttN VII lilt -DtH III -huN
Il II on the 9th OF the following June Il
.huolmastrr. one William Monroe, of
TruroS. saw Il mermaid that rcscmbled
the ab,v IL had the advantage of
seeing the figure more exposed, for she
Wa, seated on half submerged rock
engaged in the on y occupation of mcr-
maid>-that of combing her brown
locks. which fell in waves over her
rounded shoulders. But her eyes were
gray and not blue. which raised a doubt
whether il was tht same mermaid Miss
NHUNay had seen some DAYS before
Whrn the creature SAW hat she was
Observed hy the svhpo.ma>t"r she mod