The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1899-12-29
WILD GIRL FROM CUBA.
who Was Found in the Woods
by an American.

Poor little "Cuban Wild Rose!" What
3 her real name, if she ever had any.
md what is her history? No one
xnows, for if she ever possessed either
Intellect or memory they have long
ince departed from her, and the most
assiduous efforts of those in whose
:are she is have so far failed to awaken
more than a glimmer of reason in her
larkened mind.
A circus tent is her world; fenced
platform her home; her chosen food
such food as untamed beasts would
Eat; her preferred raiment the garb
IF savages in their native wilds. She
1as no language except the monosyl-
able chatter and the swift, silent ges-
ture speech which makes her seem
weirdly akin to the simian family, al
though proofs positive that she belongs
to humanity alone, and she has no
thoughts beyond her primitive and
most forcibly expressed likes and dis
likes. Two years and half ago, we
are told, Jack O'Brien, an American,
was on hunting trip in the hills about
$50 miles from Havana, Cuba, and
found this strange creature hiding in
a sort of lair in the dense underbrush.
She had injured one of her legs SO Sc
verely that she had evidently been un-
able to get out in search of food for
some days, but weak and ill and Grip
pied as she was, she fought against cap
ture with all the frantic desperation Of
a trapped wild beast. Medical attend
ance and good care soon restored her
to health, and soon after that circus
man heard of her and secured her as an
attraction for his show.
It has been surmised that she is the
daughter of some Cuban planter whose
home was destroyed during those
dreadful days when Spanish rule was
making Cuba desolate, and that, crazed
with fright at the atrocities surround
ing her, she fed for shelter to the hills.
If this be so she is one of the most
pronounced specimens of atavism ex-
tant, for though she is evidently 10 or
20, her head is no larger than cocoa
nut, her strength is enormous, and all
her instincts are as savage as if she
had come to us out of prehistoric times,
when british brain and brute force
ruled the world.
Only one person can be said to have
control over her, and that is the gov
erness, who accompanies her every
where. This lady has been able to
make her understand q few English
words, but she has not been able to
make her wear the clothing or eat the
food Of civilization. Corn, raw sweet
potatoes, sugar cane, and raw meat,
which she tears to pieces and devours
likes fierce and ravenous animal, con-
stitute her regular menu. She knows
the use of q club, for whenever she is
able to possess herself of one she pro-
lceeds to emphasize with it her distaste
Tor the Ethiopian race, toward every
member of which she seems to cher
ish most ferocious antipathy. Toward
Fred Reynolds, the chief clown, she
shows something savoring of prefer
ence, as he evidently ranks next to
the governess in her estimation. For
the rest life means nothing to her but
plenty Of food, comfortable garments.
and a soft place to sleep in.
Taken altogether this wild rose of
Cuba is the strangest specimen of NOR
tally that has ever been publicly ex-
hibited, and, while she cannot fail to
interest the casual spectator, she per-
sents a profound student of ethnology
a problem worthy Of study if not pos.
sible solution.-San Francisco Call.
CLOCK IN THE SIDEWALK.