New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-04-30
AN ANIMAL MYSTERY.
KILLED after Il BLAST.
Erc0uatOrs for Phpps Houses
Scared by Strange Beast.

When Pat" Cochran. fireman of a gang OF
iaborers at work in an excavation at 63d-st
and Amsterdam-ave.. fired a blast yesterday
morning he expected that as usual. heavy
pieces OF rock would be thrown lp from the
bowels OF the earth. The pieces of rock few
Up al right, but there appeared from amid the
crumbng ruins Of what a second previously
had been piece Of solid granite a long. hairy
monster. with gTfnning mouth and birdlike
tslons, and tail that not a tail, the like
OF which had never before been seen by Cock
ran or his gang.
There were twenty laborers in the gang. Ital-
fan and Irish They had all climbed out Of the
four foot excavation 10 await the explosion Of
the blast. When the explosion came they jumped
into the hole again and it was then that they
discovered the beast.
Cochran was the first TO see it, He couldn't
help seeing It, for according to eye witnesses
the extraordinary thing sprang directly at him
as soon as the foreman reached the bottom of
the hole Cochran gave yell His sIbordinates
scrambled out OF the hole panic-stricken and
took 20 their heels. The Italians crossed them
selves and muttered prayers. The Irish contin-
gent TO q man sought nerve bracers in a nearby
saloon. Meanwhile the intrepid Cochran raised
his shovel TO meet the onslaught of the thing"
With al his strength he struck II killing blow
on the back Of the head.
Then Cochran. white-faced and shuddering
touched the thing" with hand that trem-
bled and satisfied himself that he had killed it
Cautiously he raised the three feet of hairy
body on his shovel and bore it trIumphantIy
into Forns saloon. Amsterdam-ave. and 9th
81 There he placed the thing on the bar and
tossed down a strong drink as quickly as the
ba.keeper could supply X
George Form. the prop <o,or of the saloon,
examined the animal with awe and curiosity.
what dyer call it," ne asked of Cochran.
Holy mother how should ! know?" grOwled
the foreman. 1T is strange TO me. Never have
seen such thing till this day, God help me.
Ne oud father i'm Ireland viii not believe It
when I write him"
''win You sell it," asked the saloonkeeper.
Sell it, gasped Cochran. ITS yours, man.
Tor bottle of booze"
The deal was made and all yesterday the
thing" had a place Of honor on the sideboard Of
the saloon next 10 the cash register. News of
il spread abroad and many curious persons
came 10 see il. BY 10 o'clock last night the
saloOnkeeper estimated eight hundred persons
had visited his place. There was only one in
al that crowd who attempted TO give the mon
ster a name. He was q 10th-ave. amateur
naturalist. This man turned the thing over and
examined it curiously 1T is undoubtedly some
kind Of sIoth." he sal5. but different va
/
a Tribune reporter pushed his way through
the crowd before the bar last night and exam
tined the monster al close range. He found an
animal three feet in length. with head some
thing Ike that Of a squirrel. fur bearing close
resemblance 10 a much advertised breakfast
food, and the claws OF z bird. The reporter
felt OF The things body, and beneath the fur
coat were the ribs Of a human being. The tail
vas hard as rock and only a quarter of inch
u length. A colored man who had emptied
many glasses stood at a corner Of the bar, sur
Tey1ng the strange thing with dilating eyes and
At frequent intervals uttering bloodcurdling
howls OF terror.
Even stranger mystery than the monsters
identity is how il came 10 be found in the 64th-
st excavation. The foundation of the first OF
the Henry Phipps model tenements is being
dug there. II the thing is Of the sIoth family.
its habitat must have been South America
How. then. came il there? The learned Of Am
sterdam-ave. spent last night asking them
selves this question.
According TO George Form. the proprietor Of
the saloon, yesterday was not the day the
monster was seen For the last three weeks
coiored men IN the naighborhood have reported
q strange thing roaming around the rocks Of
64th-st. Until yesterday the stories Of these col
ored men were scOrned as. idle tales.
One theory advanced last night was that the
thing may have escaped from the Hagenbeck
animal collection, which was exhibited at the
St Nicholas Rink. nearby. some years ago An
other theory advanced was that the monster
was one Of the wild creatures Of Central Park, a
relic Of the time when the park wild coun-
M Form SAYS he viii donate the animal 10
the Museum Of Natural History. Last night he
called up The telephone and informed
that one Of the directors Of the museum would
visit the saloon and examine the animal but up
70 a late hour this authority had not arrived.