The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1913-03-26
Wild Man is FOUND
THRILLING STORY OF His CAP.
TURE FOLLOWS

IURE FULLuHS
CAUGHT IN THE jungle
The Man, Who Looks Like a Beast,
is Covered From Head to Foot
With hair, Was Driven From the
Swamp by the High Waters Of. the
Santee River.
A thrilling story of the capture of
a typical wild man of the jungle,
negro, covered from head to foot with
black, bristling hair, as thick and
long as that on some giant gorilla,
on the edge of Santee Swamp, in
South Carolina, near Lanes Junction,
fifty miles north of Charleston, is
told by W. S. Damon, conductor in
charge Of the Atlantic Coast Line pas
senger train which arrived at 1925 p.
N. from Florence Sunday, says the
Savannah Morning News of Monday.
The wild man, Mr.. Damon states,
driven from Santee Swamp by
freshet in the Santee River, hid IN
barn near the edge of the marsh land
and, when discovered, fought fend-
ishly until overpoNered and cowed
into subsection. The man is now
chained and tied with ropes in the
barn in which he was captured, the
conductor says.
Details of the capture of the man,
Mr.. Damon states, are unknown to
him. Lanes Junction is division
point where transfers are made for
Columbia, Georgetown and Savannah.
He said that when his train reached
! the junction Sunday morning at
11:1O O'Clock the little town was in
state of intense excitement over the
capture Of the man. The Savannah
train did not stop at Lanes, however,
for longer than five minutes and so
Mr.. Damon could get but meagre in
formation Of the affair. The ne
groes of Lanes are panic-stricken,
Mr.. Damon says.
What disposition will be made of
the man Mir. Damon declares he does
not know :. He says that it is his
supposstion, however, that the mat
ter will be reported to the authori-
ties Of the State Hospital for the In
sane at Columbia and that the man
will be sent there for confinement
and observation. The man is a bur-
" negro and speaks some English,
says the conductor.
It is generally thought, the con-
duetcr says, that the negro il either
an escaped convict or fugitive from
justice. He says it is the general be-
lief at Lanes that the man went into
Santee Swamp to hide from officers
of the law and, frightened by the
loneliness of the place and the fear
Of capture, became insane.
Another theory Of how the man
reached his present state Of savag,
cry, Mr.. Damon says, is that the ne
gro, already man, wandered into the
swamp and remained there. The ap-
pearance Of the negro, it is stated
would indicate that he had been liv'
ing in the swamp as a savage fol
probably many years.
According to Mr.. Damon, when
members Of a family of negroes re
s siding on small farm on the edge
of Santee Swamp went out to ram.
shack1ed barn in the rear Of tkeil
little cabin, about daybreak Sunday
they were frightened by the terrible
sight Of a man, over six feet tall
broad and muscular, with great
brawny arms and heavy shoulders
covered from head to foot with thick
black hair and whose eyes CLEANED
like those Of some wild animal
crouehed in one corner Of the shack
as though ready to spring upon the
first living creature which molesteo
him.
The family Of negroes, it is said
were thrown into panic and went
hurrying in all directions in search Of
aid. Residents of that neighborhooc
went in response to the frightened
cries and pleas for help. A small
mob, it is said, formed around the
barn within half an hour and plans
were hastily made for the capture Of
the man alive, if possible, and witt
as little injury to him as necessary.
The negro showed signs Of fight
and when the effort to catch him con
tinued, fought viciously. Finally
however, without any Of the mob be
ing hurt and without inhicting any
injuries upon the man further than
a few bruises of a minor nature, the
burly stranger, more animal in ap,
pearance than human, was oyerpow'
cred and tied hand and foot.
Quickly the news of the fight with
and the capture of the man spread
over the surrounding country ano
people from adjoining settlements
and residing on small farms and
along the railroads ia all directions
from Lanes Junction began to pour
into that little town to view the
strange species Of human held il the
barn of the negro family.
Little groups and circles of people
the blacks and the whites to them.
selves, began to form all over the
streets of Lanes Junction, with here
and there larger gathering of white
men, with few awe-stricken ne
groes on the outskirts who would
listen for few moments to the
49, fhon or