Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-10-08
ARREST MAD NAN IN
WOODS NEAR ODENTON
Reported He Is Slayer Of Abe
EdeIstein.
IDENTITY NOT ESTABLISHED
RecIuse Processes Not To Know His
Name May Be Deserter Of
ARMY Conscripts

Although the county officials shave
no official information concerning
the matter. a man, half nude and act
ing in queer manner, and thought
TO be demented was taken into GUS
tody yesterday in clump of woods
near 0denton, in the Fourth District.
He was taken by George Pritchett,
Chief of Police at the army canton
ment, Camp Meade, Admiral. His
identity has not been revealed
Various reports have been circulated
to the fact that the supposed degen-
crate is Frank Kowalewski, alleged
murderer of Abe Edelstein, a veal
thy Baltimore County cattle dealer,
at Clarke's' Station, this county, sew
eral weeks ago, and another report
has il that he is q deserter from the
corps of conscripts now under train
ing at Camp Meade That the man
may be Kowalewski is not believed
by the county officials owing to the
fact that the description of him does
not tally with that of Kowalewski,
who is known to Deputy Sheriff Will
lam d. X. Lee and several of the
other county officials.
II has been reported that the mad
man was brought to Annapolis and
lodged in the county Jail last night
This. however, is denied by Sheriff
Sullivan and the Jail officials.
Police Chief Pritchett found the
man about five miles from the
Kowalewski estate, which since the
crime has been virtually deserted
That the man had been haunting the
woods had been known for two weeks,
but until yesterday he had eluded the
vigilance of the police. Tales of a
strange being, wild eyed and de-
mented, had spread throughout the
locality, leading to rumors of haunted
houses and similar reports
1t was not until yesterday that the
man had been approached closely
enough to ascertain that he was ac-
tually demented.
He could give no account of him
self; does not know his name, and
babbles childishly about a fight with
soldier man" He is obviously a
Slay, knows little English and is ap-
parently troubled with what rem
nants of his memory he possesses.
A resident of Odenton who lost a
horse Saturday night was indirectly
responsible for the mad mans arrest.
Early yesterday morning this Oden-
ton man began a search for the miss
ing animal, and in the source of it,
happened into the depths of the
woodland, about three miles from
Odenton. He stumbled upon a de-
serted house, about which the under
brush had grown for perhaps a de-
cade. To his amazement, on look
ing around, he found narrow path
way, and upon it the footprints of a
large man. The marks were made by
naked feet.
Forgot His Horse.
Giving up all thoughts of his
horse, the searcher scrambled toward
the open and was hurrying toward
Odenton when he was suddenly con-
fronted by strange apparition Be
fore him, just at the edge of the
shrubbery, was standing tall, un-
kempt being, clad in filthy trousers
and bedraggled undershirt, his arms
folded and grinning foolishly.
The Odenton man didn't stop for
conversation, but beat hasty re-
treat for home. There he notified
Chief of Police Pritchett, who imme-
diately went out in quest of the man
of the woods He went directly to
the deserted house, but there was no
sign of the strange man save the foot
prints. With the assistance of sew
eral men. the Chief beat about in the
brush for perhaps an hour. when,
about half mile from the house, he
witnessed the same apparition as had
the man who sought his horse
Submits Easily.
Pritchett approached the man of the
woods. who continued to grin. He Of
fered not the slightest resistance as
Pritckett locked handouts about the
torn wrists, and followed meekly all
the way TO Odenton At the Hotel
Meade, the mad man was fed. and he
ate ravenously. In the pockets of his
ragged trousers were found half a
dozen nuts and a handful of berries,
on which he had fed since the begin
ming of his abode in the woods. After
he had been fed he was subjected to
a bath, so that Identification might be
facilitated Kowalewski was not wide
" known among Odenton folk, though
there we're perhaps a dozen who were
certain that the prisoner was kowa-
lewski. However, the mans physical
condition is such that if he is Kowa-
lewski. he has probably changed a
great deal since the murder. His
chest, legs and arms are iacerated and
the soles of his. feet are network of
bleeding gashes.