The Ocala banner., 1922-12-29
THE MYSTERY or DECEMBER 1t
WHO WAS IN. L. 5.?v


the slightest sign that he understood
what had been said to him. The Of
ficer repeated his order and accom-
panied it this time with a shove,
whereupon the boy staggered and fell
TO the ground. Assuming that he was
drunk, the police removed him to a
nearby hospital and it was only then
that one of the strangest cases in
history began to come to light.
Although he was of average size
and well formed, the youthful stran-
ger was unable to speak-not because
of any impediment in his voice or
because of any bodily injury, but
simply becuase he had never learned
to talk. Moreover investigations
showed that the soles of his feet were
convex, like those of a baby that had
never learned to walk ,and upon in
vestigation it developed that he had
never taken step in his life.
The hospital officials tried to revive
him with the usual restOratives, but
the boy refused all food except bread
and milk, upon which he fell with
an avidity which showed plainly that
he had not eaten for many hours. In
short, it was evident that this youth
had been confined somewhere from
infancy and that for some unknown
reason he had been placed upon the
bridge at Nuremberg to shift for
| himself
His case was a riddle to the local
authorities and to the scores of per-
sons who came from all parts of Ba-
varia to examine this strange curios-
ity. The only clue to his identity was
a Letter found in his pocket which
stated that the boys name was Kas9ar
and that he had been born on April
so, 1912. There was in addition men
tion of the fact that his mother had
been too poor to support him and
that he had been raised by a Bayarian
laborer-statements which were evi-
IDENTIFY false in view of the boys in
ability to walk or talk, to say moth
ing of the fact that his features pro-
claimed him to have been of aristo-
cratic if not of noble birth
Prof. G. F. Daumer. sof the Univer-
Fsity of Nuremberg. became interested
in the mysterious youth and took him
to his home, where he found that the
young man could write two words,
"Kaspar Hauser," which Prof. Dau-
mer believed was name which had
been given to him in order to dis
guise his real identity. He was not
able to write anything else, nor could
he pronounce what he had written,
but within a few months he related
as much of his history as be could
remember.
According to the story which he
told bit by bit, he had been confined
all the early years of his life in
dark cell A man had come every
! day to wash and dress him and to
bring him milk and water and it was
this same man who had taught him
TO write the name "Kaspar Hauser".
AT last, his jailer had blindfolded
him, placed him in wagon and then
left him at the Nuremberg bridge.
"Hauser's remarkable story natu-
rally attracted widespread attention
and hundreds of persons visited Prof.
Daumer's house in the hope that they
might b cable to recognize the mys-
terious boy The five years which
followed brought no new develop
ments in the case until, toward the
and of 1888, the wealthy Lord Stan
hope, of England, who had taken an
interest in Kaspar, offered to send
him to England where he would be
educated as his own son. On the
day before the young man was to
have left, a stranger handed him a
note telling him to come to the Uzen
Monument in the palace grounds at
4 Ausbach, at o'clock on the night of
Dec. Is, where he would learn the
secret of his birth. Without inform
ing Lord Stanhope of this communica-
ton, Kasper went to the appointed
place Less than an hour later he
staggered into his guardians apart
ment with blood dripping from
knife wound in his side. and, after
gasping out the two words "Uzen
Monument" fell to the floor, dead.
At the foot of the monument was
found purse of violet-colored silk
containing scrap of paper on which
had been scrawled the words ''Kaspar
Hauser. born April 80, 1872 Muir
dered December Is. 1888. Know by
this taht | come from the Bavarian
frontier on the river. These are the
initials of my name-M. L. B."