Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 April 1900 — A WILD MAN’S STORY. [ARTICLE]

A WILD MAN’S STORY.

Indiana Recluse Who b a JUgitiw from Justice. ' The wild man of Marshall county, Ind., has been interviewed. Dr. Gerald B. Harris, Emanuel Musser and Ira Shively have seen and talked with him and learned his story. The strange character has lived the life of a most ultra-recluse near Bourbon for some years, and has kept out of the reach of people as a general thing, though he has often been seen. Hie long exposure and wild solitary life have converted him into a cross between a human and a beast. Hii feeding is on the order of a beast, while his constant and only companion is a dog who seems to share the same life and finds it to his liking. The party surprised him, and guns were aimed at him before he had time to make his customary attack. He seemed sulky, and laid down near hie bonfire and curled up in the sand and ashes. He said he was a fugitive from justice in Germany. When he was young—just after he had married, about 40 years ago—he was accused of killing a man. Though he was guiltless, he ran away, and finally brought his wife and child to this country. The child died, and later the wife died, and he then began a roving life, which is now having its finish. He has been separated from the world so long that he has forgotten English, and only remembers his mother tongue imperfectly. He imagines, evidently, that the German officers are on his trail, and that all who approach do so for the purpose of placing him under arrest. He is now very deaf and has lost almost all of his human instincts. He lives on an island most of the time.—Commercial Tribune.