Rensselaer Republican, Volume 24, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 September 1891 — THD DRAGONS OF FRESNO. [ARTICLE]

THD DRAGONS OF FRESNO.

Winged Monsters that Derour Fowls with Three Snaps of Their Jaws. St Louis Republic. ~A number of persons living in the vicinity of Redleey, Fresno county, Cal., all reputable citizens, too. swear that they have seen and hunted two dragons with wings fifteen feet long, bodies without covering of hair or feathers, head broad, bills long and wide, eyes not less than four inches in diameter, and with feet like those of an alligator somewhat, though morß circular in form. They have live toes on each foot,with a strong claw on each, and its track is eleven inches wide and nineteen inches long. These strange creatures were first seen southeast of Selma on the night of July 11, and their peculiar cries and the pushing of their mammoth wings were heard as late as 10 o’clock, when all became still. The dragons were last heard that night crying in the direction of King river. ... : Two night? later A. H. Simmons’s poultry yard was visited by the monsters, many of the hens, being bitten in two and left party devoured. Those who examined the dead chickens say the teeth marks on them resemble those made by a very large dog. On July 19 a carriage loaded with picknickers was returning from a picnic at Clark’s bridge, and in the clear moonlight saw the monsters plainly circling in the air and heard the rush of their pinions, snapping of their jaws and fearful cries overhead. On Monday, July 21, Harvey Lemon and Major Henry Haight, who live just outside of Selma, going “after their hogs, who fed onthetules, heard a strangling noise in the deep swale under a bridge, and in a moment, with a heavy flapping of wings, tho queer creature rose slowly from the water, flying so close to the men that the wind from the tremendous wings was plainly felt. Their description of the monsters tallies with that of those who saw them on the 13th and 19th.

J. D. Daniels, of Sanger, heard of the matter and joined a party of five that were going out to capture or kill the dragons, and he tells me the following story, after reporting that their first night’s watch was a disappointment: “About 10 o’clock that day (Thursday) Emanuel Jacobs came in and reported that the monsters had evidently been in Horn Valey, about fourteen miles above, the night before. They had killed a number of ducks and the banks of the pond were strewn with feathers. We had no intention of giving over the plan of capturing the dragons, and Thursday night two of us returned to watch, Mr. Templeton and myself. We secreted ourselves Ifi the holes which we had nfaCdo the night before and waited patiently with our guns, determined to secure one of the strange visitors,- at least, should thoy make their appearance. About 11 o’clock the cries were heard in the direction of King’s River, seemingly two or three miles away. The ominous yells drew nearer, and in a few moments we heard the rush and roar of wings so hideous that our hair almost stood on end. Tho two dragons came swooping down and circled round and round the pond in rapid whirls, screamiug hideously all the while. We had a good view of them while flying. _ _—

“They passed within a few yards of us and their eyes were plainly visible. We could also see that instead of bills like birds they had snouts resembling that of the alligator, and their teeth could be seen as they snapped their jaws while passing. Evidently the dragons wore trying to decide whether or not they should come down in the pond. They were probably examing if any food was to be had, such as ducks, mud hens, and fish. At length they same down with a fearful plunge into this pond, and the mud and water flow as though a tree bad fallen into it. They dived ground in the water, and as nearly as we could judge at the distance of thirty yards, they were something over six feet long, and while wading through the watar they looked not unlike gigantic frogs. Their wings were folded and appeared like large knobs on their backs. Their eye were the most visible parts and seemed all the time wide open and staring. They were very active, and darted about among tho tules and rushes catching mud hens. One of tho fowls was devoured at two or three champs of the jaws. As soon as we saw a good opportunity we levelled our guns at the one nearest us and fired. One rose in the air, yelled and flew away. Every stroke of the wing showed great strength. The other floundered obout in the wat*>r until it reached the end of the pond, when it crawled out, dragging along its wounded wing after it, and started across the plain. We loaded our guns and gave chase. We soon' tost sight of it for it went much faster than we could. However, we were able to follow by its dismal cries in the distance. We followed it half a mile, when it passed out of bur hearing. The next day a company went in pursuit and trailed it by tho blood on the grass. It was followed threqmlles to Jumper Slough which it entered and all trace of it was lost. it passed down the bauk it left several well-formed tracks in the mud. Ono of the best was cut out with a spade, and after drying was taken to Selma, where It Is in possession of Mr. Snodgrass.” San Francisco Chronicle. It is not entirely safe to assume that the strange winged monster which is reported to Inhabit the swamps and marshes in the vicinjty of Selma, in Fresno county, is a va-

riety of “gyasculus horribilis,” ai might be expected, nor that tht creature has been projected from thi fertile imagination of a newspaper correspondent. There certainly U some kind of a winged animal then which devours chickens and othei domestic fowl—not simply kills And eats them, but crushes and mangles them. In addition to this mute testimony, a number of witnesses, seemingly reputable, have actually seen two great flying animals, of a kind entire ly strange to them, circling through the air, uttering their weird and dis eordant cries, and swooping toward thei ground, while another witness has shot at and wounded one of thes< birds, if they be birds, and has sejcufed the imprint of the creature’s foot in the mud. One of two things is true,either all these witnesses are telling a false hood, intentionally, or as the result of self-deception, or they have come upon a survivor of an earlier and prehistoric age. In this latter hypothesis there is nothing , intrinsically, improbable. We are accustomed tc think of geologic ages or eras as be ing clearly defined.accurately limited periods of time, as though one endec all at once and another began itnmo diately upon its conclusion, as do the lines and figures representing these eras in the text books on geology and kindred seienees. The idea is erroneous in the extreme. No one can say that at a certain time one era ended and another began. On tht contrary the beast authorities agree that one era lapped over upon an Other; that the 1 records show that an animal 6r plant of one period is offer, found in another, and that survival of types of forms is not to be unexpected . If, then, the marshes of Fresno have given shelter for centuries tc forms of animal life with which we are unacquainted, there is nothing about it, however strange it map be. It will be an event in ornithology if these birds can be classified, especially if they are found tc belong to a palsezoic age, but beyond that it will prove nothing except thal there are stranger things in earth and heaven than are dreamed of ir our philosophy.