Feb. 8, 1896.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
111 
brought our deer to camp, while Frelated the incidents 
of the afternoon's hunt to the Judge and Cap, who were 
both greatly surprised at King's appreciation of the shot- 
gun, and Cap and Judge both declared their intention of 
having fun with King about my beating him. 
When seated around the fire after supper, the Judge, 
pointing to the strings of ducks hanging near us, said, 
"King, only scatter guns kill ducks like that," and Cap 
followed bysaying, "King, Son's sca,tter gun beat your 
Winchester this afternoon; don't you want to trade with 
him?" at the same time pointing to our deer, and a good 
laugh was the response from all the party, in which King 
joined, and then said, pointing at the deer, "Scatter gun 
good gun when Son shoot him; shoot bang-quick— no 
time take aim; King too old to learn," and then, as he 
pointed at the ducks, he said, "Water deeper, shoot one 
duck, catch all rest without shooting," and then explained 
that if the water had been 4 or 5ft. deep where the ducks 
were sitting, he would have killed one with his rifle, 
skinned it, and arranging it upon his head so that he 
could see, he would have waded out and secured all the 
ducks be wanted by catching their feet and drowning 
them. 
As not one of us had ever heard of such a plan before, 
we could not deny the success of it, but the Judge said, 
"Son's beating you this afternoon evens up the Red Rock 
bass fishing and shows you how we will all beat you fish- 
ing if we ever get another chance," but the reply was, 
"Come good day we go seven miles to Walnut Creek, 
where plenty of big bass, and I beat you all again." And 
then and there it was arranged that the first day King 
called a "good day" we would have another fishing con- 
test. & 
[to be continued.] 
GONE TO SEE HIS GIRL AT NEW 
CASTLE. 
It was on a Saturday afternoon when I and my boy 
(who is always my companion on hunting trips) got out 
of a train at a little railroad junction in western Penn- 
sylvania. Here four railroads crossed each other to cross 
purposes, for no two of the roads would connect with 
any one of the others. You could not come by any one 
of them and get away from that junction (that had four 
little frame houses on the side of a hill) by any of the 
other roads for at least two hours, and in my case it was 
worse. My train would not be along for four hours; so 
there we were, a man and a young boy, two beagle 
hounds and two guns, with four hours of time to put in 
and nothing to do. 
The country round about was rolling, with a good sized 
stream winding its way through the valley, here and 
there a cornfield, or a bit of swampy ground, then a 
dense copse of hazel bushes and white birch trees. Just 
the country for rabbits. 
There was a half -grown youngster of about eighteen 
summers in charge of the station and its three clicking 
telegraph instruments. Of him I requested permission to 
leave my baggage in the station house, asking him to 
keep a friendly eye upon it till our return. 
"Where be ye goin'?" he said, all curiosity. 
I told him that from the look of the country around I 
thought a short distance down the creek rabbits 
might be scared up, and if there were my two beagles 
would soon have them running. 
The youth's manner changed at once. He was sure we 
would get some rabbits 'cause he'd seen lots on 'em all fall, 
but no one round here had any dawgs to hunt 'em with. 
Yes, he'd watch our baggage: so we got our guns out of 
their cases, put a few shells in our pockets, unloosed the 
two beagles and started, the youth eyeing us wistfully 
down the railroad track. We had gone perhaps half a 
mile when the dogs started a rabbit, and away they went 
yelping with their short sharp bark, which is always 
sweet musio to a sportsman. 
I had forgotten about the station boy, although his ear- 
nest and intense interest in the subject of the rabbit hunt 
had impressed and pleased me; but all at once as we 
rounded a wooded hill we saw him running at full speed 
to join us. When he came up he asked if we had any 
objections to his going with us, as he was "tarnally fond 
of a rabbit hunt." ' 
I told him he was thoroughly welcome to join us and 
we would soon have some fun, as the hounds had. a rabbit 
on the run. 
He started to say something, stopped short, rubbed his 
hand over his brow and then without a word he turned 
and fled back as if bereft of wit and sense. 
We watched him until he wa,3 out of sight, wondering 
what could have gotten into him to make him act so 
strangely, but could not think of any reason for bis curi- 
ous behavior. 
We got a couple of rabbits and returned to the station 
just as it was beginning to get dark; and our erratic 
young man accounted for his sudden bolt by explaining 
that it was Saturday night, and that in the excitement of 
the rabbit hunt he had forgotten that there was always 
an extra workmen's train on Saturday night, which came 
along about 6 o'clock, and which he had had orders to 
hold on this night until the regular passenger train (which 
was late) should pass. After reaching us he remembered 
his duty and speeded back with all his might, fortu- 
nately just in time to turn the red semaphore and switch 
the workmen's train on a siding, when the express rolled 
by. 
It may be imagined what our feelings were when we 
found how nearly we had been the innocent cau&e of a 
railroad wreck, with the probable loss of a number of lives; 
for from the winding nature of the track, had the work- 
men's train not been held up, nothing would have pre- 
vented a "head on" collision. 
For a while the youth wouldn't talk much. He was 
badly scared, as he well might be, but the story of the rab- 
bit huut gradually won him round and he invited us into 
the little telegraph office, where we talked a while and 
listened to the clicking of the three telegraph instruments. 
He explained that one of the instruments was repeating 
messages for the movement of the trains, and a message 
just then going over the wires was to the operator at the 
next station to hold the down train (the one we were 
going on) until the up train arrived. 
I asked him if he was an expert operator. 
He laughed and said, "I guess not. I've only been learnin' 
three months and I get no pay, and you don't suppose 
that if I was a good hand at the key that I would work 
foy nothing, do ye? If the talk comes slow and the day 
is clear I can make out pretty fairly, but^ifjit's wet ordamp 
and the fellow that's callin' me is in a hurry, then I can't 
take it at all." 
"But you're not the station master," I said. 
"Oh no," he replied. "He's Sam Aldrich, an' he's gone 
to see his girl down to New Castle, and he won't be back 
till Monday mornin' on the regular passenger train." 
"Good heavens!" I thought. "Here is a callow youth, 
wholly irresponsible, who cannot take messages on a bad 
day, left in charge of a junction station where four roads 
cross (of all places one that should be in charge of an 
expert operator), and that from Saturday afternoon until 
Monday morning." 
Visions of dire disaster flashed across my mind. Rear 
end collisions, upturned passenger coaches and locomo- 
tives, the ring of the axe upon the panels of the car to liberate 
the passengers, the crashing of glass, the fire from the 
deadly stove, the "agonizing shouts of the wounded," the 
weary wait for a doctor, the special train bringing assist- 
ance and the newspaper reporters— all passed before me as 
rapidly as thought can be born and leave its impressions. 
My own train was nearly due and soon there came 
clicking over the wires the message that after leaving 
this station it was to pass on to the station next beyond 
and there pass No. 4. At least so the boy said the wires 
said. Now the conditions were bad, he said, and he was 
not exactly sure of the dispatch, so he had it repeated, 
with the same result; and almost at once, it seemed, the 
flashing headlight of our train burst into view and pulled 
up at the station. 
The boy gave the conductor and the engineer the mes- 
sage, they signed for it, and we entered the train. ;She 
started off with ringing bell and escaping steam, and you 
may be sure I was ill at ease until, on rounding a curve at 
the next station, I saw the headlight of the down train 
waiting for us upon a siding, and then I leaned back and 
indulged in the "what-might-have-beens,'' all because 
"Sam Aldrich had gone to see his girl down to New 
Castle." Thomas Martindale. 
Philadelphia. 
THE WILD MAN OF CHILHOWEE. 
Chattanooga, Tenn., Jan. 26.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: In your numbers of Dec. 14 and Jan. 4 you give 
descriptions of the "Lost Man in New Brunswick," and 
ask correspondents if they can throw additional light on 
the questions, who is he, and where did he come from. 
Apropos of the question asked, I can give you a descrip- 
tion of his first cousin. The subject of my sketch is known 
as "The Wild Man of Chilhowee Mountain." To come to 
the real facts with as little circumlocution as possible, the 
man was found by a party of hunters several years ago. 
The four hunters were camped at the base of Chilhowee 
Mountain, on a deer hunting expedition. 
The Chilhowee Mountain is a rough and very wild and 
brushy knob or single pinnacle that raises its head far 
above the other peaks of the Cumberland range of moun- 
tains. It stands somewhat aloof from the main mountain 
range and therefore has a name of its own. It is situated 
some miles west of Cleveland, Tenn., and ninety miles 
northwest of Chattanooga. This part of the Cumberland 
range is extremely difficult of access, as there are practi- 
cally no roads into the wilderness. Nature seems espe- 
cially to have ordained that this brushy, repulsive region 
should be the home of animals alone. It is entirely unin- 
habited by man, excepting it be an occasional "wildcat 
distiller." 
One afternoon in November one of the party of hunters 
was returning to camp. He was riding and was follow- 
ing a cattle trail that meandered about the base of the 
old Chilhowee. It was growing dusk and the somber 
shadows were fast fading into gloom. The wind was 
whispering to the overhanging ciiffs, and the tall trees 
were nodding their silent good night to their nearest 
neighbors. The birds were settling themselves for the 
night, and the boot owl was making the gorges reverberate 
with his demoniacal laughter. 
Thus engrossed in his own thoughts, and somewhat de- 
pressed by his weird surroundings, our lone horseman 
wended his way along the mountain path. At a sharp 
angle in the path his horse shied, and giving a peculiar 
snort, turned so quickly and abruptly as almost to unseat 
the rider. The man sprang to the ground, and quickly 
tethering his horse, advanced along the path with rifle 
cocked and ready to meet whatever foe or game was 
there. He expected to find a bear, as he hardly thought 
his horse would act so strangely over a deer or domestic 
animal. After advancing a few steps he came face to 
face with the object he was seeking, and, to use his own 
expression, "his hair all turned the wrong way." 
There, half crouching like a wild animal, in the path 
was a human being; but that was all. Our friend spoke 
to the naked, starved-looking creature, but receiving only 
a snarl in return, very wisely concluded to let him re- 
ligiously alone. 
Returning quickly to his horse he mounted, and mak- 
ing a wide circuit so as to avoid the unexpected acquaint- 
ance, made his way back to camp. After reporting the 
find to the others of the company, the question now arose 
what to do. 
All were of the opinion that if the man turned out to 
be a "wildcatter" it would be decidedly unhealthy for 
this outfit even to attempt to form his acquaintance. Be- 
cause the ragged denizen of the forest was sure to have 
confederates and they taking the party for revenue 
officers would ambush the outfit. The entire party being 
native East Tennesseeans and Georgians did not require 
any great amount of explanation to understand what 
would be their fate if they aroused the illicit distillers. 
A few words will explain to others who are not familiar 
with this class. There would have been a few rifle shots 
ringing out from among the rocks and brush and one by 
one the hunters would have been picked off, until none 
would have been left to tell the tale. Then a searching 
party would have come out to the old Chilhowee. The 
woods would have been searched, it is true, by relatives 
and friends; but the camp and all vestige of their where- 
abouts would have disappeared and the searching party 
would have gone home without success. As I said before, 
there is no one within fifty miles of the Chilhowee of 
whom to ask the question, "Have you seen them?" 
John, who had found the wild man the evening before, 
said that he was sure the man was a maniac, as he had an 
unnatural gleam in his eyes, so after due deliberation the 
whole party agreed to go and investigate. Mounting and 
taking a rope, some food and extra clothing, they started. 
They were at the location described by John in the course 
of an hour. Here all dismounted and keeping close to- 
gether, in case of an attack, began the investigation. 
After following the cattle trail for a quarter of a mile, 
they discovered a very dim trail leading up the mountain. 
Here they halted and held another consultation. They 
were sure that they had stumbled on to a den of illicit 
distillers, and as they were not officers they did not care 
for the empty glory of an uneven fight with those fellows 
on their own ground. John, braver than the others, de- 
clared that if they would not go with him he would go by 
himself. Ashamed to desert a comrade in the hour of 
danger, they told him to lead and they would go with 
him. Up the mountain they climbed, keeping a sharp 
lookout and anxiously awaiting the result. They had 
climbed probably 300yds. upward when the trail ended at 
the mouth of a shallow cave or stone house, and there 
they found the objpct of their search. As they ap- 
proached the old man sprang forward with a tremendous 
club, swinging it over his head. All hands leveled their 
rifles at him and tried to intimidate him, but he only 
laughed and snarled and chattered to himself in some un- 
intelligible jargon. Realizing that he was crazy, the men 
lowered rifles and offered him food. He finally became 
composed enough to accept some of the food. He was 
almost starved and ate ravenously. He was the most piti- 
able object the men had ever beheld. Almost as naked 
as Adam, and covered with dirt, sores and vermin. He 
could only talk in broken, unconnected and totally un- 
intelligible sentences; could not tell who he was, where 
he had come from, nor how long he had lived on the 
mountain side. His beard was long, filthy, coarse 
and matted with gum, blood and other foreign 
substances. His hair was half-way to his waist and 
hung in tangled twists or ropes done up in the 
same substances that had stuck to his beard. His finger- 
nails were several inches long and curved like the talons 
of the eagle, excepting when broken off, as some of them 
were. The toe-nails were thick and unsightly, being bro- 
ken off at various lengths from f to l^in. The teeth were 
all gone excepting a tusk on each side, like a wild boar. 
Great Jupiter! Did anyone ever see such a specimen of 
the human race before? 
The men who found him report that the man and his 
lair had a stench clinging to them that was almost unbear- 
able. Scattered about in bis den and on the ground out- 
side were the bones and hoofs of calves and pigs, showing 
that the old man lived upon the young of the animals 
that were out on the range. He had no gun, axe, nor 
even a knife, and no matches; so he must have killed his 
prey with a club or stone; and carrying the carcass to his 
den, torn it to pieces by main strength. In summer and 
fall he lived on the mast and mountain berries, as the 
stains on his hands and beard indicated. 
Well, while the old fellow was gorging himself, dog 
fashion, the men were plotting how to capture him with- 
out hurting him. He was down on his knees with his pile 
of food in front of him, shoveling good things into his 
mouth with both hands. But he watched his new friends 
with an eagle's eye, and every time one of them moved he 
would grab his club. The muscles in his bare arms and 
legs were significant evidence that he was a powerful 
man; and the fact that he was crazy and not responsible 
for his actions made him all the more dangerous. Noth- 
ing but feelings of kindness and humanity prompted our 
four hunters to attempt his capture. They wanted to 
carry the old man to Cleveland, and from there send him 
to the insane asylum at Knoxville, where he would have 
care and kind treatment for the rest of his life. The old 
man of course did not understand, and it was evident that 
he had no intention of being captured. All four of the 
hunters were young and athletic men. John, a black- 
smith by trade, stood 6ft. in his stockings, weighed nearly 
300lbs., and was a match for almost any man. Two of 
the party were strong young farmers, and the fourth man 
was a city man, but somewhat of an athlete, and a fair 
match for any of the others. After summing up the 
strength of the four, they concluded that with their com- 
bined efforts the old man could be overpowered without 
serious injury to any one. So, removing the rifles to a 
safe distance up on the mountainside, they set about their 
unthankful task. 
While the city man was trying to attract the old man's 
attention with new supplies of food, the other three 
pounced upon him. Then the city man took a hand by 
grabbing hold of the old man's club. 
From the start the four realized that they had an her- 
culean task . With a scream resembling the cries of Pluto's 
archangels the old man rose to his feet, and then the 
battle began. John had thrown his powerful arms around 
the old man, endeavoring to pinion his arms to his body; 
the two farmers each had hold of an arm, and the city 
man had a death grip on the club, which the old man re- 
tained with a tenacity equaled only by death. For a mo- 
ment it seemed as if they had him. If they had only had 
a fifth man to pass the rope around his body and secure 
his arms they would have had him sure enough. But 
alas! there were only four of them, and each one had 
"bit off just about as much as he could chew," to use a 
common expression. 
The battle continued with unabated fury for several 
minutes, until finally John's strength gave out, and the 
old man broke the cordon around his arms and body. 
John then grabbed the club with the city man, as he knew 
some one would die if the old man got possession of that 
implement of destruction. All at once the old man turned 
the club loose and began to scratch with his terrible claws. 
John said he was half a mind to fell the old fellow to the 
ground, as he was about to ruin one of the farmers, but 
his big heart would not allow him to strike. So throwing 
the club as far into the bushes as he could send it, he and 
the city man waded in again. They grabbed the arm 
that was doing such terrible execution, and the fight con- 
tinued. 
Finally after much exertion John succeeded in tripping 
the old man off his feet and all went down in a heap. 
They thought now they hid him sure; but in some way 
one or two turned loose their grip in falling and the old 
man shook off the others and rose to his feet with a large 
stone in his vise like hand. He seemed to have a special 
grudge at John. Entirely ignoring the others, he sprang 
at John and striking him a heavy blow felled him to the 
earth. Then dropping the stone he gave vent to an un- 
earthly yell and bounded down the mountain side. Our 
hunters picked John up and found that he was not seri- 
ously hurt, as the old man had struck him in the chest, 
merely knocking the breath out of him for a moment or 
two, The others had various and sundry bruigea and 0 Q9 
