A TALL YARN.

Evening Star, Issue 9582, 31 December 1894, Page 1 (Supplement)

A TALL YARN.

Oa the sand bar in the Ohio River near ■Vevay, In«'., reside two nondescript' creatures horrible hj» appearance and habit. They are amphibious in nature, and resemble in appearance huge lizards with human featnrts. When partly submerged in the yellow waters of the Ohio they are Strangely like human beings. Of what species of animal they are no one knows, for it is impossible to get near enough to them to judge correctly. The sand bar in question at low tide is covered with huge logs and stamps of trees, known in the river vernacular ns snags., They have been deposited by the Government snag boats engaged in keeping the channel clear. When the water is high enough to cover these I snags the creatures make their home among them. When the water recedes they disappear into some unknown lair and wait -for a rise. From indications they appear to be carnivorous. Among the snags are to be found waggon loads of mussel shells, fish bones, and other debris of , animals. When .the river goes down these I shells and other articles disappear, only to \be succeeded by a fresh lot. This 1* evidence to those who have watched (be i coming and going of the strange tilings that [ they live upon such food. : It has been about four years since they were first noticed about Vevay. The fisber- ; man who saw the strange heads protruding from the stream had never heard of a mermaid, and his description was snch as to cause the belief in the minds of the better educated that, after all, the old myth might be true in some degree. Some days since, Captain J. M. Oder, of Covington, Ky., who is in charge of a travelling art exhibition, came to tbis place to make arrangements for an entertainment. He heard of the strange mermaids, and paid their haunts several visits in the hope of beirfg able to get a glimpse of them. In this be was successful, going so far as to get a pencil sketch of t&e-male amphibian. Seated oa the bank, he watched it swimming within 20ft of the spot where he observed its movements. From notes taken on the ground the des* cription, as furnished by Mr Ozier, states that the beast is about sft in length and should weigh about 1501b. Its general color is yellowish. The body between the forelegs resembles that of a human being. Back of the hind legs it tapers to a point. This point in no way resembles a tail. The Legs, four in number, resemble the arms and legs of. the human. The fore legs are shorter than the hind -pair and are used in the same manner as arms. The extremities resemble hands and are webbed and furnished with sharp claws. On the back and one-third of the way around the body appears a mass of straggling, coarse hair. The skin below the fore legs is thick and resembles elephant hide. On the arms and sbont the face and neck it is of a finer texture and brighter yellow color than 'the rest of the The head of the nondescript beast is the mosrremarkable part of its make-op. It is devoid of hair and is strangely like that of a human being. Its ears are sharp-pointed and stand op like those of a dog. There is ' no intelligence in the face, which in contour is like that of an idiot Mr Ozier declares * that it resembles to a great extent the freak known as~Zir>, or the What-is-it, which was eibibHed first by P. T. Bahrain. In swimming H seems to move withoutan effort, and does riot .cause much commotion in the water. - Only its' head part of the Rightly arched baek are shown .while swimtningi When lightened, instead of -diving liks.a' duck or making « quick flop, the stwogefceast rinks, from view like » tfanti. natare, fleeing at of a human, Yxiagt—'iSn.*