Adventures in independent publishing
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I wrote in my last post about the murder of Louise “Lulu” Bailey, a case made more sensational in the newspapers of the day by the fact she was killed in her doctor’s office. Today, before I get to the accused murderer, I’m writing about an incidental character who I think still deserves our attention. Read more >>
During a heavy shower on July 3, 1860, in South Granville, NY, a man heard “a peculiar sound at his feet.” Looking down he saw a foot long gray snake, “lying as if stunned by a fall. It then came to life.” This was recorded in Scientific American, 3-112.
–Charles Fort, The Book of the Damned, p. 93 (The Complete Books of Charles Fort, Dover, c1974).
In a series of notices of two bodies found near one another, Fort includes this account from the Home News (Bronx), June 15, 1931. A policeman went to awaken a man apparently asleep on a park bench the previous day, but found he was dead. The doctor said the cause of death was probably heart failure. The New York Sun reported that soon after finding that body, another dead man was found on a bench nearby.
–Charles Fort, Wild Talents, p. 849 (The Complete Books of Charles Fort, Dover, c1974).
The New York Times of June 30, 1931, reported that police at Mineola were hunting an “ape-like animal–hairy creature, about four feet tall.” Half a dozen people reported that this creature came out of the woods, looked at them, and went back into the woods. No reports came of escaped zoo or circus animals. By the 29th of June, the police captain in Mineola sent out well-armed motor patrols, as well as a posse of armed citizens. They found numerous footprints: “about the size and shape of a man’s hand, though the thumb was set farther back than would be the case with a man’s hand.” Reports fell off about the last of June, but it was seen again on July 18th, near Huntington, Long Island. A farmer saw the strange animal three miles away. Policemen found tracks, but no animal. It was not seen again.
–Charles Fort, Wild Talents, p. 902ff (The Complete Books of Charles Fort, Dover, c1974).
The New York Times of June 18, 1880 reported that a woman in Rochester, NY, was found dead in her bed, the bedpost hacked as if with a hatchet. No one had entered the room, and there was no sign of entrance or exit. Her death occurred during a thunderstorm. She had been killed by lightning.
–Charles Fort, Wild Talents, p. 1050-1051 (The Complete Books of Charles Fort, Dover, c1974).
