THE LATEST MERMAID STORY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2104, 27 September 1890, Page 3

THE LATEST MERMAID STORY.

The Glasgow Mail is responsible for the following:—"W. W. Stanton, mate of the schooner Addie Schaeffer, now lying at the Market House Dock, Jacksonville, while fishing for bass 300 miles off St. Augustine, drew his line, and found entangled therein the strangest fish, if it is a fish, that has ever been caught. This strange creature is about Oft long, pure white and scaleless. The head and face are wonderfully human in shape and feature. The shoulders are well outlined and very much resemble those of a woman, and the bosom is well defined and shows considerable development, while the hips and abdomen continue the human appearance. There are four flippers, two of which are placed at the lower termination of the body, and give otfe the impression that Nature made an effort to supply the strange creature with lower limbs. Mr Stanton confesses to quite a fright on first sight of his queer prize, which, on being drawn on hoard, gave utterance to a low moaning cry, which might easily have been mistaken for the sobbing of a baby. It is exceedingly unfortunate that Mr Stanton did not succeed in keeping the creature alive, which he thinks might have been done, as the strange object lived two days after being taken. The schooner has beep thronged all day by curious visitors, who express much wonder and astonishment at the strange object. Mr Stanton, after visiting several ports and showing his queer creature, will devote it to the Smithsonian Institution. The fish or

mermaid is in a large six-feet glass jar in alcohol.