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SEE THE SEA LIONMany People Witness Frolics of Supposed Escaped Beast.IS IN AIR HOLE ABOVE TOW HEADiiBrakeman on ths Milwaukee SeesStrange Animal at Play on the Ice— Many Other Muscatiners Also Seaft.itrHave you seen the big beast, a supposedly escaped sea lion, at play on 1 the ice and in the water of the big* air hole above th*- Tow Head island?*! A number of people of this city claim c to have witnessed the strange animal,J as large as a horse, at play and bask- *lng in the sun on the ice adjacent to jthe air vent. ]Tuesday evening, the brakeman of; extra No. 246, of the Rock Island,1* while passing the old Hsrshey mill,^ l saw what he thought to be a horsedrowning in this air hole above TowHead island. He quickly called the at-i ’ tention of his companions to it. They* watched it as long as the place was in sight. The last thing they saw' w’as a great beast apparently in its death i|' struggles in th*' flt; v They all jI was still and not a splash agitatr suna( e ot tin* water, i hen suddenly a -j great form shot high in the air and - fell with a resounding splash in the* i water. The* brekemen looked at eachi• | other and remarked that that horse j* died hard.Yesterday afternoon while coming• up from South Muscatine a man and .* his wift were startled on locking out *|on the river by seeing water at the air!, hole agitated. They stopped, think- J , ing some one had fallen In the water i Iand was drowning. They were as ton- ] ished beyond measure to see the form lt;of a strange beast crawl out on the j j ire and lay still. Obse rving this they jhastened up town and told several j \lt;i lt;lt;i t i«people w ho were congregated at the j Jj fish market about the strange happening. A powerful telescope was brought j to hear upon the spot indicated and| there stretched in the sun lay the form j»'of what appeared to be a sea lion, jiKeeping the animal covered with the i j telescope a number of the party started down on the ice towards the ani-j tnal. When the men had traversed j j about half the distance the form was * seen to slip into the water and disap-,; pear..j Upon arriving at the air hole the j investigating party found the ice cov-| crod witH water splashed over the - surface and in several places wet spots j. were noticed on the surface of the ice j presumably made by the beast when i lying down. Nothing more was seen s of the animal., Among those who were mentioned a as being at the fish market at the I* time of the discovery of the supposed i- sea lion were Conrad Koehler, Amos h Schott, Charles Richards. Mr. and, a Mrs. George Koehler. W. Hafleigh, H.! Arnold, Fred Koehler, “Stump” Koehler and a dozen others. Wood chop-1 pcrs on the Illinois side who are at 9 work in the saw mill also have seenthe antics of the strange animal. Several plans have been advanced for his capture; but as it is impossible to get 5 near the lion it will be exceedingly ^ hard to effect its capture.The only known escaped sea lion is ^ “Rig Ben. who escaped from the Lin-s coin Park zoo, a few* months ago. This f animal was an exceedingly large one t and weighed In the neighborhood of S00 pounds. A clam digger at work on the ice between the dams above the e city was frightened nearly out of hisl s wits recently by the appearance of til j strange animal in the water of the air U hole where he was at work. It would not he an impossibility for the r/iimala to have made the trip. comij§ downt, the Chicago drainage canal and from there up the river. Developments wlM be watched with interest.
Newspaper Details
Muscatine Journal
Muscatine, Iowa, US
Thu, Feb 11, 1904
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Terry F.
USA 05 Jun 2018
Other Publications Near Muscatine, Iowa
Muscatine Journal and News Tribune
New Indexed Atlas of Muscatine County Iowa
Atlas of Muscatine County Iowa
Muscatine Daily Journal
Muscatine Weekly Journal
