Boston Daily Globe
August 18, 1889
SEA SERPENT SEASON OPENS.
With a Big Red Tongue and Hisses a
Monster Emerges from Noroton River
– Clam Man Saw it and Ran a Mile.
STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 17. – All this week a party of men have been hunting
for a sea serpent on the Noroton river. The stream in question runs down
from among the hills two miles back of this town. That a sea serpent or a
reptile believed to be that famous monster was seen last Saturday [August
10] seems unquestioned. It was seen by over a dozen reputable people and is
confirmed by three or four women who got a glance of it and then ran
screaming into the woods.
Mr. Ruscoe saw the serpent first, and in a way he will never forget. The
sight was disastrous. Ruscoe was out clamming in the afternoon. He had the
bottom of his craft pretty well filled and was busy digging for more clams.
As he tells the story, Ruscoe was suddenly confronted by an enormous serpent
that stuck its head out of the water right alongside the boat. It had a
large black head and its back was a copper color. It ran a big red tongue
out of its mouth and emitted a hissing sound. It is a wonder Ruscoe’s hair
didn’t turn white in an instant. He admits he was terribly frightened. He
dropped his clamming forks into the river and pulled for the shore with all
his might. The moment he landed he left the boat and clams and ran for the
woods. He ran a mile before he sat down on a log from sheer exhaustion. He
has not seen either his boat or his cargo of clams since.
The sea serpent kept its head out of the water for some time, and was seen
from the shore by at least a dozen persons. A Mr. Ryles took a good look at
it from the limb of a tree that he ascended. Landlord Miller, who keeps a
tavern on the banks of the Noroton a mile away by the bridge, saw the
serpent from a carriage as he was driving along the river. Both Ryles and
Miller confirm the description of the serpent given by Ruscoe. They say the
reptile was very long, because it flapped its tail out of the water, while
its head was away out at the other end.
The news of the discovery was spread among the dwellers along the Noroton on Sunday, and at once an expedition was formed to capture the serpent. Men
went out in boats, armed with revolvers, guns and spears. The entire river
was searched, and the search has been kept up every day this week. But it
has not been seen. It is the general impression that the serpent went down
the river and out into Long Island sound. All sorts of things come up the
Noroton from time to time. Last year a shark was killed at almost the
identical spot where the sea serpent was seen this time.
Thanks to Jerome Clark.
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