Wild Man Cured!

You don’t come across too many happy endings when it comes to Wild Man stories being reported in old newspapers. Actually, you’re lucky if you come across an ending of any sort to the story, but I digress. The February 9, 1916 edition of the Martinsburg WVa Evening Journal reported some good news when it came to a local ‘wild man.’ Once a broken man living in a cave, John Munkers was treated at a local hospital and afterwards found gainful employment as he returned to society. 

BROOKE CO. WILD MAN IS NOW NORMAL

John Munkers the wild man of Brooke co., who had his habitat for years in a cave near Follansbee, is a sane, normal person, employed in one of the mills of Wheeling. Munkers, who for years lived the most primitive sort of life, hiding when anyone approached and practically nude, was taken in charge by the Brooke county authorities some time ago and sent to the Miner’s Hospital at Fairmont to be treated. His mind was a blank, but he was carefully nursed back to physical and mental strength at the hospital. 

Source: Chronicling America