THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH — MAY 08, 1892
This is about the time of year when the sea serpent and his sweet cousin, the mermaid, appear upon our coasts. It is singular how tenacious of life the mermaid myth is. Steam and the multiplication of seafarers have robbed the sea of most of its mysteries, but there's many an old salt still afloat who believes in the lovely fish-tailed syren, aye, and who can vouch for her existence from his own experience. Without going back to the primeval fish stories of Mr. Homer, it is worth noting that descriptions of mermaids are extant of as early a date as 1830, when, according to an English writer, one summer afternoon two of these wonderful creatures were seen so plainly by some fishermen, that the latter were able to observe that the mermaids had auburn hair, lovely faces and delicate hands. A mermaid was washed ashore in Holland in 1480 and being taken in by some good burgher of Edam lived for a number of years, only showing her marine origin by her strong liking for water.
Mermaids have revealed themselves to fishermen with great regularity ever since, but as a rule the records of these manifestations are at second hand. Somebody who had it from an eye witness usually relates the story. The crew of an East Indiaman in 1737 had the singular distinction of making a meal of a mermaid caught near Mauritius. They said its flesh tasted like veal. The sea serpent has apparently driven the tenderer denizens of the deep away from the American coast, for except as a manufactured commodity for circus side-shows, the mermaid is never seen here now.
Pittsburgh Dispatch. (Pittsburgh [Pa.]), 08 May 1892. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
