The article below was published in the daily newspaper The Sun, New York, USA, page 2, on January 21, 1909.
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PHILADELPHIA. -- Jan. 20. -- All south Jersey had posses out to-day hunting the "Leed's devil," the strange monstrosity, according to all accounts, which has been leaping, flying, running and hopping over the towns in that section for the last week. Most of those who have been scoffing for the last two days began to-day to believe there is something stranger than usual about south Jersey.
The "devil" leaves two tracks like those of a pony, the cloven hoofs being clear. It walks on two legs and shows a facility in scaling six foot fences and leaving its tracks a mile apart that has made south Jersey argue it has wings. Its tracks were found to-day in Philadelphia in two places, 4521 Samson street and 2337 North Sixteenth street. Its course ranges from Woodbury, Salem, Gloucester, Clayton, Williamstown, Glassboro and all the towns in Cumberland county.
The "Devil" gets its name from the fact that thirty-five years ago there was a similar appearance, of which the tracks started from a cave a Leed's Corners in Cumberland county. In Gloucester it has been seen. Nelson Evans, a paper hanger living at 205 Mercer street, Gloucester City, declares that he and his wife saw the "Devil" early this morning as he sat on the roof of their back shed. White faced and trembling, Evans entered police headquarters there this morning.
"About 2 o'clock this morning," said the paperhanger, "my wife and I were aroused by a noise on our shed roof. I went to the window and looked out and then I called to her. We saw the strangest beast or bird, I don't know which, you ever heard of.
"It was about three feet and a half high, with a head like a collie dog and a face like a horse. It had a long neck, wings about two feet long, and its hind legs were like those of a crane. It had horse's hoofs. It walked on its hind legs and held up two short front legs with paws on them. It did not use the front legs at all while we were watching it. We hid."
[*] A local cider brand.
