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| WILD ROSE |
| THE MONKEY GIRL FROM YUCATAN |
| "Rose, the Wild Girl. A human being actually possessed of a wild animal nature, subsisting on tropical fruits and nuts exclusively. She interests everybody." ------- headliner at Geary's World Museum, 1890 |
| "Wild Rose", the Yucatan girl, who is half human and half animal. It is a grewsome spectacle and makes the beholder's scalp creep to look upon it. ------ 1902 |
| called "The Cuban Wild Girl" |
| "THE WILD ROSE" DIED OF HER BURNS
Injuries Received Saturday Night Proved Fatal REMAINS WILL BE BURIED HERE Members of the Carnival Company are Disheartened and Dejected by the Tragedy "Wild Rose, the monkey girl from Yucatan," is dead. The burns received Saturday night, as the result of an accident, proved fatal, although she was given the best attention at the hospital. The carnival people are very much disheartened. The "Wild Rose" was a deformity, a creature that barely knew how to reason but was a human being with a glimmer of intelligence, knowing when to do the "turns" whether the commands were spoken in English, French or Spanish and occasionally there would be in the eyes of the creature a show of intelligence that was not animal but human. Last night she lay in the morgue at an undertaking establishment and the members of the carnival company went over and some of them wept. For they felt a certain kind of love for the poor deficient creature. It has been a hard week with them, the crowds at the shows have been poor and this is the last of a series of mishaps. They go to Belton [S.C.] this afternoon, but as one of the company expressed it: "There's not much heart in the work with present luck." "Wild Rose, the monkey girl," was the star attractioin of the show owned by Mr. and Mrs. Geo. A. Baldwin. Saturday night she was left alone in her room near the corner of Main and Lady streets and it is supposed that the fluffy flannelette robe she wore caught fire from the wood stove. Before an alarm could be sent in she was fatally burned. Last night Mr. Baldwin told her history. "Wild Rose" was a native of New Orleans. Mr. Baldwin's father, A.A. Baldwin, first saw her in charge of a half breed from Mexico and realizing her possibilities as an "attraction" secured her and afterwards formally adopted her. Her parentage was never known. This was in 1882, when "the Rose" was about 20 years of age. She was a success from the start and on the death of Mr. A. A. Baldwin, the proprietor of the present Baldwin shows took her in charge. She has always been watched carefully for fear of accidents and this is why the affair has cast such dejection over the members of the company. The fatal occurrence happened in less than a minute and while the unforunate being had been left for the first time in weeks. Not being able to articulate she could give no alarm. Saturday night at the hospital, while being treated for the burns. it was noticed that she kept one hand tightly clasped around something. No effort was made to open it at the time but after her death it was found that she had a lttle blue bottle given her years before by Mr. Baldwin. This she had treasured above everything else and several times tried to show it while being treated by the physicians. The funeral services will be held some time today at Van Metre's undertaking establishment. South Carolina 25 Feb 1907 |
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