This day in history: Boys found ‘wild man’ living in cave near Marshall; theater fought eviction

From 1974: The New Bijou Theater was evicted from the 2nd City shopping mall a few months earlier because it was allegedly “showing pornographic movies.”

Now, the theater’s attorneys were fighting the eviction, saying the eviction was improper because it had not been preceded by any court action. A judge had earlier ruled that the New Bijou should not be allowed back in, but the theater’s attorneys filed a motion challenging that ruling.

The New Bijou’s owners admitted that they showed “adult entertainment,” but denied the movies were pornographic. The movies screened right before the eviction included “Wilbur and the Baby Factory,” “The Loves of Cynthia,” “Exotic Dreams of Casanova,” and “Weekend Lovers.”

The 2nd City mall was on First Avenue between Howard and Wall streets.

From 1924: Boys on a hunting trip near Marshall told police they had come across a “wild man” living in a cave.

When officers investigated, they found Gottfred Channe, “more than 60 years of age,” living in a burrow dug into the side of a hill. Officers had to crawl to get inside his “residence.”

Channe was found lying on some sacks. He told the officers that he had “potatoes, hot cakes and milk for breakfast,” and he was doing fine.

When the sheriff asked him what he had for Thanksgiving dinner, he said, “I don’t have to worry about my Thanksgiving dinner. It comes on Sunday pretty soon.”

The sheriff left him undisturbed, concluding that he “was doing no one any harm.”