The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-01-10 00:00:00

A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE
CLEARED UP.

The mystery attending the disappearance of Mr,
John Bradford, of 21, Wingrove-street, Loughborough-
junction, near London, has been solved—only, how-
ever, to result in an event still more tragic and pain-
ful—namely, the suicide of Mr. Bradford. It will be
remembered that he left his house on the last day of 1884,
and though a description of him was forwarded to the
police and circulated by them, no trace of him was
discovered during the whole of the following day. On
Friday, however, he was found in the Walwortla-road
under very peculiar circumstances. Mr. Diggi-ns, the
occupant of the house in which Bradford lives, was
driving a waggon belonging to his employer, a miller,
in the Walworth-road, when he caught sight of Brad-
ford, who at first tried to avoid him. Eventually
Digg,ins persuaded Bradford to return home, which he
did very reluctantly, expressing his fear that the bai-
liffs would be in the house. This apprehension was
entirely without foundation, as Bradford had plenty of
money in his possession. The sum of £75 was left in his
drawer at Wingrove-street when he disappeared onWed-
nesd ay, but he had taken .E 2 or .E 3 with him. He
explained his absence by stating that he had spent
Wednesday and Thursday nights in coffee taverns in
the vicinity of Walworth-road, changing his lodgings
in order to avoid the persons who in his disordered
imagination were in quest of him. He at length
suffered Mr. Diggins to drive him home, where his
brother, who had been summoned to the house, took
him in charge. Bradford went to bed on Friday
night, his brother sleeping in the same room with
him. At about eight o'clock on Saturday morning
his brother dressed himself and left the room for a
few minutes, upon which Bradford seized the oppor-
tunity to open the window and precipitate himself
into the street below. The distance was consider-
able, as the room was on the second floor, and
the injuries received by the unfortunate man
were of a shocking character. In front of the
house, and a few feet from the door, is a row
of iron railings topped in the ordinary way with
pikes. On one of these pointed pieces of iron
the man's foot was impaled, the spike passing right
through the flesh, but the force of his fall and the
weight suddenly thrown upon it broke the piece of
iron off short, and the man fell to the pavement with
the spike still embedded in his foot. He also received
serious injuries on the front part of his head and bled
profusely. As soon as possible the unfortunate man,
who was quite unconscious, was removed back into
the house, and after lingering in that state for twenty-
two hours, he expired on Sunday morning. In the
opinion of Dr. Bradshaw, who was first called in, the
injuries to the man's head precluded the possibility
of recovery. On searching his room it was found
that he had secreted a carving knife and two razors
in a drawer, and other evidence of the disordered
state of his mind were discovered.

" Janey," of the second ward, asks, "Why does my
lover always kiss me with one side of his mouth ? "
"We don't know much about this kind of business,
Janey. Maybe- he uses the other side of his mouth
for the other girl. There is nothing like keeping a
good edge on and haying thinge_eyenz'_
Last -year the nativei of If r drank ten
million barrels of English rum. ace:Have the Eng-
lish government:also:supports two missionaries in that
country. Between the traders and the missionaries
the People ought to be koot in good spirit&