The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-02-17 00:00:00

A VERY EXTRAORDINARY STORY.

Messrs. W. mews and Son, of Birmingham, have sent the
following letter to the papers for publication :
"On the lath of January we received a letter,
written at Riga, dated the 12th of that month, from
the manager of our magazine at Moscow. Mr. L. R.
Bauer, stating that he desired to see us personally on
business affairs, and that he would leave for England
on the 14th of January. He subsequently wrote
us, from Riga, the 14th of January; from Berlin,
twice on the 20th; and from Hamburgh on Mon-
day, the 22nd, co route to England. He was
a passenger on board the Libra, from Hamburgh,
on the 23rd of January, reaching London on Thurs-
day, the 25th. He stayed at the Charing-crose
Hotel, and on the following morning had aninterview
with the managing director of the City of Moss-ow
ilaa.worka, who was on a brief visit to England
from Moscow. He telegraphed us at 10.20 he would
leave Huston-square for Birmingham by the noon
train. At 12.5 a telegram was sent us from the office
at Emiton, stating that he had missed the noon train,.
but would leave at 3.0. From that time to the present
moment nothing has been seen of him. The only in-
formation we have received is contained in a letter
dated the 27th of January, addressed to the senior of
our firm, with which was enclosed a note dated the
2nd of February, the envelope bearing the London
post-mark of that day, and reaching no on Saturday
morning, the 3rd inst.
"The contents of these letters are so extraordinary
that we are unable to receive them as truth, and to a
disturbed intellect can we alone attribute the composi-
tion. We subjoin extracts of the same.
"We have been thrice telegraphed from Pskoff, in
Russia, by his father, Mr. i. Bauer, and from Ingo
by the laity to whom he was engage m
d, all expressing
the deepest anxiety in the absence of information from
him. 'The only possible explanation we can ;e
of his disappearance is that some time ago he sunered
temporarily from mental aberration • but under this or
any other circumstances we naturally desire to know
what has become of him. We have spared no trouble
to obtain information respecting him, and our fear is
that, being an entire stranger in England, be may, if
ill, have fallen into the hands of unscrupulous persons.
" We hope, however, that the subject of our com-
munication may be of sufficient importance to obtain
the publicity we seek by its insertion in your
aolurana."

conceil

"William Blows, Esti., Birmingham.
"London, Jan. 27th.
"Dear Sir,—As a special grace permission has been granted
to me to address these lines to you they will be the Isst, be-
cause in a few hours I shall be dead. In good faith of doing
a good deed I joined some people a few years ago. Alas it
woos sad error into which my youth and want of experience
had led me. About a year since I discovered my great mis-
take, because I was not had enough to carry out some Coll.
sequence of my vow—the very point of my misunderstood
inc and ever since I lived in .1,12.1, Nit)1.14,1 I was IPA 1110-
lared for t his when one of the"! devil, in the shape of men
psreniptorily stopped me from leaving London yesterday
110011. I was not even aware of being so closely eatched.
Having 110 choice left but either to do things against which
my whole soul revolts, and which I Mid utterly impossible
to do, or to die myself, I have chosen death, and shall die in
some hours hence.
"It is avery hard thing I feel to go thus suddenly for ever
without seeing anybody whom I loved once more, and my
heart breaks when I think of my family awl my poor girl in
Russia lost it cannot be helped I know but too well as
fate to Haled, and I gun quite cowpoed now. Flow could I