Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-01-25
STRANGE INFATUATIOS.
A Romance Of Two Continents.

Early In the present winter the mayor
ofOmaha received a letter Of foreign post
mark which, opening, he ewas surprised
to find bearing the signature of clergy
man eminent in the Established Church
Of England. The sad purpose of the
writer was TO entreat Of his honor the
aid Of. the municipal authorities to dis
cover, aud, il possible, recover o runa-
way daughter, who, having become in
fatuated with a man as foolish as her
self and dreading parental restraint,
fled from her home and country last
spring to the american continent, and
was believed to. be suffering the first
penalty OF her folly nowin life Of pit
liable impoverishment near Omaha. AS
the Herald Of the latter city resumes
the history Of the case the clergyman S
daughter is finely-educated girl, about
seventeen years old, and the companion
of her fight man more than twice her
age, and formerly prosperous mer-
chant The father had been warned of
a growing regard between the two,
but could not credit the possibility
Of any other feeling in the case
than such as a mature man of staid
business habits1 might have casnal-
ly for bright child exhibiting "a
child fancy for him. That the clergy
man, in his unworldly mistake, was more
of a " child than his daughter, found
lamentable proof in the ensuing event.
On the twelfth day of April last the mer-
chant, having previously and with stealth
converted about one-half of his property
into cash, and decided the remainder to
his nearest relatives, carried off the girl
with him on q steamer from Liverpool,
and left priest and laymen, friends and
foes, to discover and mourn the mad
ness of the fugitives.i AT first paralyzed
by his bereavement, the clergyman pres
emily realized how much his own sholas-
tic lack of worldly prudence had con-
duced to the possibility of such an afflc-
ton, and was thereby sincited to. employ
every device of practical knowledge for
the swift pursuit and arrest of his silly
daughter. "A rich man, he spared no
expense in the enlistment Of English de-
tective skill, which, having traced the
runaways to Liverpool and a certain
American steamer, RENTED the quest to
the detective force Of this city. Our
New York officers, working upon the in
itiatory clues and minute personal de-
scriptiOns6nally sent them by cable could
supply information no further than that
two steamer-passengers answering the
bill " had been known to purchase rail
road tickets for some far.W Western State,
but could not be definitely tracked be.
yond the New York line. Not disheart-
ened with this the sorroving father com
missioned several private officers to
scour the West, wrote to Nevada set
tier who had formerly been one OF his
parishioners, and addressed inquiries to
the authorities Of various towns on the
Pacific railroad ALI these measures,
however, might have proved futile had
not the Oldest fugitive himself revealed
the trail Of fight. Sending to relative
in England letter-vhieh, under the
circumstances, will. bear the construc.
ton of having been written to invite the
ending of folly of which be was per-
haps already sick-the clipping ex.mer-
chant coolly described his lamentable
Yankee experiences and the sore strait
to which they had already brought him
self and his companion. From this city
they fed as far as Burlington, Iowa,
whence, after brief rest and under as
sumed name, they betook themselves
to Chicago. s., The "a terrible recent
couhagration of the Latter city be,
gan their definite retribution, evan in
their first hours Of fancied security, de-
stroying the house, furniture and bust
ness in which had just been invested all
their money, brought from across the
Atlantic. Fleeing panic stricken thence
to Omaha, by charitable free pass ON the
the utterly impoverished pair
had next obtained poor refuge some
forty miles from the city, where the ex- |
patriated Englishman was hunting game
for a desperate living. OF course the
epistle making these revelations, was
shown by the recipient thereof to the
father Of the missing girl; and hence the
father own letter, as above relating, to |
the mayor of Omaha The latter amia-
BILE Official wiling TO do all in his power
TO bring back the fugitive daughter to
reason and iilial duty, placed the case in
the hands Of q marshal and his detect
ives; who, as first step in the work OF
placed a watch at the post
1fice for the man expected to come
here, sooner or later, after letters from
England. Last week such man-look-
ng like very seedy and disconsolate
amateur ntrapperp-did give his name
here for fOreignletter, aud was prompt
Y arrestedg greatly ito ibis astonish-
nent, asa suspicious character. " Taken
,efore the mayor and charged with
he sabduetion of the English clergy
mans daughter, he at FIRST denied his
IDENTITY, but at last pleaded guilty The
'oung lady, he said, could be found in
he house Of Mr.. Dickinson, situated
n a piece of woods on an island be.
ween the Platte and Elkhorn rivers.
having learned so much, the mayor re-
handed his prisoner to official deten-
ion, and--by sleigh and row-boat-the
,flicers hurried in search Of the island ]
Iome. Sure enough, very beautiful !
oung English girl was found there,
Tho, upon reading her fathers letter, i
1hich had been brought by her strange
isitors, gave way to an agony Of tears,
nd confessed that she had known moth
ng but misery since leaving home.
lick at heart, and much weakened by
be privations Of her recent precarious
in the Yilds, she returned with
lie officers to Omaha, where a kind 7
lmily has given her home until such
me as she can 60 to Europe. 4