The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1876-04-06
nj YSTERIEs.

> NlllllhllN 'lFhII'hI IVll WV 'l"W hI'I
! knowledge Of fricnas " foes alike, and of
whom n" trdccs are ever obtained, we
might well stand aghast, not only at the
d terribly long list Of lost and missing in
diyiduals, but also for seeking "NI ind
ing them, A plNhjc AZ the "agOny"
columns Ut our daily newspapers or the
notlce-bOards Of police stations wiII in
deed show us that the mere disappear
I anCc from home Of individuals is by no
means a rare occurrence, and in many Of
these cases very plain reasons for the ab.
Hcncc OF the runaways may hc ut least
guessed ut or supposed, But the cases
we more especially alludc to are in
stances OF the regular " mysterious dis
appearance" class, in which, for the most
part suddenly and in every instance with
ont any reasonable Or sufficient cause or
cScusc, individuals disappear from home,
from their business haInts, and from the
circle Of their acquaintance and leave
not the slightest trace Of their where
abouts or intentions. Even what we
may call the ultimate fact Of their death
ism the vast majority Of cases never asccr-
tanned or proved; and the friends Of such
waits and strays Of society have not, rs n
rule, the melancholy assurance or salts
faction Of knowing that the further hope
Of finding the lost il utterly futile and
vain. And thus the date Of the disap.
pcarancc in time becomes one which, MS
days, weeks, and years roll by, carries
with II the cycr-incrcasing remembrance
OF an event at once sad and terrible in
the doubt and uncertainty which en-
shroud it,
To the question, " What has become
Of them % detective scicnuc may hazard
N answer some spccnIatiOns and several
ingenious theories, fitting more or less
exactly the asccrtaincd facts Of each
case. But such speculative philosophy
Il useful only as II guide to the inquircrs,
and can afford but little help in framing
a decisive answer to the above query. II
has happened, however, that in some few
notable instances the science Of the med
zeal jnrist has aided in the most power
tuI and satisfactory manner in cIuCida-
tingthc historyO disappearance through
It's testimony to the identity Of discOv-
cred remains with the presumed missing
| H'N'I' 'l0s wv NV I'''I'l1 VI H'llDl tDllll |
show more interesting or startling illus
t%rations Of the tangled nature of eyi-
dcncc, and indeed Of human affairs gen
orally, than the records Of mcdicO-lcgal
experience in respect Of the light which
science brings to bear ON questions Of the
likeness and identity OF the dead with
that OF the once living. We thus may
find, in Il somewhat roundabout manner,
one answer to the query regarding the
whereabouts Of missing men and women;
for when death claims such it frequently
dcyolycs upon the man Of science to say
whether the body is or is not that Of the
missing person concerning whom society,
rs represented by the family or by the
law, may have made much and anxious
inquiry.
The notable case Of Eugene Aram fur.
nlsIlcs, for example, a ease in point. The
deceased or murdered man, named Dan
icl Clarke, n shoemaker of Knarcsbor-
ough, disappeared suddenly in the month
of February, I1l5, and ON no reasonable
or satisfactory hypothesis could his alb
scncc be accounted for. Thirteen years
afterwards, when the disappearance had
wcII-nigh been forgotten, the discovery
Of some human bones in a cave near
knarcShorough, together with some sus
pIclons which had been aroused by the
words of one l%louscman, Aram's accom-
plicc, brought the occurrence again before
the notice Of the public. And, as is well
known, the discovery of Il second skclc-
ton bearing marks Of violence, IA indi-
Gated by I%louscman's confession, resulted
in the apprehension of Aram, and in his
being arraigncd ut York, in August, I
1853, 70. the murder Of Clarke.
Thus the chain of cirCumstantial cvi-
'Icncc was so far strengthened, and the 4
crime traced very near to Aram's door.
And yet the most important links in the J
chain were supplied by the evidence of Z
the medical JurlstS, as tending to prove .
the CorrcspondcncGsof the remains with
those OF II man of Clarkc's age and ap- {
pcarancc. Aram's defence, ~singulariy
able and lucid, did not avail him against
the testimony of the anatomical data Of {
the last century. Thus his allegation
that the skeleton was that Of Il female {
was entirely disprovcd by the medical
evidence; and this evidence also tai {
lied in a singularly complete man
ncr with the account given by House
man OF the name in which the
murder was committed. So far, there
fore, as testimony cOrroborativc of the
facts brought out by ordinary witnesses
was required to %substantiaic the identity
of the remains, medical science lent its
powerful aid in clearing up this example
of a mysterious disappearance.
While the work of the man of science
IN this respect can never be said to vary !
IN Importance, 1t may nevertheless cx-
hlblt very great variations in the man
ner in which it is carried out, and in the
points 10 which its attention is more cs-
pccialIy directed. A very noteworthy '
case, startling to excess in some of its |
features, was tried in London i'm 1881, {
and rested, 50 far as the identity of the q
OF the trial was concerned, on the |
of front teeth in n very old |
woman. This woman, Caroline Walsh !
by name, consented, after much pcrsna- t
sion, To live with a female friend named '
Elizabeth Ross, and husband, in Good t
mans Fields. Walsh arrived at that v
place on the night Of 10Th August. 1871.
and from that date disappeared com t
pIctcIy from public view. Inquiries I'M |
mcdlatcIy made by the relatives of the v
missing woman resulted in their ascer- I
tanning from Elizabeth Ross that Walsh '
had gone from home on the day of her G
disappearance, and had never returned. I
On the evening Of Goth August, or :
that of the day following the disappear ,
ancc, an old woman who gave her name !
Caroline Welsh, an Irish oma like !
the missing woman, and corresponding .
in most particulars to the description !
given of the latter, was found in a dcsti- l
ute and almost dying condition in the :
I'll Z h..ls Mill O. A