Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-03-10
Mysterious Disappearance.
From Chambers Journal.

disappear from the view and knowledge of |
friends and foes alike, and of whom no traces |
are ever obtained, we might well stand |
ashast, not only at the terribly long list of |
lost and missing individuals, but also at the |
seeming futility Of the best directed efforts |
Tor seeking and finding them. A glance at
the agony" columns of our daily news
papers, or the notice-boards of police sta
tIons, will indeed show Us that the mere dis |
appearance from home of individuals is by |
no means rare occurrence and in many
ot these cases, very plain reasons for the ab
sence OF the runaways may be at least guess
ed at or supposed. But the cases we more
especially allude to are instances Of the regu-
lar mysterious disappearance" class, in
which, tor the most part suddenly, and in
every instance without any reasonable or
sufficient cause or excuse, individuals dis
appear from home, from their business
haunts, and from the circle Of their acquaint- |
ances, and leave not the slightest trace of
their whereabouts or intentions. Even what |
we may call the ultimate fac. Of their death |
Is IN the vast majority of cases never assert |
ed or proved and the friends of such waits |
and strays OF society nave not, as a rule, |
even the melancholy assurance or satisfaction |
OF knowing that the further hope Of finding
the lost is utterly futile and vain. And thus |
the date Of the disappearance in time be- |
comes one which, as days, weeks and years
roll by. carries with it the ever-increasing |
remembrance of an event at once sad and ter |
rible in the doubt and uncertainty which |
enshroud it.
To the question, "What becomes of
them ?" detective science NAV hazard in
answer some speculatons and several ingeni- !
Gus theories, fitting more or less exactly the
ascertalned facts Of each case. But such
speculative philosophy Is useful only as
guide to the inquirers, and can afford but
little help in framing a decisive answer to
to the above query. 1t has happened, how
ever. that in some few notable Instances the
science Of the medical iurist has aided, in
the most powerful and satisfactory manner
IN Calculating the history of disappearances,
through It's testimony 10 the identity OF dis
covered remains with the presumed missing
subjects. And no records Of fiction could
show more interesting or startling llustTa-
| ti0nS Of the tangled nature OF evidence, and
| indeed OF human affairs generally, than the
records Of medicO-legal 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, ina somewhat roundabout manner,
| one answer to the query regarding the
| whereabouts of missing men and women
/ for when death claims such, it frequently
| dey0lyes on the man OF science to say wheth
/ er the body is or Is not that Of the missing
/ person concerning whom society, as repre-
| ~euted By the family OF by the law, may
| lave made much and anxious inquiry.
The notable case of Eugene Aram furnish
e., for example, a case IN point. The de
ceased or murdered man, named Daniel
/ Clarke, a shoemaker of Knaresborough,
disappeared suddenly in the month Of Feb
ruary, l74j and on no reasonable and
satisfactory hypothesis could his absence be
accounted for. Thirteen years afterwards,
when the disappearance had well-nigh been
/ forgotten, tbs discovery OF some human bones
in cave near knarcsb0rough, together with
some suspicious which had been aroused BY
the words Of one llouseman, Aram : accom-
| pIce, brought the occurrence again before
the notice OF the public. And, as is well
known. the discovery Of a second skeleton
bearing marks of violence as indicated by
| Houseman's confession, resulted IN the aI-
prehen~ion of Aram, and his being arraign-
at York in August, l15o for the murder
Of Clarke.
Thus the chain Of circumstantial evidence
was 50 far strengthened, and the crime rae
ed very near to Arams door And vet the
most important links in the chain were sup
piled by the evidence Of the medical jurist,
as tending 10 prove the correspondence Of
/ the remains with those of n man Of Clarke :
age and appearance. Aram' defence, singu-
/ larly 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 female, as
entirely disprsyei by the medical evidence
and this evidence also tailed in a singularly
complete manner with the account given by
| ll0useman Of the manner in which
the murder was committed. So far there
| fore. as testimony corr0b0ratiye OF the facts
brought out by ordinary WITNESSES was re
| quired to substantiate the identity of the re-
mains, medical science lent its powerful aid
IN clearing up this example Of q mysterious
disappearance.
Whilst the work of the man Of science in
this respect can never be said to vary in i'm
portance, it may nevertheless exhibit very
/ great variations in the manner in which it
l. carried out, and in the points to which
Its attention Is more specially directed. \
very noteworthy case, startling to excess in
in some Of its features, was tried in London
| in 1881, and rested. so far as the identity Of
the subject of the trial was concerned, on
the presence Of the front fsefh in a very old
woman This woman, Caroline Walsh by
name, consented, after much persuasion, to
live with female friend named Elizabeth
Ross and her husband, in Goodman's Field.
| Walsh arrived at that place on the night OF
18th August, 1881, and from that date dis
| appeared completely from public view In
quIries Immediately made by the relatives
Of the missing woman resulted in their as
certaining from Elizabeth Ross that Walsh
had gone from home on the day OF her dis
appearance and had never returned.
On the evening Of Goth August, or that Of
the day following the disappearance, an old
woman who gave her name as Caroline
| Hclsh, an lrishwoman, like the missing
woman, and corresponding in most particu-
lars to the description given Of the latter,
was found in a destitute and almost dying
condition in the neighborhood of Goodman's
Fields. She was conveyed 10 the London
hospital, and il was there ascertained that
she was suffering from fracture of the hip
ioint. Her injuries proved too much for her
reduced condition, and she died in hospital,
and was duly buried thereirom.
When Ross was arrested on the charge OF
numbering Caroline Walsh, she at once sad
that the woman who had been conveyed to
the London hospital was her old friend and
although her statement seemed plausible
enough at first sight. it was found TO lie de-
cide1ly inconsistent with facts, when sub
iected to due scrutiny and analysis. Then,
also, direct evidence Of the murder OF Walsh
by Ross was forthcoming from Ross son,
who testified to witnessing the suiiOcation OF
Walsh by his mother; to seeing the body OF
the murdered woman lying, on the morning
of the Goth of August, in the cellar OF the
house in Goodmans : Fields and also to see
ing his mother leave home on the evening OF
the Goth carrying a sack, which apparently
contained something heavy.
The accidental presence Of Caroline
Welsh thus complicated this case OF mys-
terious disappearance in most curious man
ner and the complication was rendered all
the more intricate, firstly. by the fact that
no body corresponding 10 that of the MIS-
ing woman could be found IN any OF the
London dssecting-rooms secondly, by a
similarity between the dress Of the missing
woman and that of the hospital-patent :
and thirdly, By both women having posseess-
cd baskets lin which they hawked small
ware) exhibiting close likeness to each
other, although that Of Walsh had no cover,
whilst Welsh's basket had lid. Thus, to
similarity in nation, We must add confns-
ing similarity in name, in dress, in ocegPa-
tion, and in certainFpossessions. And al
though strict inquiries revealed differences
in'the habits, physical appearance and bodi-
ly conformation Of the women, and In their
. respective birthplaces, Yet obviously the case
was one in which, unless additional evidence
was forthcoming either to confirm or reinte
the doubts as to the identity of Welsh with
! Walsh, the prisoner Ross would clearly pro
: | e. l. Il. -. a.. of oridnncn and the en1-