The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-09-25
Mysterious Disappearance.

The number Of persons who mystcriouslv
disappear and are never heard Of aftcrward
Is greater than is generally supposed. This
fact ~ illustrated by the case of the dead
body found buried in barrel ON Staten
Island. 1t was the body of young woman,
evidently secretly Inferred to conceal u
crime. The friends Of no less than four
young women who have gone of leaving no
clue behind them by which they could be
traced have been making investigation or
inquiries about this corpse, with view to
its identification. in every instance, as the
missing one. What hrartaches there must
bc in families from which some member has
disappeared in impcnctrable darkness. To
meet Il fate which.can never be ascertained!
Many of these disappcarunces are but lit
tie advertised. notice in some paper Of
very limited local circulation Is the only
publicity they ever acquire. Such accounts
are not infrcquent in the country papers
But while unexplained disappcaranccs are
more common now than formerly and we'll
they may be- for there are 50 many more
persons TO disappear yet they have always
occurred.
Many years ago prosperous wholesale
Boston druggist left honc for flying trip
TO Europe one evening in Paris he stepped
ont from hs lodgings, intending to be gone
but short time. and from that day to this
he has never been heard from.
About the same time dry goods mcr
chant in the interior Of Massachusetts van
ishcd one night. lie was an old bachelor.
nice, msSy, and particular. and extremely
regular in his habits. lie was easy and
wrll-to-do ia his circumstances. No trace
OF him has ever been discovered.
Soon after the breaking out ~ the rebel
lion lay preacher To whose dscourses we
had sometimes listened. was engaged in the
manufacture OF subres for our army in the
northern part OF this state. He LEFT his
mandatory to walk few miles to a place
whore he expected to take II stage coach
He is believed To have had considerable
amount Of money on his person. and Is sup
posed To have been murdered by the way
side. He had a family in Rhode Island who
were expecting him. Day by day they grew
more and more anxious. until days length
encd into months and months into years.
They waited and watched in vain. for he
came not, and no tidings OF him were ever
received.
tary and intentional ON the part Of the per
SONS themselves; in others it Is the conse-
quencc Of sudden madness and inability to
take care OF themselves; and in others the
hiding l. done to conceal assas-ination
The disappearance of the young man.
CHARLES q. KELSEY. from the village Of
Huntington. only an hours ride from this
city, where he was talred ana tcathcred and
manned 10y several of the leading men few
years since, though pretty well understood.
has never been fully cleared up tn this day
That case shows that a considerable number
OF persons may Ice conversant with the facts
OF n sudden disappearance. and yet, where
something criminal is connected with IL,
the cxac: truth never be authoritatively
made public
Probably there are numerous instances IL
persons disappearing in which no puhlica-
ton Of the occurrence is ever made. Indeed
il il doubtful whether the case of any one Of
the four girls whose friends have been at
tractcd by the discovery Of the barrel
colncd corpse on Staten Island would over
have been heard Of through the press but
for that accidental discovery
only yesterday n telegram from Easton.
Pennsylvania, stated that the tax collector
Of that city had been robbed aud probably
fatally injured in onc Of its thoroug hfares.
When murders u this kind are openly com
mittcd in the heart uf "A tOwn-as has often
hlpprned in our own city-it Is not strange
That transformations 10y the wayside and in
unirequrntci places, Tor lucre or some other
strong temptation, should be Of more fire.
qucnt occurrence.
The moral Of all those examples seems to
be- that people should keep keen lookout
both on themselves and on others who may
do them harm