Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-06-25
Running Away from Marriage.

NuMMAn8 away from M6fH18X8s
Hs was profound philosopher who when
he heard OF mans being In trouble. criminal
or otherwise, asked 'Who was she?n For he
knew that, sooner or later, q woman would be-
found at the bottom OF the tribulation. 1t Is
probably susceptible OF mathematical demon
stration that nfnety-nine OUT OF each one hun
dred cases OF mysterious disappearance, for
example, may be traced directly to feminine
influence. In some instances, to De sure, the
mysterious disappearer has run away because
he was thief, or a defaulter. But for whose
sake did he commit the crime which made him
vagabond and fugitive? 1t is not to the
discredit Of the gentler sex that the chances
largely prepOnderate In favor OF some one Of
them being the cause OF the criminals undoing.
weakness. that causes the mischief. Many an
honest and innocent woman has wrought
mans ruin without knowing it. Many man
has made q fool OF himself for woman who
Not long ago citizen of Germantown, Pa,
who had passed the meridian of life, and who
suddenly disappeared. The wedding day ar
rived, but not the bridegroom. He was In mid
die life. q respectable citizen and "well f1xed'
supposed that he had been foully dealt with
robted and murdered, perhaps. The fearful
bride elect postponed the wedding. and offered
Large for the Of the
had been bereft In due time the lost one was
found. olive and well, In distant part of the
country. At the last moment his courage h ad
failed him. He did not dare to marry the wo-
man to whom he had pledged himself; and,
like coward, he had rua away from the
lymenial altar: Why did he not face the
enough to marry you. Let us throw up this
engagement before it is too late" Rather tha1
say this he ran away, and thus gave the goS-
sips topic which has not yet been used up
unless the Germantown gossips differ from
those OF every other locality.
The number Of men who have mysteriously
SO large that the newspaper detectives ask,
whenever they hear OF missing man, II he
was about to be married. Whether men en-
gage themselves thoughtlessly, and afterward
repent, or women ensnare men In meshes mat
rimOnial, to the chagrin of the victim, we can
not undertake to inquire. In any event, the
coward1ce Of men who run away from marriage
Is established beyond dispute. Indeed, this
cowardice has sometimes assumed so violent q
shape as almost to become virtue, para
doxical as this may appear, For ex-
san Francisco may be quoted. A We'll
dressed man, dead. with pistol-shot through
the heart, was discovered In q vacant lot Ga
MS Us pe, r on was paper, signed W. H: Ward"
The case as then presented, was that Ward
having killed several people. among them be-
Ing one +. q. Bates OF Salt Lake City, had
On this dead man were found memoranda show
ing that the aforementioned Bates had been
engaged to young lady In Salt Lake City, and
lions that the sffianced bride of the murdered
man should be notified OF the violent death of
her lover and the suicide of his murderer
trunk containing the personal effects OF Bates
had been previously sent to Salt Lake City ad-
dressed to the young lady, avowedly by the
murderer, as appeared by the memoranda found
upon the person OF the suicide. In this trunk
was found Bates's diary. entries in which re-
ferred to the diarist's good fortune, his ample
supply OF ready money and his suspicious of
Ward, whom he referred to as "a clever thtef.n
1t must be acknowledged that murderers do NOT
usually commit suicide under the influence of
Iemorse, nor do they commonly manifest great
concern that the friends Of their Victims should
be Informed OF the fate OF the missing ones
The persistence OF the post mortem requests OF
the my steI1ouS suicide aroused suspicion and
to make long story short. 1t was proved be.
yond a peradventure that the man who killed
himself In San Francisco was none otner than
F. b. Bates, who, being unable to fulfill his
promises to the young woman whom he had
first invented an elaborate scheme by which Il
was made to appear that he had been murdered
for his money. He had represented himself
when sutton. as being In comfortable financial
circumstances, although he was poor. Attempt.
Ing to better his condition, he had been disap-
pointed, and he took bis own life as the shortest
way out OF the difficulty. having contr1ved
In the estimation Of his affianceG bride.
II this story were told In work of fiction 1t
would be denounced as too improbable. Yet q
judicial inquiry has established the facts as
above narrated. The psychological phenomena
connected Herewith we leave to the study OF
others. Here was man who, having employed
false pretenses to win thu hand Of young
woman, was too honorable to carry on the de.
ception any longer, was too cowardly to &C
knowledge his weakness and was yet cour-
agt Gus enough to take his own life In order to
draw the veil OF oblivion over all. After this
ain ost anything may be believed of men who
have rashly committed themselves to matri-
moDy ana nave run away from tie cOnse-
querces OF that step-N ?. Times.