The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1885-12-04
LOST PEOPLE.
THE MISSING PRoslG GMu AND HOW
IT IS Solved.
Strange Cases That Occ,r in New York
City-People who Live Dual Lives
Solved and Unsoived Mysteries
Boy hunawayA
tCor. Cincinnati Enauirer.l

ground attracts more attention than the
loftiet mountain. Perhaps that accounts
for It. Nothing, at all events, could be
moro untrus. Hundreds are lost, to be
surs, in Nav York evsry year; but they
are found again. Thera Ia this difference;
the public hear OF the Disappearance through
the newspapers but rarely, except in cases
OF unusual Importance. Of the recovery
which, as . rule has more Of bald
fact than romance about It. IL
fact easily demonstrated by
the police records that thoss New Workers
who within the last. say five years, have
really disappeared and left no trace OF any
kind behind can be oountsd on the fingers Of
ones two hanli I say New Yorker, adj
v.seily A great many inquiries are re.
ce:yed by the police from out Of town for
persons who "went to the city ami have not
been heari OF sinca" The record in these
cases Is rarely completsi. For the reputa-
tion OF the psrsoI sought 1t is often well
that it Is not New York is a famous place
for an occasional "tear" when You live far
enough way to run n, risk Of being recog-
DizsI
FOLLOWING UP CASES.
That Is not to say none really do disap-
pear. Some do, unfortunately, ami as ut
Us IL tuey uau Doen sWallOWeQ up Dy
the sea, which may bs literally the case,
but these unfortunates are few AMI far be,
tween. Under an improved system Of re.
cording missing psrs Ins and following up
the inquiry for tIsm, data have accumu-
lated on tue police books to show that these
cases con- -titute a very small proportion of
the whole-scarcely ons in hun
drel cases Quite 500 men, women,
AMI children are reported lost in
the COURSE Of q Year to the police. An
"alarm" Is sent out. with a description Of
hi or her clothing; so that, IL found sense
less or sick in the streets, hs may be recog-
nize !, AMI results are awaited.
II nothn. more is heard OF o case, q
printed blank Is sent out from headquarters
at the eni OF two or thrss weak to the cap
tain OF the prec.uct in W Iicl : Is "cass" was
reported to live, orleriny inquiry to be
made about him In nine ca -es out Of ten
it comes back indorsel. Found" or Game
home" The explanat 'ry foot-note by the
captain, Been on drunk" bears out the
police theory OF the affair often enough to
make them justly skspEical In such matters,
The wonder ceases with the usual ten days
term on the island. Sslf-respecting citizens
whom m ,ral or fn iucial binkruptcy throws
upon the hospitality of the city for
the perioi OF ten day, prefer to travel
incog.; hence the Joan Smith or Jamss
Brown Of the arrsst-book gave no clue to
their fate.
While this applies to the great mass Of AL
legged missing nysteries' in New York, 1t
does some times happen that months 60 by
without tidings Of the lost Then the case
assumes a more serious look. an 4 the police
face the knottiest Of all problems The most
patient inquiry frequently fails to discover
Q motive or a reasonable thsory for the dis
appearance. Without either. all search is
vain and purposelsSs Friends or relatives
do not know, or will not tell, OF the slippery
place the lost one troll
LEADING DUAL LIVES.
There are men and women in this town,
shining lights in scc.ety, who leal dual
lives little suspected by the world; families
with two hearthstones-"a houss AMI fat"
-between which, unknown to all ave the
guilty head. their peace trembles ever
overshadowei by di ,aster; others who
periodically fall from grace and 90 on
desperate sprees. but still have sen enough
TO get to a safe distance from home AMI
friends; still other WAC find it convenient,
like the boy who knows that a licking waits
him at home, to drop out for awhile until
something has "blown over" Sometimes
the lost one is business man Of prom
inence Then there Is a stir, and all sorts
Of theories are set up in the news
papers. But the biggest sensation does not
outlast the week in New York, and people
soon find other things to talk about The
missing one returns and slips into the old
groove without exciting much remark
The hospitals and the lunatic asylums fur
nish their share OF ths return column.
The river gives up its share Of the lost;
doubtless It holds the key to the few mys-
tories which the years have left unsolveI
Soul play" Is always the cry in such cases.
but beyond doubt often unjustly. Thieves
are plentiful in the streets OF New York by
night; but they do nos risk murder when
nothing Is to be gainsi by it Il Is pa
ruliarity Of the women wno disappear in
New York, il one Is to tru,t to Newspaper
accounts. that all ars beautiful A look
at some Of them when they come back as
they nearly always do would undsceive the
trustful reader.
Girls escapadss are dictated In nine cases
out OF ten by impulse, the source Of which
can be traced and its probable direction
determined, rather than by calculation,
and are, therefore, ca Ter to follow up So
with tho epidemic Of boy runaways that
break. out every spring asd runs Its course
WITH the travelling circus and the season OF
Indian-b batting on the plains, like msasl,S
scarlet fever AMI othsr children's CON-
plaints Like these, 1t rarely attacks the
victim twice. and when it Is over he feels
all the better for It