Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-03-15
DISAPPEARANCES.
SOME STRANGE CASES WHICH HAVE
BAFFLED THE DETECTIVES.
A Mysterious Occurrence of Twenty-Five
Years Ago-Margaret E Sangster's
Husband Ralph Keeler's Sudden
Departure-Young Women.


New York world.l
The mysterious disappearance of Stillman
g Conant has naturally drawn attention to
disappearances Of that kind in this commun-
fly They have been so startlingly frequent
here of late that numberless wives are nerv-
GUS on the subject, fearing every morning
when their husbands go away that they may
not return This refers, of course, To such
women as are harmoniously married. One
instance, if prominent and published, ap-
pears to produce others, and such an effect
Is explicable by cerebral laws Mysterious
disappearances have been a feature of the
winter 1t is extraordinary how many pr
sons of position, character and influence dis
appear. Their disappearance creates a com
motion at first; the newspapers are full Of it
for day or two. Then some other, perhap'
q greater sensation, arises and thedisappear-
ance slips out OF the public mind
Twenty-Five years ago the husband OF a
lady, now widely known as an author and
editor went out to luncheon from his law
Office in lower Broadway, expecting TO re-
turn in half an hour, and was never seen
again alive. Not the least trace of him
could be found, although the police and de-
tectives labored for months on the case.
The moment he reached the street he seemed
to be swallowed up as if the earth had
opened and gulped him down. A good while
after, his body was discovered in the bay;
It would not have been recognized but for
certain papers on his person. Whether he
had committed suicide or fallen into the
water and been drowned, or robbed and
thrown into the river, nobody could tell.
There were various theories on the sub
5ect, though none of them was sat
nfactory. We refrain from mention
ing names. The bereaved lady is still a
widow and still laments her loss.
The husba nd OF another literary woman,
Mrs Margaret E. Sangster, disappeared
from Brooklyn fifteen years ago, and the
mystery has never been dispelled. He hal
been suffering from a headache-it was the
evening Of July 4-and the noise Of fire
crackers, pistols, and small arms DISTURBED
him sorely He said, the weather being hot,
that he would go out on the stoop for a
breath Of fresh air. The hour was 9, and he
had on dressing gown, which was enough,
one might think, to distinguish him any
where He did not expect to leave the stoop.
But where he went, or what became of him,
continues to be q dead secret Inquiry,
search, rigorous investigation were fruit
less. Not the slightest intimation of his
fate has ever been received. He too, was a
lawyer a man of contented disposition,
the soundest sense, vigorous health and
perfect balance. He was devoted to his
wife and had every reason to enjoy and
preserve his life. 1t is hardly possible TO con-
struct a theory that will explain this case,
which is one OF the strangest on record To
disappear eternally and untraceably from
door-ste in q crowded street early in the
evening, within the shadow of ones own
home, and in such garb as anybody must
notice, defies all probability. Such an Incl
dent put into a work Of fiction would be pro-
nounced absurd.
O'Neili, a very well known boot and shoe
dealer in Sixth avenue, middle-aged, a man
Of family, sober, intelligent, Industrious of
excellent habits, prosperous, disappeared
twelve or fourteen years ago and left no
more vestige than if he had leaped into a
blazing lime-kiln He jumped on passing
horse-car to go down. town on business and
that was the last seen of him by his friends.
Liberal rewards were offered for any intelli-
gence Of hfn. but none was obtained. He
was engulfed in impenetrable mystery.
Seven or eight years ago a well-to-do
grocer in Third avenue named Digman, if
we remember started in the evening to
visit the house Of friend few blocks
away, intending to be absent but half an
hour He had an appointment with another
friend at his own home the same evening,
and he was one of the most puncuual of men
Neither friend ever saw him After parting
with his wife, to whom he had been married
less than six months he became invisible, so
far as known, to mortal eyes. He was a
man of high animal spirits, regular habits,
warm affections and OF a thoroughly practi-
cal turn. No clue was got to his disappear
ance, and its obscurity has deepened with
the passage Of time.
Ralph keeler, q young man who had lived
in California and had come east to earn his
bread by his pen, after many adventures
and varied experiences in different parts of
the country, disappeared some twelve years
ago in the most enigmatic manner.
He was at one time an assistant
of William D. HoweIls on The Atlantic and
had decided talent for description But he
was so much of a rover that he could not be
content to stay in any one place. He con-
tributed to the ne wspapers here and pub
lished various articles in the magazines. He
finally decided to make trip to Cuba, and
he was traced, it was thought to the Havana
steamer but after that he could be traced
no further, even inferentially. Many per-
sons doubted that he ever went aboard the
vessel or quilted New York. Divers opin-
ions were formed about his disappearance
some asserted that he had destroyed
himself; others that he had been
murdered-but not one of them rested
on a reasonable basis He was very
amiable and agreeable, bubbling over
with sanguineness, and had, like most of bis
tribe, too little money to excite the cupidity
of rascals There has never been any solu-
ton to his mystery.
George A Laxer's disappearance is toe
recent to require particularization. Nothing
could be more mysterious or impenetrable.
A girl named Lima Grietman, daughter of a
German cigar-maker. disappeared from