Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-03-03
A STRANGE AFFAIR.
George M. Taylor, of San
Francisco, Missing.
HE JUMPS FROM THE TRAIN
And Disappears in Antelope Valley
All Search for Him
in Vain.

AAtOAOPO hll0y bo0Ilb W U0 CuOS6l
out by fate to be the scene of more sen
sations than any other stretch,of land or
the continent, and its latest is of nature
that will create considerable excitement
in San Francisco, for on Friday afternoon
George McAllister Taylor, member Of
the firm of s. P. Taylor & Co., of 41e
Clay street, jumped from Southern
Pacific train, seven miles from Lancaster
and has not been seen since. The story
is best told as narrated by a
passenger, who was on the train, and
who conversed with HERALD man on
the subject. He said owe left San
Francisco at 9 O'Clock on Thursday
night, and in the Santa Maria, the Pull
man car in which 1 was berthed,
noticed George Taylor, who is quite
we'll known in the Pacific coast busi-
ness world. There is nothing to tel, of
until the time of the mishap, for | did
not pay more than casual attention to
Taylor and would not, therefore, have
noticed anything being peculiar with
him, even if such had been the
case. At 2:30 p. NJ. on Friday
afternoon we passed Mojave, and went
out on the platform of the sleeper to
smoke cigar and to take breath of
fresh air. Taylor was out there too, and
az the train whistled along he sat down
on the steps with his face looking toward
the west, and therefore concealed from
me. Rosamond was soon left behind,
and when we were about what should
Judge to be seven miles from Lancaster,
| was terrified to observe Taylor rise
to his feet and deliberately jump
from the train. We were rafting
along at the rate of about rs miles an
hour, and /, of course, thought that it
was all up with him as l hurriedly rushed
inside the car and pulled the bell-cord.
1t was some time before the train
stopped, and it was decided to 90 back
and make search for the missing man.
So out we struck, expecting to find him
lying bleeding and mangled by the side
of the track. About mile from where
he had jumped a gang of section men
were at work. and we saw one or
two of them coming down the track to
meet us. The country is level there. and
we looked ahead for Taylor's body, but
not trace of it was to be seen. A june
ton with the laborers was soon made,
and we asked them if they had seen the
catastrophe.
"Yes, replied one of them, we saw the
man hit the ground after he jumped, but he
got up again in minute and dashed off
among the yuccas.'
eve shouted for Taylor, but
there was no response, and as
the conductor could not hold
the train any longer we went back to the
cars and came ON to Los Angeles. The
matter was of course the only topic of
conversation on the way down, and, tax
ing everything into consideration, we
came to the conclusion that young Tay-
lor must. be crazy"
ADvICEs FROM LANCASTER.
On hearing the strange story, the
scribe at once telegraphed to friends at
Lancaster for corroboration of the
story, and at late hour last night the
following private telegram was received
in reply:
eyes, George NJ. Taylor, Of Clay street,
San Francisco, jumped from east
bound passenger train at point seven
miles west of this place on Friday after
noon. The other passengers in sleeping
car Santa Maria, think him crazy.
The whole country has been outin search
of him, but there is no trace as yet"
The fact that he has not been found is
very astonishing, as the point he landed
is about twenty miles from the noun
tains, and is veritable plain covered
mostly with yuccas and sagebrush, with
the exception of a settled oasis here
and there. Then, again, the lit
tie town of Lancaster, in addition
to its officers, contains good
many young fellows in the cattle busi-
ness who would like nothing better than
to turn out on horseback and scour the
country in search OF the missing man,
and it seems very remarkable how he
could have got anywhere on foot without
being discovered.
HIS RECORD.
George McAllister Taylor, the missing
man, is the youngest OF the four sons
who now represent the establishment
bearing their name. They are engaged
in the production and supply of paper,
and in addition to the San Francisco
house, have large factory at Tdylors-
vile, thirty miles north of the Bay City,
OH lll6 llU0 Vi tu6 NOIlu dCluC OOhbb
railroad. The firm was founded by their
father, the late S. P. Taylor, who was at
one time one of the Supervisors OF San
Francisco, and who, at his death, willed
his business to his widow (now surviving)
and four sons. George is about % years
of age and of good, sturdy build, weigh
ing about 175 pounds. He has always
been regarded as very steady in his
habits. and was married some time ago
and established his home at the family
residence on McAllister street. There
are rumors ahoat that his married life
has not been particularly happy
one, and many think that probably
domestic troubles have unnerved his
mind and brought about the strange
mishap now under discussion. The fam
lily is wealthy one, SO it goes without
saying that no expense will be spared
until he is found.
KICKED TO DEATH.