Los Angeles herald., 1891-05-20
Secretary Hanchette's Disap-
pearance Unexplained.
Nothing But Theories to Ex-
plain the Mystery.
Detectives Lose His Trail at the
Dearborn Street Depot.
The Search Being vigorously Prose-
cuted-Not at New ChIcago-The
Gossip and Surmises About
the Matter

The army of those who wished to
know if anything new had been heard
relative to the missing secretary of the
chamber of commerce still continued to
lombard Superintendent Frank Virgins
with questions yesterday. but to all the
same answer was given: Nothing yet."
This lack of news by no means implies
that the friends OF Mr.. Hanchette have
given up hope. Quite otherwise. A ma
jority OF them seem inclined to accept
Mr.. Wells's theory that Mr.. Hanchette
has gone to some point from whence
news is slow in arriving, and that his
messages to his wife have miscarried.
Almost every one that talks about the
matter has some theory to account for
the disappearance, temporarily, of Mr..
Hanchette, and it speaks well for the
estimation in which he is held
in Los Angeles that nearly all the theo-
ries are founded on the missing secre-
tary's we'll known desire TO advance the
interests of Los Angeles, and on his pos
sible illness from overwork in connectiSss
with the orange carnival.
In conversation with his associates in
Chicago, Mr.. Hanchette had spoken of
many plans for visiting various places on
his return trip from the east, as any
person will who has whole half conti-
nent before him. He probably had>no
serious intention of carrying out one of
these plans, yet they have since come up
to cause uncertainty in the minds of his
friends as to which one Of the plans he
really did ultimately carry out. Among
other persons he talked OF visiting was
Mr.. H. d. Wilkenson, of New Chicago,
Montana. Yesterday Mr.. Frank Wig
gins telegraphed Mr.. Wilkenson, and
received for answer the message'
II know Mr.. Hanchette, but do not
know anything about where he is or
where he may be found"
Among other theories suggested is the
one that Mr.. Hanchette may have had
some scheme that he wished to carry
out undisturbed, and discussed these
many plans that have since come up in
order to mislead his friends as to his
real intentions. In that case, however,
he would certainly have telegraphed to
his wife when he saw what stir his
disappearance created; as it would be
entirely foreign to his character to allow
her to worry when he could prevent it.
Another theory is that Mr.. Hanchette
met with foul play in Chicago; that the
man who claimed Mr.. Hanchette's g bag
gage at the Dearborn-street depot parcel
room, was some one who had obtained
possession of his checks, and took this
means of misleading possible inquirers.
A third theory is modification of the
insanity theory, to the effect that Mr..
Hanchette was demented, but not
10 I~ox okk 10 J, ,so
dition, and that he is still travelling
somewhere, under the impulse OF some
freak. If this were the fact, however,
his baggage is plainly marked with his
name, which is not such common one
that it would be unlikely to cause COM
ment, considering the amount of pub
licity given his disappearance through
the press dispatches.
Mrs. Hanchette expressed herself yes
terday as having adopted Mr.. Wells's
view of the matter, and seemed more
hopeful.
In the meantime, detectives think
they have traced Mr.. Hanchette's move
ments until he was ON board the train
for st. Louis, and they are now busily
engaged in hunting for other traces,
while the Chicago police are turning
the Clark street dens inside out to dis
cover any traces OF the missing man in
connection with possible foul play.
If the Chicago detectives would follow
up the clue given by the package clerk
at the Dearborn depot, they might get
on track leading up to valuable inform
alton. The clerk says that man he
took to be Mr.. Hanchette handed in his
checks for the trunks and packages he
had left there in the afternoon, and took
them to the baggage Office to check them
for st. Louis on the Wabash train. Now,
if Hanchette met foul play on Clark
street that evening on his way to the
depot, after he mad been seen at the
ticket Office of the Santa Fe in the Rialto
building, at 7 O'Clock, it might follow
that the man who dispatched him, find
ing that he had but little money on his
person, concluded that the treasure he
was supposed to have in his possession
from the receipts of the carnival was in
his trunk. He would probably then
have taken his baggage checks and pro-
ceeded to the depot and secured his eff
fects. This, it seems, is clue worth
following up.