The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-02-09
NOT DEAD, BUT HIDING.
Robert Ray Hamilton Said to be-
in New South Wales.
8EoLD SCHooLMATE'S STORY.
He has Letters from Hamilton-wby
he FoIgned Death-He Could Not
Facethe scandal-AuInterest-
ing Story From . Friend.

. PHILADELPHIA, Feb, .-Concerpip
Robert Ray Hamilton, N. o. Howard
\ until recently officer Of the coast survey
and who was his schoolmate, playmate
and collegemate, to-day said:
!. "Robert Ray Hamilton Is alive and ii
good health. He Is in Sydney, New
South Wales. he is beginning life anew
. there under an assumed name. He haI
cast behind him the past, and is lookinl
hopefully forward to the future"
"Ihave here in my pockets, +" he said
producing a bundle Of letters" several
letters from my old friend Hamilton.
They were written after he went West,
The last one that l received from him Is
dated at San Francisco, Gal, Friday, oc.
tober 8, 1890. In this letter Mr.. Hamil.
ton apprised me Of hisintention Of going
to Japan and thence to Sydney, New
South Wales.
he Is not in Australia, however, and
il matters which arc OF vital importance
to him move along in the groove which
he has marked out, he will return 10
New York within three months. His.
exact location cannot make public. AT
least six OF his friends know where he IL.
and arein constant communication with
him. My late visit to New York was 10
arrange some matters Of business ii
which he Is interested.
To explain why Hamilton feiRned
death and took IN assumed name It will
be necessary for me to go back several
years, beginning with his first acqualnt-
ance with the cunning and unscrupulous
woman who, in great measure, is re.
sponsible for his social, political and
moral downfall.
~ think made the Acquaintance OF
Eva Steele, Brill, Mann or Hamilton at
about the time that Mr.. Hamilton iirst
met her. Hamilton seemed to be infat.
uated with her and gave her large sums
OF money and paid all the expenses OF
her European trip. Atthat time he was
q member OF the New York Assembly,
aud when that body was in session dur.
ing the years 1887 and 1888 she accom-.
phuleu ILul W Alphuys
Hamilton introduced her to his leeis.
lative friends, and their house was the
resort OF many Of New Yotks leading
statesmen. Much champagne was
drunk, and as men, when under the in.
auence OF liquor, say things which
would otherwise remain unsaid, she be.
came acquainted with many State Sc.
crets, and, being scheming woman, she
hoarded mp this knowledge to use for
her advantage later on.
sin his Legislative capacity he posed
as a reformer, and was considered by the
people OF New York az the embodiment
OF all that was pure in politics. He had
his vulnerable points, however, and the
woman found them. The knowledge
that she possessed herself during those
nights OF social pleasure in Albany she
used atterward to good advantage.
He was conscious Of his weaknesses
and he regretted them. When he found
how completely he was in the tolls OF
his interruptions companion and lis.
tened to the threats that she made II he
did not acceed to her demands, Ia it any
wonder that he forgot his high social po.
sition and made her his lawful wife?
ut was not altogether on his own &C.
count that he did this, for Eva Hamilton
had in her possession letters and docu.
mentary evidence which, II made public,
would humble 10 the dust the heads OF
many New Yorkers who now stand be.
fore the world Rs the emblems Of moral.
ity and virtue. "a
"What these secrets are and whom
they involve am not at liberty to say,
but many man In New York breathed
freer when he heard that Robert Ray
Hamilton was dead.
"0n that fatefnl Monday in August,
1889, when the iniuriated woman stabbed
Nurse Donnelly, she and Hamilton had
already been drinking heavily, and had
quarreled. She bad threatened, he had
defed her, and the result, had the DON
nelly woman not interiered, might have
been fatal to him. Norman knows how
keenly he felt the disgrace that was
brought upon him, and it was to seek
oblivion that he went to that lonely
ranch In Nezperces county, Idaho.
While he was there he was, OF course,
in constant communication with his
friends and with his attorney.
Through them he learned that Eva
Hamilton had threatened to make thtnga
hot for him. II was in moment OF
desperation that the stimulation OF death
was thought OF and carried out. OF
course his friends and relatives were
prepared for the thing before hand.
he was afraid that when brought face
to face with Eva Hamilton In court she
wnnld aithar naka a GkaYkiin1 Tavalatinn