The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-06-13
MISSING MEN.
Some Of the Causes Of Mysterious
Disappearance.
1t Is an Easy Matter to Drop Out Of the
knowledge of Ones Fellow-Men-An
Instance in Which Ciew Was
Accidentally Obtained.

man has gone quietly out of his house
to the barber shop or newsstand or
some other equally frequented place
| and has never since been heard from.
1t must indeed be an excellent rea-
Son that drives man of average sound
mind away from home and friends and
causes him to expatriate himself vol
unfairly. Either he or his have done
something for which there is neces-
sity for concealment or absence, or his
mind has become disordered.
In many cases there are double lives,
illegal relations or irregular practices
that threaten the peace or safety of
the individual and lead him to take
himself away for the sake of his family
and to avoid scandal. Financial irreg-
ularities are doubtless accountable for
many of these things, but it is safe to
assert that unlawful domestic relations
are quite as often responsible as none
tary conditions. Sometimes there are
circumstances that appear to be slowly
leading up to exposures, and these SO
work on mans mind that he is glad
to drop out Of sight even at the risk of
unhappiness to himself and his family
and untold gossip and suspicion in the
community where he has lived.
When one comes to think of it, writes
n. S. Stowell, in New York Ledger, it
is an exceedingly easy thing to drop
out of the knowledge Of ones fellow
men.
Some years ago man was sum-
moned to Europe on business of the
utmost Importance. Being greatly
troubled by the nature of his errand he
found it impossible to rest during the
first night of the trip. Strolling back
and forth shortly after midnight, he
found himself weary and, leaning
against some projecting portion of the
rigging, was engaged in deep thought.
The sea was slightly rough and he had
braced himself to mind as little as pos
sible the roll of the vessel. Standing in
deep shadow and perfectly still he
saw man carelessly saunter down the
length of the deck and lean against
the railing. Shortly afterward he fan
cied he heard splash in the water and,
turning his head, the man was nowhere
to be seen.
For some unexplained and unex-
plainable reason the impression grew
upon the travellers mind that that
man had jumped overheard, but not
being of a sensational disposition he
reasoned with himself that it was high
~ improbable and that he must be
standing somewhere on that portion
of the deck. After time the idea
drove all other considerations from his
mind and, filed with this strange un
easiness, he passed over to the point
where he had last seen the man and
that locality, but there was not so
much as trace of a human being to be
found. He went back to his first posi-
ton, took his bearings and started
again to look the place over, but with
out avail. BY the time he had fully
satisfied himself that there was no one
about, at least fifteen or twenty min
utes must have elapsed, and as the ves-
sci was under full speed it must have
passed long distance from the point
where it was when he last saw the man
who had dropped out of his range of
vision.
Reasoning with himself, he saw
clearly that if the man had gone over,
board it could be nothing more or less
than premeditated suicide That be-
ing the case. such a thing as rescue was
practically out of the question. If he
gave an alarm and no one was missing,
he might be looked upon as a crank OF
a lunatic. If it proved that passen-
ger was missing, there might be delays
and testimony and no end of confusion,
all of which would seriously disarrange
his plans.
He finally resolved to say nothing
unless inquiry was made, then from
his objective point he would answer
what questions he was able. Day after
day he waited, but no excitement was
observed on board, no report of an
empty berth or unclaimed luggage
reached his ears, and the vessel went
into port without even the rumor of a
man having been lost overheard
After two weeks the gentleman re-
turned to America, and among the first
items he read was the disappearance
of business man, whose affairs, So
cial and financial, were suspected of
great irregularities. In size and figure
the description tailed precisely with
the mysterious individual who had
been seen leaning against the ships rail
Of course, there was nothing to es-
tablish the identity of the two except
the fact that the man had been last
seen within twenty-four hours of the
date of the steamers sailing. But for
the anxiety of mind to which this
man was victim, and which led him
to his midnight promenade on deck,
there might never have been even the
faintest clew to the fa:e of the missing
man.