The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-06-08
MISSING MEN.
Some Of the Causes OF Mysterious
Disappearance.
It Is an Easy Matter to Drop Out OF tho
Knowledge OF Ones FcIIow-Mcn-An
Instance In Which a Clew Was
Accidentally Obtained,

to the barber shop or newsstand or
some other equally frcqucntcd place
and has never since been heard from.
II must indeed he an excellent rea-
son that drives Il 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 a neces-
sity for concealmcnt 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-
ularlties arc doubtless accountable for
many of these things, but it is safe to
assert that unlawful domestic relations
nre 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 a mans mind that he is glad
to drop out of sight even at the risk of
unhappincss to himself and his family
and untold gossip and suspicion in the
community where he has lived
When ono comes to think of it, writes
N. S. Stowcll. in New York Ledger, it
is an exceedingly easy thing to drop
out of the knowledge Of ones fellow
men.
Some years ago n man was sum-
moned to Europe on business of the
utmost Importance. Being greatly
troubled by the nature of his GRAND he
found it impossible to rest during the
first night of the trip. Strollng 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
siblc the roll of the vessel. Standing in
deep shadow and perfectly still he
sawa man carclcssly sauntcr down the
length of the deck and lean against
the railing. Shortly aftcrward he fan
cicd he heard Il splash in the water and.
turning his head, the man was nowhere
TO be seen.
For some unexplained and unex-
piainable reason the impression grew
upon the travellers mind that that
man had jumped overheard. hut not
being of 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 n time the idea
drove all other considerations from his
mind and, filled with this strange I'M
easiness, he passed over to the point
where he had last seen the man and
carefully examined every portion of
that locality, but there was not so
much as trace of a human being to bc
found. He went back to his first posi-
ton, took his bearings and started
again to look the place over, but with
ont avail. BY the time he had fully
satisfied himself that there was no one
about, at least fifteen or twenty min
ntes must have elapsed, and as the YES
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 prcmcditated suicide. That be-
ing the case, such thing as rescue was
practically out of the question. If he
gave an alarm and no one was missing.
lura.ic. If it proved that a passen-
ger was missing, there might be DELAYS
ard testimony and no end of confusion.
al of which would seriously disarrangc
his plans.
lie finally resolved to say nothing
unless inquiry was made, then from
his objective point he would answer
what questions he was able. Dav after
day he waited, but no excitement was
observed on board, no report of an
empty berth or unclaimed luggage
reached his cars, and the vessel went
into port without even the fumor of n
man having been lost overheard.
After two weeks the gentleman re-
turned to America, and among the first
items nc 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 ship rail.
OF course, there was nothing to cs-
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 a victim, and which led him
TO his midnight promenade on deck.
there might never have been even the
faintest clew to the fate of the MISSING
man.
Early Impressions Are Lasting.
Every one must have found how diff