The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-09-16
(BY w. L. ALDEN.)
1894, by the -Author.l

Name cannot recall, anu my cSlA-
Starkweather had just returned from
trip to the Rocky Mountains, and he
had made the acquaintance of the AM
erican on board the Atlantic steamer.
According to Starkweather the Ameri-
can was the very best of good COM
pany, and he had invited us to meet
him, assuring US we should pass a
most delightful evening We were not
Stold whether the man was a million
Fa1re, humorist, OF a buffalo hunter,
into which three classes, as / have been
given to understand, the entire popula-
Iun or the American states is divided;
and, as he never spoke during the whole
OF the dinner, except to ask for or to
decline some article Of food or drink. L
did not find him a particularly enter
tanning person; but when we had ar
rived at cigars the American gave a
sigh of relief, tilted back his chair on
is rear legs, and looked about him
with a contented expression, and a
general air of having laid aside bust
ness and prepared himself for pleasure.
We We're speaking Of the mysterious
disappearance of a man who, accord
ing to the newspapers, had left his
house in Bloomsbury square a fort
night ago to post a letter, telling his
wife that he would return in five min
utes. but who had never since been
heard of.
There is something in these disap-
pearances that l cannot understand"
said Brown. Every now and then
some man, who has not the slightest
reason for committings suicide or for
running away, walks out of his front
door and disappears utterly and for
ever. Say that Of these men a certain
percentage does commit suicide, or does
run away, and that of the rest another
percentage is knocked on the head and
dropped into the Thames there will
a n Ia ,.rra mn If
pearances, to which. we can attach no
explanation. Take the Bloomsbury
man, for example. I know a man who
knew him intimately, and he tells me
that better man never lived. He had
not an enemy in the world, and he
was devotedly attached to his wife and
children. He had a comfortable in
come and did not owe penny He was
y an exceptionally hard-headed, clear
Drained man and the hypothesis that he
suddenly went mad is out Of the ques-
uon. SO is the theory that he was
murdered at 7o'clock on summer eve
ning between Bloomsbury square and
the corner of Southampton row. And
this is only one of half dozen similar
cases that have come to my own know
ledge"
Starkweather and 1 agreed that the
subject was mysterious one. and that
lhere must be some explanation of
these disappearances which no one had
Vet thought of. 1t was then that the
American suddenly broke silence and
began monologue which lasted for
The rest Of the evening
gentlemen, he began, I'VE have lust
Sueh dlsappearanceS in the states. OF
course when cashier or a broker dis
4 appears We all know that his time for
/ closing up his business affairs and
taking his securities across the border
4 INTO Canada has come; but good, quiet.
honest people. just such men as YOUR
friend there has been describing dis
appear with us more often, L reckon,
than they do with You. I have lost two
intimate friends in that way and it
naturally made me think good deal
about the thing. That's the way l
came to find out the truth about it,
though ] have never yet told a living
soul, knowing that there is nothing so
credulous as human being, and that
il j told what l knew nine people out
of ten would think / was a lunatic or
a liar. But over this side I find that
people believe things twice as easy as
they do with us. Just think for a min
ute how all YOU Englishmen believe in
your. But there. l guess We don't
want to talk politics tonight. Howev-
er. I'm going to tell you what | know
about mysterious disappearance he
cause ! calculate that you'll be liable to
believe il. and because I'm going TO
Paris tomorrow. and as / don't exnacr
"a.
so much matter whether you believe if
or not"
He paused for a moment and drew
three or four times at his cigar We
begged him by all means to go on with
his story, and as l was feeling a little
drowsy. and the mans voice was
soothing in its monotonous infection
/ rather thought that if his story did
prove tiresome 1 could sleep through
at least a part of it.
Il was living in Chicago. gentlemen, -
resumed the American, when the first
OF my friends disappeared. He was a
real estate agent and was making
money hand over fist, with nothing or
the face of the earth to worry him
having been happily divorced only that
very year. He had been spending the
evening at my house. and about Il
O'Clock he started for his lodgings
which were in the next street not l0t
yards away. He had a sore throat al
the time and he said as he left ms
that he should stop in at the druggist
or the way home and get some medi.
cine. He did so, as l afterwards found
on inquiring of the druggist but from
The moment ne left the druggists shoI
no man ever heard or saw him agar
and no man ever found the least trace
IF him. of any sort. size or descrip
ton.
\ That was, say. ten years ago. TwC
7 wears later another friend, who haC
been married only six weeks, and wa.
the happiest man / ever struck. disap
peared. His wife wasn't feeling very
well one Sunday evening, and ne in
sisted on going for the doctor. 1t wa
about O'clock in the evening. and i
was bright, moonlight night. TIL
doctors office was in the same street
about three blocks away. and thu
street was always full of people at tina
hour. But from the time my frient
shut his front door behind him, he van
the doctors office. so far as we couli
find out and the only trace of hin
that was ever found was the evidene
of a boy in druggists shop that wa
about half way between my friend
house and the doctors office The DO,
rather thought that a man answerini
the description Of the missing man ha
come into the shop at o'clock, an,
bought an ounce of chlorate Of pot
ash. but as he didn't know my friend
he could not. of course be sure tina
il was he. From that day to this moth
ing was ever heard of Julius Hikok
which was the name of my MISSING
friend. and his estate has been settles
by the lawyers and his wife has bee
y married at least once since then.
Il got into a, way of thinking owe
The disappearance of these men an
irving to invent some theory tina
would account for il. / invented hal
a dozen theories. but every one o
them broke down. | was absoiutel
away Tor committed suicide for
knew enought about both of them {
know that this was simply impossible
Tha,, a rain the chances rr-aya q Ion {