The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-08
MISSING MEN.
Some of the Causes of Mysterious
 Disappearances.
Kt Is an Easy Matter to Drop Out of the Knowledge of Ones FelIOw-Men-An Instance in Which a CIew Was
 Accidentally Obtained.

It is not an unusual thing to take up ones daily paper and read that some 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.
 It must indeed be an excellent req son that drives man of average sound mind away from home and friends and causes him to expatriate himself vol untarily. 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. Stow w2ll, in New York Ledger, it is an exceedingly easy thing to drop out of the knowledge of ones fellow men.
 Some years ago a 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 fam 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 ly improbable and that he must be standing somewhere on that portion of the deck. After 6 time the idea drove all other considerations from his mind and, filled with this strange Un- 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 human being to be found. He went back to his first posi- tion, 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 yes sel 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 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 crank or 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 tallied precisely with the mysterious individual who had been seen leaning against the ship'srail
 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 fate of the missing man.
 Early Impressions Are Lasting.
 Every one must have found how diff