The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-06-04
WHERE ARE THEY /?
More Than a Thousand Pei
sons Missing in New
Jersey Yearly.
NEVARK'S MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE
Perhaps They Are in Potter's
Fields-Terrible Discovery
by a Son.
NEWARK'y MYSTERIOUS DISTURBANCES

by a Son.
What becomes of persons who leave
their homes in good health, good spirits
and with the cstenslble purpose of visit
ing some town or city adjoining that IN
which they live, and disappear so com
pletely that they are never again even
heard of? asks the Newark Sunday
all" There are hundreds of such cases
each year. ana the question is an Oft
repeated one, yet it has never been sat
isfactorily answered There Is scarcely
a town in the Union which in the course
of a year does not have its little sensa'
ton, perhaps of a scandalous nature.
because of the sudden disappearance OF
some one well known. and in the cities
no one knows how many such cases
there are. for the proportion of thers
which is reported to the police is very
small. OF those which are made known
to the authorities. 1t is a singular fact
the greater number are of such a nat
ure as to be easily S.olved, If by no other
way by the return or location of the
absent one within a few days. There is
usually some reason for the action CT the
runaway in such cases. and their be-
hayior is not always regarded as strange.
Within the last ten years New Jersey
has earned a peculiar sort of fame In
this direction, and the number of miss
| ing persons, most of whom have prob
ably been found in anywhere from a
week to a year. runs to more than a
thousand. In the list Newark ~undoubted-
" stands at the head. and for deep-dyed
| mysteries of the darkest sort this city
can give an account of .disappearances"
which is rarely if ever equaled. New
York and other great cities AVE their
mysteries in this line. too. but not yet
has there been a epo OF man, woman
or child disappearing but what the alb
sent one could be traced at least a short
distance from the time of leaving home
or starting from a given point for
home. 1t is in this particular point that
several of Newark's missing" cases de-
velop remarkable features.
Two cases. one of which was the sub
ject of many newspaper articles all over
the country. and one which has never
been ventilated in the public prints, are
brought to mind by the recent disappear
ance of Mrs. Ella Matthews. who went
to New York, visited a friend, started for
| her home in this city and then seemed
| to drop out of existence after boarding a
Third avenue cable car. For a few days
her case was looked upon as extremely
mysterious. but three or four days after
| she disappeared she was heard from in
directly through a book. She had it with
her when she left home and it was re-
| turned to the Free Library through the
| mail with a Plainfie1d postmark. The
| young woman's husband declares that
he has investigated every possible clew
to her whereabouts, but without results.
His actions, however, and the many ru-
mors which have gained currency have
! robbed the case of it's remarkable fea-
| lures. which would class it with the two
cases spoken of above.
One of those was that of Mrs. Georgi-
Iana Brown, and although three years and
| seven months have elapsed since she left
her home in Gray street, Roseyille, not a
word or a sign has been seen or heard of
her since she boarded an east bound
| Orange street horse car, less than half
a block from her home. She probably
| went as far as the Market street depot
| of the Pennsylvania Railroad, although
even that is not known. AS a matter of
| fact it Is not even known hat she got
| aboard a horse car at Gray and Orange
| streets. She was seen on the corner APP
| parently waiting for one-that's all-and
if the earth had suddenly opened up,
| yawned a mighty yawn and taken her
| into it's depths, her disappearance could
not nave been more complete than it is.
1t is known that she Intended to go to
New York and make several purchases
for wedding presents in Macy's stores.
Thai she did that, however. was never
| positively determined, although there was
| at one time a sort of partial Identified
ton of her picture and a description of
| her clothing as those of a customer at
| the store on the day in October, 1891.
| when she disappeared. From the very
| start her absence from home caused
| alarm to her husband and relatives. for
| there was no reason why she shout vol
| unfairly remain away. Her home affairs
were pleasant and even happy; she had
children of whom she was passionately
| fond, and her future held home and
| business prospects for herself and her
husband of the brightest nature.
The police of New York, Newark and
| every city and town for hundreds of
miles around were given the case to
| they took unusual interest in 1t and
gave it much attention. The husband
| and other relatives of the missing wom-
an spent time and money without stint
in their efforts to get some tangible clue
which might lead to her, dead or alive,
but utterly without result. Even the
! thought of possible scandal did not deter
| them from going to great lengths in the
matter, and the only thing they actually
| accomplished was to determine positive
ly that not a breath of suspicion of any
sort of wrong doing could justly lie
| against the absent wife and mother. For
nearly three years something was being
continually done to get some trace of
her. Private detectives and friends aided
the family, public and private institu-
lions Of every nature were regularly
! searched, reports Of street and steam
| railways, steamship and other compan-
les were regularly inspected, and prob
ably the most complete and systematic
search ever ~inaugurated for a missing
person was kept up through long
months of awful suspense. Then, a few
months ago, the husband and family
were forced to give up in despair and
! accept the inevitable. They have reached
the conclusion that Mrs. Brown is lead
or insane, giving greatest weight to the