Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-08-24
LOSS OF IDENTITY.
PEOPLE WHO MYsTERIousLY oIsAP-
 PEAR OR LOSE THEMSELVES.

Some of Them Walk Out of Home Circles
 and Are Never Heard of Again-Aberra-
 tlon of Mind One of the Causes-strange
 Cases of This Character.
 In community of 2,0o0, 900 souls a man must be great indeed to command general notice. The young man who comes from the country, leaving behind him happy fireside filled with loved ones and bringing with him only his fond mothe4-s Bible and few neces- saries, to try his luck in the city. comes unheralded, to be quickly swallowed up in a whirlpool of uninterested, selfish humanity. Humanitarians are the ex- ception here. He does not fill the ocean, and the simple drop he represents will not be missed when he vanishes.
 There are thousands of dark corners ill great city, and ill one of these he may be found dead, with marks of vio- lence upon him. The cOroner's jury may find verdict of killed by some person unknown," and, unidentified, the poor boy finds final rest ill the pauper's grave, while the loved ones at home wonder at his silence that is never broken. The merciless waters surrounding the town wash unceasingly ill and out of dread, dark hooks ill black, slimy places under piers and ferry slips, and objects are of ten found there which loving mothers and tender sisters should not look upon. There are resorts in the great city from whence the innocent, unsuspecting young man is followed by the assassin. There are open places where desperadoes lie ill wait for victims and kill without either mercy or remorse, and for such pittance of plunder that one wonders. that they make the venture A great event is but "a nine days wonder' in a great city, for what length of time will tho people bear in mind the murder of an unknown man?
 The scenes ill the thoroughfares are kaleidoscopic, with instant changes. The stories of the disappearance and wanderings of the people are sometimes sad, but they are frequently amusing. Ip many cases alteration of mind is the cause of disappearance, and while the whole city is alarmed the object of search is innOcently wandering among tho searchers after him and contributing to tho huo and cry.
 Only yesterday heard of q man who came from the west nino years ago and found himself ill Preaidcnce, so dazed that he lost his identity. and under the first namc that came to his mind start cd business which he continued with success there for six years. One day, at the end of that time, he went to Paw tucket on business and again lost his identity. Again he started new busi- ness and made q success of it for three years when he remembered his Provi- dcnce name and returned there recently to resume his former occupation.
 1t was six years ago, while 1 was liv ing ill flat with my aged parents, that a strange case of alteration of mind came under my personal notice. It illus tratcd that the cause may be grief, while other cases show that business troubles lead mp to it. In the first flat lived physician and his wife, a very cstimable lady of some 90 years, who Was also practicing physician. Both were grad uatcS of medical colleges and they had their own patients. It may be granted that the lady was of sound mind and fair reasoning power. The husband died very suddenly and for three days the widow remained incunsolablc, lament ing his unexpected death.
 At tho end of that time she went out alone for walk. She walked several miles up town, as nearly as sine after ward remembered, and then turned to go home. Butcvcrythings seemed strange to her and she could not decide what direction to take. She thought of the recourse that comes to every mystified person in great city and decided to ask a policeman to set her right. But after arriving at this conclusion she could not remember the street or the number of the street where her home was, and worsc than all she could not recall her namc Shc Was not addicted to the use of liquor, as this stato of affairs would indicate, nor Was she of a constitution ally weak intellect.
 In this dilemma, as she afterward told mo, shc wanted to talk to some | body, just to hear her own voice, and she stopped the first policeman who came ill view. She recognized the fact | that tine officer might think her either drunk or crazy, but while she had en- tirCly lost both her name and address from her mind she was perfectly sane on all other subjects. She asked him, | first, if he knew where she lived. He | stared at her quizzically at first, seem | ing to want tO suggest all insane asy- lum, but her elegant attire and common sense face rcfutCd that idea. He simply remarked that he was as ignorant as | hersrlf of her address, but was non pluScd when she followed up her first | inquiry by asking him to tell her name. | It WAS too much fer the officer. He | laughinglv suggested that she should accompany him to the station house, whore tho captain might give her tho | desired information. As q last resort she went with him.
 The captain did recognize her, for when she entered the station he greeted her as Dr. B., and she rejoicingly OK | claimed: That s it That's my name,
 but where do I live?" The captain had once presided over the precinct ill which she had lived and was familiar with the
 place of her removal. He sent an officer
 home with her, and upon her arrival she | met my mother, to whom she first told | OI her strange WttlueflHSS. Cue LdS ever
 since been of sound mind and is today practicing medicine up town.-Phila-
 delphia Times.
 l On the InstalIment Plan.
 Suzanne Lazier was a good actress,
 but extremely stout. She was one night
 enacting a part in a melodrama with
 Taillade, the original Pierre of 'The
 Two Orphans,' and this actor had at
 one moment to carry her fainting of
 the stage. He tried with all his might
 to lift the "fieshy" heroine, but al
 though she helped her little comrade by
 standing on tiptoe, in the usual man
 uer, he was unable to move her an inch. ] IL s-..,o4..,.r, n,,r, of thn dni+ins nni nc