Kansas City daily journal., 1895-10-13
PEOPLE WHO VANISH.
Some Disappearance Cansed by Certain
Form of Epilepsy.


From the Illustrated London News
\ recent number of the Lancet has some
curious remarks upon mysterious disap-
pearances viewed in their psychological
aspect. 1t seems to attribute them, more
or less, to certain forms of epilepsy. THE
suddenness of the disappearance, the alb
sence of motive, ana the utter inability of
the patients to give even the slightest ac-
count of their experience during the time
that eiapseS before they come to them
selves, give" we are told, "a weird char
actef to these ALTERATIONS" For my part,
] am unaCquauted with this last attribute:
in the cases that have come to my knOwl-
edge those who have disappeared have been
generally very reticent about their proceed
iHgs while away, but could have related
anccs are weird enough without that ad-
diuOnal mystery. 1t is probable that many
of them are the result of sudden impulse
combined with opportunity The catas-
tiSSphe IN. IN Regents park some years ago,
wren w hraS many persons c sE We're crowned through
the Princess Alice in the Thames with
scores Of her passengers, were followed by
are most favorable occasions for persons
who are tired Of their wives and families
ana, perhaps, in peCuniGry difficulties, to
set themselves free from all ties, and to be-
gin the world with "A clean slate. From
uureeovered bodies, There are. no doubt,
considerable temptations and eXcitements
OF an unusual kind TO recommend this
London. large as II Is, one can never count
,5 on mot rSo beng bldeGtined ana Enomnionsly
wife and children upon the parish.
The most singular case of disappearance
IS .ry geGSr2Sd tRiRk Hao lfor quot from mem
thors," a citizen of the highest respectable
i,y leaves his home, and his wife and fam
'iy, and, without rhyme or reason, disap-
pears for twenty years, or so. Not the
least curious part of the affair was that
coursc-in the next street, and is only dis
covered when his own good time occurs
rSmembcr rght. Mas sudenTtISyg TISgiin1G inDnr,ant n
since j was 10 prevent his Wife from com
ArGcns must be an Immense nuisance TO
their belongings ana they are probably at
least as mischievous as they are epileptic.
grave IMAGINED by The poet, when the
hard heir strides about his lands, and win
unfortunate heir, as he imagined himself
TO be. has 10 yield them, however "hard'
he he may b. be, Or, or It may seem TO him. The
times. because Il was a double one, is
no doubt, that OF the brother OF Grimaldi,
raphy, edited by Dickens, The man h5d
d dsappeared Tor years, when suddenly he
Grimad was engaged. and and had Gle fratsPGai wlGai
meeting between acts. He described him
Sf fSdm Senod}o2tBR R}r2BRroqa sfaR f9g fssoYhsa h
friends ana family and seemed 70 look for,
him to his home when the performance was
over, but when Grmaldi had finished his
part his brother, he was told, had left the
thcater, and he was never seen again.
Mrs. Gasken tells rs stOry-not a fic-
tlOn-Of the disappearance of a labOrer in
a Shropshire village, which has something
almost of the supernatural in It, so in-
eyplcable Is the riddle, He was a par
alytic, and In summer he used TO be carried
outside the cottage TO blsk in the sun
shine and to watch what was going on.
was hay-making ana the Old mans son
and daughter-in-law, having placed him
I'm his chair from which he could not move
without assistance, went with the rest,
When they came home in the early evening
he had disappeared There was no possi-
BILE reason for IT, II seemed as IT, In the
language of an earlier period. he had been
spirited away. IL was a time when the
press gangs We're busy and caused a good
many mysterious disappearances but no
press gang could have coveted q paralytic,
''Phe Incident" we are told. was never
accounted for, and left (as well II mi ghD
n painful impression on many minds" In
a recent "Note' reference was made 10
the loss of the President. which IS so far
mysterious that 1t is unusual for so large
a ship to be lost without leaving a trace
behind her A relative OF the captain
writes me that the catastrophe was pre-
dicted by dream OF a member OF his fam
lily, which In some degree broke the shock |
70 them; but. as general rule. the agonies |
OF suspense In such cases must be worse |
than the corroboratioa Of thsir fsars