The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-15
PEOPLE WHO VANISH.
Some Disappearances Caused by u
Certain Form of Epilepsy.

Certain Form of Epilepsy.
From the Illustrated London News.
A recent number of the Lancet has
some curious remarks upon mysterious
disappearance, viewed in their physiolog-
ical aspect. 1t seems to attribute them,
more or less, to a certain form of cpl
lepsy. "The suddenness of the disap-
pearance, the absence of motive, and the
utter inability of the patients to give
even the slightest account of their ex-
periences during the time that elapses be-
lore they come to themselves, give" we
are told, "a weird character to these alb
CREATIONS" For my part. I am unac-
quainted with this last attribute; in the
cases that have come TO my knowledge
those who have disappeared have been
generally very retieent about their pro-
ceedings while away but could have re-
lated them if they chose. But these dis
appearances are wierd enough without
that additional mystery. 1t is probable
that many of them are the result of sud-
den impulse combined with opportunity.
The catastrophe in Regents Park some
years ago, when many persons were
drowned through the breaking of the ice,
and the sinking of the Princess Alice in
the Thames, with scores of her passen-
gers, were followed by many disappear
ances. These and their like are most favor
able occasions for PERSONS who are tired
of their wives and families, and perhaps
In pecuniary difficulties, to set themselves
free from all ties, and to begin the world
with clean slate. From henceforth they
need only be known as uncovered bodies
There are, no doubt, considerable tempta-
tons and excitements, of an unusual kind
to recommend this course, but it is not
an easy one, for in London. large as 1t Is,
one can never count on not being identi-
Er.I At.
lice for leaving ones wife and children
upon the parish.
The most singular case of disappear
ance is recorded, l think flor l quote
from memory only, in Nicors Anecdotes
Of Authors" A citizen of the highest re-
spectability leaves his homo and his wife
and family, and without rhyme or reason
disappears for twenty years or so. Not
the least curious part OF the affair was
that he takes up his abode-well disguis-
ed, of course-in the next street, and is
only discovered when his own good time
occurs for revealing himself. The occa-
sion, If L remember right, was sufficient
ly important, since it was to prevent his
wife from committing bigamy. These
voluntary Enoch Ardens must be an i'm
mense nuisance to their belongings. and
are probably at least as mischievous as
they are epileptic. 1t is worse than that
return from the grave imagined by the
poet, when 1.-THE hard heir strides about
his lands, and will not yield them for a
day" because the unfortunate heir, as he
imagined himself to be, has to yield them,
however, hard he may be or it may
seem to him. The most remarkable dis
appearance in modern times, because it
was double one, is, no doubt, that of
the brother of Grimaldi, the famous
clown; it is told In his geography, edited
by Dickens. The man had disappeared
for years, when suddenly he presented
himself at the theater where ,Grimaldi
was engaged, and they had fraternal
meeting between the acts. He described
himself as prosperous, and resolved from
henceforth to stick to mis- friends and
family, and seemed to look forward with
great pleasure to his brothers society
He had arranged to return with him to
his home when the performance was
over, but when Gtimaldi had finished his
part, his brother, he was told, had left
the theater, and he was never seen again
Mrs. Gaskell tells us a story-not a fie-
tion-of the disappearance of laborer
in a Shropshire village, which has some
thing almost of the supernatural in it. so
inexplicable is the riddle He was a para
lytic, and in summer he used to be carried
outside the cottage to bask in the sun
shine and to watch what was going on
On a sultry day in June. all the village
was hay-making, and the old mans son
his chair, from which he could not move
without assistance, went with the rest
When they came home in the early even
ing he had disappeared. There was no pos
sible reason for It; 1t seemed almost as r.
in the language Of an earlier period. ne
had been spirited away It was a time
when the press gangs were busy and caus-
ed a good. many mysterious disappear
ances, but no press gang could have CO.
veted paralytic. THE Incident" we are
told, was never accounted for. and left
las 1t well mighty a painful impression
on many minds" In a recent Note
reference was made to the loss Of the
President, which was so far mysterious
that it Is unusual for so large "A ship 10
be lost without leaving a trace behind her.
A relative OF the captain writes sne that
the catastrophe was predicted by a dream
Of a member OF his family, which In
some degree broke the shock 70 them.
but. as a general rule. the agonies Of
suspense In such cases must be worse