The Red Cloud chief., 1895-10-04
LOSS OF IDENTITY.
PEOPLE WHO MvsTeRloUsLv DlsAp-
PEAR OR LOSE THEMSELVES.

Some Of Them Walk Out Of Home Circles
and Are Never Heard Of Again-Abcrra-
tlon Of Mind One Of the Causcs-strauRe
Cases Of This Character.
In a community Of 1000, 900 souls O
man must be great indeed TO command
general notice. The young man who
comes from the country, leaving behind
him q happy Preside filed with loved
ones and bringing with him only his
fond mothers Bible and q 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 All the ocean,
and the simple drop he represents will
not be missed when he vanishes.
There arc thousands Of dark
in q great city, and in one Of these no
may DO found dead, with marks Of vio-
lence upon him. The coroner's jury may
find o verdict Of "killed by some person
unknown" and, unidentified, the poor
boy finds final rest in the pauper's grave,
while the loved mes at home wonder ut
bis silence that Is never broken. The
merciless waters surrounding the town
wash increasingly in and out Of dread,
dark hooks in 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 10 IL followed by the assassin.
There are open places where desperadoes
lie III wait for victims and kill without
either mercy or remorse, and for such
O pittance Of plumber that one wonders
that they make the venture. A great
event is but "a nine days wonder in o
great city, for what length Of time will
the people bear in mind the murder Of
IN unknown manH
The scene in the thoroughfares are
Kaleidoscope, with instant changes.
The stories Of the disappearance and
wanderings Of the people are sometimes
sad, but they are frequently amusing.
In many cases alteration of mind is the
cause Of disappearance, and while the
whole city IL alarmed the object Of
search Is innocently wandering among
the searchers after him and contributing
to the hue and cry.
Only yesterday I heard Of q man who
came from the west nine years ago and
found himself in Providence, 80 dazed
that he lost his identity. and under the
first name that came to his mind start
cd Q business which he continued with
success there for six years. One day, OF
the end Of that time, he went to Paw
tucket on business and again lost hia
identity. Again he started q new bust.
ness and made q success Of IL for three
years when he remembered his Provi'
dence name and returned there recently
to resume his former occupation.
It was six years ago, while ! was Nv'
ing in o fat with my aged parents, thai
q strange case Of alteration Of MIND
came under my personal notice. II illus
trated that the aus may be grief, whil'
other cases show that business troubles
lead up to II. In the first fat lived {
physician and his wife, q very estimabl'
lady Of some 80 years, who was also {
p~racticing physician. Both were grad
yates Of medical colleges and they hat
their own patients. II may be grantet
that the lady was Of sound mind ant
fair reasoning power. The husband die
very suddenly and for three days tn
widow remained inconsolable, lament
ing his unexpected death.
At the end Of that time she went on
alone for o walk. She walked severa
miles up town, as nearly a. she after
ward remembered, and then turned :
60 home. But everything seemed strang
to her and abe could not decide wha
direction to take. She thought Of tn
recourse that comes to every mystifie
person in q great city and decided to as
q policeman to set her right. But afte
arriving at this conclusion she could nc
remember the street or the number Q
the street where her home was, an
worse than all she could not recall he
name. She was not addicted to the us
: Of liquor, az this state Of affairs woul
indicate, nor was she Of q constitution
ally weak intellect.
In this dilemma, a. eno afterWaf
told me, she wanted to talk to som'
body, Just to hear her own voice, an
she stopped the first policeman VIII
came in view. She recognized the fa1
n that the officer might think her eith'
4 drunk OF crazy, but while she had 81
= tirely lost both her name and addreI
from her mind she wa perfectly sar
ON all other subjects. She asked hin
first, II he knew where she lived. E
0 stared at her quizzically at first. seen
Q ing to want to suggest an insane az,
lum, but her elegant attire and comme
sense face refuted that idea. He simp'
, remarked that he wa a. ignorant
herself Of her address, but was mo-
) plused when she followed up her fir
" l---l-- A. -.ll-. Id. - fall hap n q M