Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1896-09-26

PEOPLE WHc MYsfeRoUsLy DlsAP-
PEAR OR LOSE THEMSELVES.
Soma OF Them Walk Out of Homo Circles
ms Are Nevsr Heard OF Again-Aberra-
tion OF Mind Ono Of the causes-strAngs
Cases Of This Character.

Cases Of This Character.
In a community of 1000, 900 souls q
man must be great indeed to command
general notice. The young man who
comes from the country, leaving behind
him q happy flreside filed with loved
mes and bringing with him only his
fond mothers Bible and q few neces-
%saries, to try his luck in the city. comes
unheralded, to DO quickly swallowed up
in q whirlpool Of u~ninterested, selfish
humanity. Humanitarians are the ex-
ception here. He does not I'll the ocean,
and the simple drop he represents will
not be missed when he vanishes.
There are thousands Of dark corners
in a great city, and in n of these he
may be found dead, with marks Of VIC
lence upon him. The coroner's jury may
find q verdict of "killed by some person
unknown" and, unidentified, the poor
boy finds final rest in 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 increasingly in and out Of dread,
dark hooks in black, Shiny 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, u~nsuspecting
young mar is followed by the assassin.
There are open places where desperadoes
lie in wait for victims and kill without
either mercy or remorse, and for such
a pittance of plumber 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
the people bear in mind the murder of
an unknown man?
The scenes in the thoroughfares are
Kaleidoscope, with instant changes.
The stories Of the disappearance and
wanderings Of the people are sometimes
sad, but they arc frequently amusing.
In 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
the searchers after him and contributing
to the hue and cry.
Only yesterday I heard of a man who
came from the west nine years ago and
found himself in Providence, SO dazed
that he lost his identity. and under the
first name that came to his mind start
ed a 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 a new bust
ness and made a success of it for three
years when he remembered his Provi-
dence name and returned there recently
to resume his former occupation.
1t was six years Ago.. while / was liv-
ing in a fiat with my aged parents, that
a strange case of alteration of mind
came under my personalnotice. It illus
trated that the aust may be grief, while
other cases show that business troubles
lead up to it. In tho first flat lived a
physician and his wife, a very estimable |
lady of some so years, who was also a
practicing physician. Both were grad
of medical colleges and they had
their own patients. 1t may DO granted
that the lady was Of sound mind and
fair reasoning power. The husband died
very suddenly and for three days the
widow remained inconsolable, lament
Ing his unexpected death.
AT the end Of that time she went out
alone for a walk. She walked several
miles up town, as nearly as she after
ward remembered, and then turned to
90 home. But everything seemed strange
% her and she could not decide what
direction to take. She thought of the
'ecourse that comes to every mystified
,ersoD IN a great city and decided to ask
policeman to set her right. But after
at this conclusion she could not
emember the street or the number of
he street where her home was, and
worse than all she could not recall her
lame. She was not addicted to the use
4 liquor, as this state Of affairs would
Indicate, nor was she of a constitutions
lily weak intellect.
In this dilemma, as she afterward
old me, she wanted to talk to some
'ody, just to hear her own voice, and
he stopped the first policeman who
anne in view. She recognized the fact
hat the officer might think her either
runk or crazy, but while she had en-
rely lost both her name and address ]
her mind she was perfectly sane
q all other subjects. She asked him,
If he knew where she lived. He
at her quizzically at first, SEEM
1n IN want f. c-nooct on frcono new I
I'M, but her elegant attire and common |
,nse face refuted that idea. He simply :
smarked that he was as ignorant as !
of her address, but was non !.
used when she followed up her first I
lquiry by asking him to tell her name. I
was too much for the officer. He ,
ughingly suggested that she should
company him to the station house, \
here the captain might give her the =
information, As q last resort !
10 went with him. I
The captain did recognize her, for
hen she entered the station he greeted
II as DR.. B., and she rejoiciugly x
That's it That's my name, g
It where do ! live?" The captain had P
zee presided over the precinct in which 4
g had lived and was familiar with the .
ace OF her removal. He sent an officer =
me with her, and upon her arrival she =
my mother, to whom she first told y
her strange wanderings. She has ever =
ice been of sound mind and is today p
acticing medicine up town.-Phila-
lphia Times. "
So 1t Was. -
Mrs. Bray thought you said it was D