The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-02-17
FORYS GHOST TOOK LAGER.
CAME IN ON THE BARRooM CIRCLE
JUST LIKE FORD HIMsELF.

"a m ~ Nv On THE CfhCLE
JUST LIKE FORD HIMSELF.
They Had Buried Him Last winter. and
They Knew II, bat We Says IL Must
Have Been Somebody Else They
Buried. and That Hes Bren Only
from Mai.e TO Mexies, No Further.
In all his life. so far as his noighbors In
Yonkers knew. Frank Ford never did anything
out of the ordinary until he disappeared from
the ken Of mankind as completely as II he had
walked of the edge Of the earth. He had al
ways lived q regular and quiet life with his
young daughter. his wifo being dead. and had
been . regular workman at the hat factory.
Then about n year ago he vanished in q very
irregular II quiet way. Most men who disap-
pear do 1t quietly. except such as become dis
slpsted in dynamite explosions: but Ford's dis
appearance was accomplished with even less Of
q ripple than Is usual In such cases. One day he
came home and said to his daughter:
No more work up at Connetts. I'm going
to Peekskil tomorrow. Advertisements are
out for trimmcrs up there. You stay with your
aunt"
On the following day no left for PcekskilI.
Whether he got there or not only he himself
knows. He didn't get work. any way. Nothing
further was heard Of him. The police OF Peeks-
kill looked for him. and notice was sent to Po-
lice Headquarters In this city. Not . jot or
trace was found.
That was In March OF last year. Ellen Ford,
the daughter, continued to live with her aunt.
and after a month Of waiting In tho expectation
of getting some word from her father gave up
hope OF ever seeing him again. The few init
mate friends he had concluded that, In despair
at being unable to get work. he had COM
mitted suicide. That was what might be
| aunartad- they aaid of ma NJ thnaa nuIat saif-
contained men who never talked about their
troubles. but kept them TO brood over.
about siI weeks after the disappearance the
body OF a mar was found floating a the Hyds9n
foul play. decided that tho man had either
fallen into the river, or had committed suicide.
TIE body had been In tho water so long that the
features were unrecoGnlzable. II was buried IN
the public buryinE ground. 4 few days after
friend of the missing Ford. and tho CONVERSE
ton. turned upon the supposed suicide. Al
ton as was possible OF the body. IT was that Of
. mar apparently about 40 wears old and bald
headed. who wore u sort OF bandage about his
bald; and had 2 osnd.gc around b. waist"
Hes Away. worn q bapdsge since he injured
himself years ago. and he's quite bald. Can we
The body was disinterred. and Coyle took Is
year-old lien Ford and two friends of Ford to
look At the body. The girl thought the clothing
and the others were quite certain that tho body
was that OF Ford. but would not swear to II. The
the papers reported the Identification OF the
body, and that was the end of Ford. So Yonkers
The daughter continued to 1.-Two with her aunt,
until recently Il. was decided that she ought to
was Insured for $500, but the money had not
been paid because Of tho alleged Incompetence
a rafie was held on saturday night AZ % hldeTr..
man John j. Loehr's hotel to raise money for
Elion's pAtssss to England. Ssysrsl Of the
well known. went up and bought chances. and
then returned to Coyle's to sit about the stove
lit was about this time OF a Saturday nigh,
that Frank would be coming!n here" remarked
lone glass Of beer at the bar" said another.
and then another glass while he was playing q
game OF BACKGAMMON, II there was any one to
play with him, and then he'd go home"
The conversation drifted away into other
turned upon IN polite. when the door opened
slowly and a man came In. He was a middle
aS Sss ,n msn inc 81 f, 9l5S,ns .nd sePesr.n noned 4 =, so9 ,S:
bar the voices OF the men IN discussion suddenly
tailed allied "a a. Into noO, sile ne. a sort Of Fa'P ggs Ht
back turned, DIDN'T sec the man at first, and the
neycomsr. while waiting. took of hi. hat and
Murder" said the man nearest the door
softly, and slid into the outer air.
silence. the bartender turned around. His Jaw
dropped. So did the glass he held In his hand.
Il VulNh - " " hNNouuI WI tU0 ~ oIOhC.
The bartender put his arm in front OF his eyes.
What do you wantf" he asked.
Lager" said tho newcomer prosaically.
4 murmur went through the group In the
room, Tho bartender retreated. The man
the men broke into hysterical laughter.
Any of you want to play n game of back
CANNON ?" said q quiet voice.
ITS him." said one OF the men. "Hes-he's
81. 9 doS F n. srry r so% me o ys. q Sa h!s1 bnI. s 9nr 3;
Before an answer was forthcoming Pat Coylo
himself came Ia from the back room. stopped.
wsvered. then Jumped forward and seized tho
Frank Ford! Why. man. where did you
como from1 We thought you were dead and
buried. This is q sight for sore eyes"
IL guess the rest think I'm dead yet" replied
Ford composediy. Pat. I'm. glad to see you.
No; Ant a ghost: I'm real. and guess you
One by one the men camo forward. the one
who had fed being with difficulty persuaded TO
como forth from the Inner recesses OF his own
home and convince himself that he had not
seer a spirit.
But where have you been all tho time,
Frank ?" was the general query.
From Maine to Mexico" said Ford, and that
IL all they could get out of him. Maybe III
tell you more later on" he said.
thing abou, his wanderings. He went to Alder
man Loehr's place on Sunday. and the Alder
man. who had heard Of his return, handed over
the proceeds OF the rattle to him,
"Itll start you In life again." he said. now
that you've decided to come back from tho
SO Ellen will not 20 to her relatives in Eng
land. Ford has found q place In one of the tao
tories In Yonkers. and will go to work this
week, and he and Ellen will start up house:
keeping again. Who was buried as Frank Ford
will probably never DO known.