Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-09-01
The Disappearance of Mr. Richey.

| washington t-EGitorial-August 3lst
At o'clock. on Tuesday evening,
August 23d. Mr.. Thomas Beall Richey.
| of Woodstock, Va, walked out Of the
! Howard House. corner Of Pennsylvania
avenue and sixth street. and from that
moment has never been heard Of He
! disappeared as utterly as IL some ire
| mendous cataclysm had engulfed him.
! He was Cancelled as completely as though
| convulsion Of nature had buried him.
| Nothing more mysterious has ever oc-
! cured i'm Washington. 4 man in the
| prime Of life. a prosperous merchant. a
| devoted husband. a sincere Christian.
| sober. Of high repute, and influential
! family connections. Thomas Beall R.chey
passed from the Howard House into an
occulation as absolute as death itself
That sutn a thing could happen in the
very heart Of Washington, at an hour
when the whole city was awake, and
under circumstances OF perfect public
order and tranquility. Is as astounding
a. any romance ever cOncOcted by GabO-
riau or Du Boisgobcy. Indeed, It beg
gars romance and takes rank with those
appalling facts which prove 10 us how
much stranger than all imaginable fiction
is the simple truth.
There are details and collaterals which
go TO intensity the mystery. Mr. Richey
stopped over i'm Washington for the pur-
pose of locating or tracing his baggage,
which had gene astray. He had set out
from New York. where he had been pur-
chasing a stock Of goods. leaving his
wife to pay Drief visit to her family,
but on reaching the Capital found that
his trunk was missing On that account
he put up at the Howard House, await
ing the result Of a telegram TO his
brother-in-law i'm New York. and, mean
while. wrote TO his niece i'm Woodstock.
advising her of his detention. In the
note he explained that he was waiting
for his trunk, and would take the train
for home as soon as il turned up. He
closed his message by saying it was so
warm that he could not sleep in his
room, and that he intended taking a
ride on the electric-cars probably into
the suburbs with a view TO enjoying the
fresh air while the city cooled off. The
remarkable fact i'm this connection is.
that while the letter itself was In Mr..
Richey's well-knOwn handwriting. and
exhibited not the slightest sign OF physi-
cal or mental perturbation, the envelope
was addressed i'm chirography totally un-
familiar TO every one Of Mr.. Richey's
friends and relatives. The hotel station .
cry was not used. There was nothing 10
sent But the post-Ofilce brand on the
outside showed that II had been taken
up somewhere in Washington at 2:30 \.
NJ. Wednesday morning. The presump-
ton is, therefore, that Mr.. Ricney wrote
the letter after leaving the hOtel-pOs-
sibly several hours afterward-and that
some one i'm whose company he then
was undertook TO address and mail it.
Another circumstance tending TO com
plicate the mystery is that inquiry sub
sequently made at the Pennsylvania
depot showed tina. the trunk had reached
there next day. that the check had been
presented. and the property removed |
A telegram was received AT the hotel |
after Mr.. Richey's disappearance. II was |
rom his brOther-in-law in New York. |
saying that the trunk had been forward |
ID from the Courtlandt-street ferry office |
md IT was opened by one of the lost |
mans brothers. The telegram gave the |
number Of the check, and so it was an
Easy matter to ascertain that II had |
,een taken up al the depot. II is also
ogical conclusion that the person pre-
enting the check must have got IL from
,lr Richey. Could II have been the same
nan who addressed the letter. which was
stamped 2:3O \. NJ. August 2ith, and
ent TO Woodstock?
Altogether this strikes us as one OF the
most remarkable episodes IN the history
f Washington. Considering all the cir |
time, the place. the
character OF the man, every
hing-it constitutes as profound and per-
licking a mystery as ever figured in song
r story. Mr.. Richey disappeared on the
light Of Tuesday. the 23d-eight days
go-and up TO a late hour last night not
trace of him, however faint. had been
eveloped. His friends have searched the
lty high and low They have visited the
ospitals. the police stations, even the
iorgue. Not a CLEAN OF light has been
brown upon the case. Silence and Sc
recy have thrown over II an impenetrable |
oak. We know only that Mr.. Richey
as been spirited away. and we naturally |
SIX ourselves whether. If such a thing
an happen to one. IL may not, with equal
lcility, happen 10 another.
His Choice.