Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1899-08-18
AFTER MANY YEARS.
THE WIFE FOUND HER LONG
LOST HUSBAND.
He Did Not Welcome Her, However,
Preferring to Live the Life of Recluse
Sad Story of an Artists Unhappy
Life.

After searching fifteen years for her
husband, who deserted her two months
after leading her to the altar. Mrs.
Patrick j. Prial found him a few days
ago living a hermit's life in hut on
the outskirts of Newark, N. ]. Her
search, which she pursued diligently,
covered the entire United States; pic
lures, circulars and letters of descrip-
ton of the missing man having been
sent to the police authorities all over
the country. No trace was ever found.
He disappeared completely and by his
friends was soon forgotten as one dead.
His wife, however chung to the belief
that he was alive and 1t remained for
her to do what the police had failed
to-inally locate the man who had
married and deserted her. There was
no happy reconciliation when the long
lost husband was found. In all these
years Mrs. Prial, urged by the belief
that her husband was alive, pursued
her search solely to establish his ex-
istence and divorce him. She secured
the decree on the ground of desertion.
Sixteen years ago Patrick ]. Prial was
a talented artist. Young, handsome
with engaging manners and fluent
tongue he soon won the affection OF
young and pretty girl employed in
William Dungee's Photographic studio
In New York. Flattered by his atten-
tons the young woman accepted an
offer of marriage, and on March 3, 1883,
Prial made her his wife. The cere-
mony was performed by the Rev. Dr.
]. NJ. Worrall, pastor of the Thir-
teenth Street Presbyterian church. A
fiat was furnished, and the happy
couple settled down to happy welded
life. Nearly two months passed. Then
Prial became taciturn and morose and
was absent frequently. Finally his ac-
tions began to alarm the young wife.
He refused to answer questions and
answered strangely. One night in
May Mrs. Prial found him strolling
along Fifth avenue with another wo-
man: AS they approached she noticed
the woman put her hand on Prials
shsulder and on the third finger gilt
tered her own ring. Mrs. Prial await
ed her husbands home coming for an
explanation, but he did not return.
For year he was gone, when he was
arrested by order of Judge Roger
Pryor of the Court of Common Pleas
for non-support. He was committed
to prison, but released few days later,
after paying the amount. Another
warrant was issued shortly afterward
on the same charge, but Prial had dis
appeared. Every effort was made to
find him without avail. The matter
was placed in the hands Of the police
both In New York and in the other
large cities. For while the search
was actively pushed. but nothing could
be learned as to his whereabouts. FL
nally after years of search, in which
his wife took an active part, the police
concluded he was dead. Mrs. Prial re-
fused to accept this belief and came
to the conclusion that her husband
was somewhere in the neighborhood Of
New York city. Among the lawyers
retained in the case was former Judge
John L. Johnson of Newark. For
long time he kept watching for man
answering the description given him
Of Prial. The vigil was in vain until
one day the name of Prial flashed upon
him and this name had figured in the
famous divorce case Of Murray vs..
Murray, which caused a sensation in
the fashionable Orange in 1891. Mr..
johnson remembered that an artist
named Prial was one of several cor
respondents and that the decree had
been granted on testimony damaging
to Prlal. He began the search anew
and learned that for the last fifteen
years Prial had been living the life OF
recluse in the Orange mountains, near
South Orange. The matter was en-
trusted to Constable Louis H. Smith,
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