Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-08-16

mysterious "disappearances." Young
Mr.. Newhouse, who is a son of
member of the Virginia Legislature,
and a man of polished and social
prominence in his country, came to
Baltimore on the 23d of last Decem-
Der to sell two car loads of cattle.
He sold his cattle the next afternoon.
took dinner at restaurant with
some friends and then went to the
theatre. After the play Mr.. New
house left his companions at the cor
ner of Baltimore and Howard streets,
telling them that he was going back
to the Howard house, where he was
staying. This was 1915 o'clock
Christmas morning. He did not re-
turn to the hotel, and that parting
at the street corner was the last any
one saw of him or heard of him until
his mother received a letter from
him the other day telling her he
was in Cape Town.
The failure of the young man to
return to his home when he was eX-
pected caused uneasiness to his par
ents and inquiries were sent to this
city. The people at the hotel knew
nothing about him and it was believ-
ed that he had no intention of leav-
ing the city, as his baggage was
| left in his room.
The father came on Il number of
times, the police made most care
full search, large rewards were of
fered and pictures of the lost man
were distributed far and wide. But
nothing could be heard from him.
If he had dissolved into thin air
his disappearance could not have
been more sudden and complete. 1t
was known he had a large sum of
money on his person and was a man
of regular habits. His father and
| friends finally concluded that he had
been murdered and his body destroy
ed or effectively concealed, and he
was given up for dead. Now comes
the happy explanation of young
Newhouse's disappearance. He had
gone to South Africa without an
nouncing his intention to do so.
The headline mysterious Disap-
pearance" is not an unusual one in
the daily newspapers. As a rule
there is nothing mysterious about it,
and in nine cases out of ten the So
called mystery is cleared up in a
day or two by the appearance of the
! lost man with some commonplace
explanation OF his absence. He may
have been called away suddenly on
business without having had time to
communicate with his family and
his family may have become unreas-
onably alarmed In many instances
the mysterious disappearance is due
to somewhat prolonged and seclu-
/ !, h.,
explained absence is prolonged and
is due to a careless and selfish dis
regard for the feelings of others.
Men upon a sudden impulse leave
their homes without notifying their
friends and finally reappear as if
nothing had happened. Sometimes |
there is a crime to explain the disap |
pearance. But now and then there |
are disappearances caused by mys- |
teries which no man can fathom, the |
strange operations of the human
mind and the mysterious maladies
to which it is sometimes subject.
On the 18th day of May a man died |
in a sanitarium in Los Angeles, Cal,
having in his possession the great
sum of $4,000 in cash. Nothing |
was known about the man except |
that he gave his name as Charles |
Hill. An administrator of the estate |
was appointed and he set to WORK to |
find out who Charles Hill was, where |
he came from. and who is entitled to
his money. 1t seems that the man dis
appeared from among his friends. |
No one knew anything about him
came forward. This week the mys-
etry has been cleared up and by an
accident The administrator found |
among the effects of the dead man |
an old bible and on the fyleaf there
was what appeared to be an illegi- /
BILE inscription. Under the magnify
ing glass the words Charles" and |
''Brim-, Mass" appeared. The adj
ministrator went TO Brimfield, Mass,
and there found the mans name was
Salem Charles. that he was a native
of that town and that in it he had
numerous relatives who are. entitled
to the estate. No reason for the
change of name, or for the disap-
pearance has been discovered.
In the first week in January, this
year, man walking one day down
a street in Victoria, b. c., suddenly
stopped as if he had received shock.
He put his hand to his forehead, and,
feeling dizzy, went into a doctors
office. After receiving restoratives
he told the doctor that his name was
Franklin Strong. of Aberdeen, Mass.
Il am lawyer" he said, ''and yester
day was trying case in court there,
defending an old lady who had been
unjustly accused of stealing money.
As / was leaving the court house l
= Il
how in the world did L get here? j
can remember nothing since / was
on my way home from the court
house" Being asked the date of the
trial he answered, Aug. 90. 1885,