The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-08-17
.PASSOUTOF MEMS SIGHT
*F tr, ~
MYSTERIOUS DISCREPANCIES
PHENOMENALLY FREQUENT
Men Leave Associates As If BY Magic
SpelI-Live for Years in Disguise
Without Apparent Cause-Recent In
stances of PuzzIing Identity That
Have Come to Light.

The discovery of Charles H. New
house, of Culpeper, Va, in South At
RIGA is not an uncommon sequel to
mysterious "diSpappearnceS." Young
Mr. NewhOuSe, who is a son of a men,
Der of the Virginia legislature and a
man of political and social prominence
in his county, came to Baltimore on
the 23d of last December to sell two
car loads of cattle, says the Baltimore
Sun. He sold his cattle the next after
noon, took dinner at a restaurant with
some friends and then went to the
theater. After the play Mr.. Newhouse
left his companions at the corner of
Baltimore and Howard streets, telling
them that he was going back to the
Howard house. where he was staying.
This was 12:15 o'clock Christmas
morning. He did not return to the ho-
tel, and that parting at the street cor
ner was the last anyone saw of him or
heard of him until his mother received
q letter from him the other day telling
her he was in Cape Town.
The failure of the young man to re-
turn to his home when he was expected
caused uneasiness to his parents and
inquiries were sent to this city. The
people at the hotel knew nothing about
him and it was believed that he had
no intentions of leaving the city, as
his baggage was left in his room.
SS2fCn was OnaNaiilnq.
The father came on a number of
times, the police made a most careful
search, large rewards were offered and
pictures of the lost man were distri-
buted far and wide. But nothing could
be heard of him. If he had dissolved
into thin air his disappearance could
not have been more sudden and COM
plete. 1t was known that he had
large sum of money on his person and
was man of regular habits. His
father and friends finally concluded
that he had been murdered and his
body destroyed or effectively conceal
ed, 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 Disappear
ance' 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 socalled mys-
terry is cleared up in a day or two by
the temperance 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 unreaSonabIy alarmed. In
many instances the mysterious disap-
pearance is due to a somewhat pro-
longed and seclusive drunk. In some
cases the unexplained absence is pro-
longed and is due to a careless and
selfish disregard for the feelings of
others. Men upon a sudden impulse
leave their homes without notifying
their friends and finally reappear az
II nothing had happened. Sometimes
there is a crime to explain the disap-
pearance- But now and then there aye
dlsappearances caused by mysteries
Which no man can fathom, the strange
operations of the human mind and the
mysterious maladies to which it is
sometimes subject.
The Romance of Charles.
On the 18th of last 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 ad-
mlmStrator of the estate was appointed
and he set to work to find out who
Charles Hill was, where he came from
ana who is entitled 10 his money. 1t
seems that the man had disappeared
from among his friends. No one knew
anything about him and no claimants
Tor the money came forward. This
week the mystery has been cleared up
and-by an accident. The administrat
or found among the effects of the dead
man an old Bible and on the 1yleaf there
was what appeared to be an iIlegible
inscription. Under the magnifving
glass the words Charles" and 7'Brim-
Mass" appeared. The administrators
went to Brimfield, Mass, and there
round that the mans name was Salem
CHARLES, that he was a native of that
town ana that in it he had numerous
relatives who are entitled to the es-
tate. No reason for the change of
name or the disappearance has been
discovered. 0A
In the first week of January. this
year. a man walking one day down a
street in Victoria, B. c., suddenly
stopped as if he had received a shock
He put his hand to his forehead and and
LeeAhg dizzy, went into a doctors Of
nee: After receiving restoratives he
told the doctor that his name was
rankin Strong, of Aberdeen, Mass.
am lawyer" he said, "and yester-
DAY was trying a case in court there
oetendlng an old lady who had been
unJuStIy accused of stealing money
AS L was leaving the courtroom T fait
padiy, but where am 1 now, and how
In the world did 1 get here? 7 can
remember nothing since I was on NV
way home from the Courthouse" Be-
ing asked the date of the trial he ans
Wered, Aug. 26, $685."
a Species of Mental Disorder.
He said he had a wife and two child
rem IN Aberdeen, from whom he had
mysteriously disappeared three and .
nan years before. Those three and a
nan years had been blotted absolutely
from ms mind and memory and he
knew OF nothing that had occurred
since Aug. 26, 1898.
The more usual form of this mental
disorder is that described in Charles
Reade's novel, Hard Cash." and cases
OF that kind are not unusual. A man
suddenly loses his recollection of ali
past events. Not long ago a stranger
appeared in a New England town. He
was perfectly sane and rational. but
ne could not tell his name nor where
ne came from. AS to all events which
occurred before he found himself in
the streets of that town his mind was
piank and of them he had no recol-
tecIlon. he assumed name and went
INTO business, at which he was sue
ceSstul. Later on some incident re-
called his past and he was restored tn
ms FAMILY, from whom he had nvs-
lerlouSIy disappeared. There are now
ana then cases like this, and one or
TWO have occurred in this city. Some
times those who disappear have been
murdered, but the dead body is, as a
rue speedily recovered. 1t seems to
De as dlfhcult now to successfully dis
pose OF dead body as Eugene Aram
Iound 1t In his dream or as DR.. Web
ster found it in reality.