The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-10-23
DISAPPEARANCES
 IN ENGLAND
g., ,o33 PERSONS MISSING IN THE
 LIMITED KINGDOM.
Causes and Conjectures-Female De- tectives-"Recapuring"
 Runaway Girls.

London Telegraph.
 As many as 35,o33 persons were report ed missing to the Metropolitan police in the year 1901, the latest for which there are officiahreturns. Of this number IT, 45s were Found and restored to their friends by the police, leaving more than 17,b00 unaccounted for. The figures seem startling, even for a police area which embraces upward of 6ss square miles. But perhaps they should not be taken too se- riously. No doubt they cover the case of little Tommy. who goes to Sunday school treat, takes the wrong turning home, and is not restored to his anx- ious\ parents until some time the next morning. Undoubtedly, however, the sta tistics do suggest large number of dis appearances, although 1t is rather re- assuring to find that the numbers show a fall of about 1000, as compared with 1900. Probably a good many of these 17,5o0 disappearing people went abroad, possibly for their country's good. They are missing. but they are not missed. In a good many cases, on the other hand. there must have been a more or less mysterious exodus. What people usually do when they lose friend is to go to Scotland Yard, which sets it's ordinary machinery in motion. That machinery consists chiefly in circulating photographs and descriptions of the missing person tHTOuBuOuI the country anu CdIfnly aWdlt- ing the results. Occasionally 1t is the practice for the police to render more active assistance. where there is ground for supposing that their energy is re- quired. It Is also not uncommon for rel atives, after having set the police at work in the ordinary way, to call in the services of private detective agencies The proportion of successful searches Is prob- ably a good deal larger than the police vat v,I fA. ArA there is not so much mystery involved as people think.
 "Cherchez la femme" is the explana- ton of a great many male disappear ances; but a similar principle operates in the case of the fair sex. In nearly every instance, so 1t was asserted by an expert recently, the lady Is found to have a lover. There is the ordinary case of the young woman who is not allowed to make her own choice, and who re- solves to take matters into her own hands and to leave home. The parents may have a suspicion of their daughters prejudices, but they must have some re- gard for appearances, and therefore they at once put the case into the hands of the police. This is just the step which their friends would expect them to take, and 1t convinces them that the whole affair is absolutely inexplicable.
 A Suggestive Case.
 Yet the case Is rather suggestive of the jewels, which were really not lost, but were only comfortably slowed away. It is an instance in which publicity is really compulsory. The case may be mentioned of young lady some twenty-four years of age, who suddenly left her home. De- tectives were called in, and on their ad vice advertisements were inserted in the newspapers for several days, inviting the a ahcant call a a nQFfiCIllQr nlaro for a letter. It looked scarcely a prom ising scheme but 1t succeeded in a round about sort of way. The missing person did not herself call for the letter but one day a woman whose demeanor ex- cited suspicion was observed to enter the shop. She was quickly followed by lady detective, who overheard that she was asking for the letter in question, and outside the door another female de- tective took up the running. The woman with the letter made her way to a we'll known hotel in the West End which has the advantage or disadvantage of two exits. The lady walked in at one door and out of the other, and the clue was lost. But the mysterious messenger was unexpectedly encountered day CT two later, and was shadowed when she took the train to a place about twenty-five miles from London. Here the missing lady was found in her retreat. which had been geographically chosen to suit the con- venience of her lover. The friends were communicated with. and after a stormy interview, such as might be expected un- der the circumstances. the young lady went home with her relatives.
 Such is perhaps only an ordinary story of feminine disappearance. The more in- teresting cases are those in which an en- deavor is made to conceal identity, al- ways a comparatively easy thing with a woman. Sometimes 1t is mans attire that is assumed, and a good many women are found to carry it off well. Then, again, they may dye their hair, and wear it in a fashion which largely alters the appearance, nd there is always a black veil to fall back upon. Sometimes women are stage-struck, and are missing on this account They leave home, perhaps in the country, without so much as depos- itinR a farewell message on the dressing table. and, having few pounds in Neir pocket, come up to London, certain that they will at once get an engagement on the boards at at least guineas week to begin with. Very often this sort of disappearance is short-lived, because it is discovered that a footing on the stage, even of a humble kind, Is difficult to obtain. Sometimes, however, pride Is too strong. and 1t takes the most per sistent inquiry on the part of detectives to find the wanderer. One young lady from the country, the daughter of an of fcer, bitten with the stage mania, was not so long ago "recaptured' in a tea shop The ever-active lady detective rec ognized her features shadowed her, com municated with her friends meanwhile, and eventually had the satisfaction of seeing her go back home. But these lit tie wanderings are occasionally repeated