The Paducah sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1898-1906, 1903-01-12
Mystery Of His Disappearance From
Paducah Increases.
A Reward Of $500 Is Now offered for
Internationally He Is Wanted
No One Knows.
LAST SEEN THREE YEARS AGO


er who disappeared from Paducah
three years ago, and has never since
been heard Of. He vanished as COM
pletely as IL the waters Of the river had
swallowed him mp forever, and it be-
gins TO look as if they did.
Jim" Taylor, as ne was known
to every river man on the Ohio from
Cincinnati to Cairo, is, If he is still in
the land Of the living 60 years Of age,
says the CourierJ Journal. He was last
seen shout three years ago at Padu-
cab, where he worked at his trade for
several weeks. When he left that town
all trace of him was lost. whether
he fell in the river and was drowned,
whether he was murdered, or whether
be left for other parts Of the country,
is unknown.
The disappearance Of one man is
not likely to be remembered long.
Jim" Taylor was a man of peculiar
habits in dress and action, aud when
he dropped out of sight there was
but little interest taken IN the mat
ter. For few days after he left
Paducah there was some discussion
among those who had known him In
regard to the probable reasons for
his dissppe arsnce. Then he was ap-
parently forgotten.
Weeks afterwsrd. however, the sto-
~ found Its way into the newspa-
pers in Louisville, st. Louis and Gin
cinnati, and the interest which had
almost died out was partly awaken.
ed. Some one, whom no one knew,
wanted to find the man, and this fact
more than the disappearance caused
the matter to be TALKED of among
those who knew him when he drifsed
from town to town and worked for a
few days at q time to earn enough
money to buy whiskey. Since then
the search for the man has never oeas-
ed. Why he is wanted no one knows,
but that the reasons are good ones is
apparent. That they are not entire
ly based on sentiment has long been
surmised. This has been confirmed
by small handbills which have been
distributed in cities and towns along
the river during the past few days,
which read that tho sum OF $500 will
be paid for any information in regard
to the whereabouts Of James NJ. Tay-
lor. These nandbills direct that all
letters shall be addressed to a firm Of
lawyers in Cincinnati.
Lawyers do not search for missing
ship carpenters simply for pastime,
and the offering of the reward has
again reawakered public interest in
the case. Local river men know the
story we'll They had heard of the
disappearance of Jim" Taylor for
years, bat paid little attention to the
rumors which were always flying, and
decided that they had been greatly
magnified. One or two, however,
ventuIed to inquire why tine ship car
penter was wanted so badly. Their
request for information was CURLY
denied and they were no wiser than
they had been the day Jim" Tay-
Tor was last seen. Other attempts
have been made to learn why the
missing man is wanted, but they have
been unsuccessful, and the mystery Of
the mans life is still unsolved.
Lieutenant Moore, of the Paducah
police force, says that the real reason
Taylor is so eagerly sought is that sew
eral years ago he was warried and his
wife after leaving him, married an
other man. The lstter died some time
since, and left her his estate, but it is
now claimed that ,she had never pro-
cured a divorce from Taylor, and her
last husbands son Is making a fight
to get possession of the estate, claim
ing that Mrs Taylor had no divorce
and was not legally married to his IA
Their. In order to find Taylor and
prove this the son is willing to pay
$500 and has been in direct CORES
pondence with the local police.