The daily morning Alaskan., 1903-11-06
TWO MISSINGS
IC11rrI-.L I.n Er '. ! I-n...I

mystery where the man Is an embez- tler or defaulter or has become infatu- ated with an adventures.
 The case of Milo Hastings was ono which hundreds of people pasted away in their scrapbooks and which scores of sheriTs and detectives have reason to growl over
 Hastings was young man twenty three years old, steady and temperate and serious minded He was half own er in a foundry at Jefferson City, Mo, and at the til of hls disappearance was making lots of money and was en- gagged to a handsome girl who would bring him a fortune.
 One day In June 1867, he called at the bank and deposited SS,000 which had just been paid Go the firm. He had a prIvnte account Of over S12,OO0 in tho same bank. He owed no man a dollar, had never had a quarrel with anybody, and bis health was excellent He had left the bank at o'clock with a smile on his face. and up to this hour his ease is an unsolvcd mystery. He went somewhere. but wheret He did not go by boat or train. He did not drive or fide on horseback. Fifteen minutes aft CT be left the bank he Was asked for and could not be found.
 The first theory iu Hastings case was that he was Involved financially. The next was that he wanted to eyade marriage. The third thut he had been decoyed to some place and robbed and murdered. The fourth that be was a victim of temporary Insanity.
 None of the theories would bear in- vestigation. lt was proved that he was anxious for the marriage to take place. that hls Financial situation was Al. that there were no particularly bad men in Jefferson City just then and that bis mlnd was never clearer and stronger than on that day.
 Why did be goF was asked by thossands and "Where did be go t0W by other thousands. but Co this date there has been no satisfactory answer. There were those who held that be committed suicide by jumping into the river. For three weeks the stream was watched and potrolled for a distance of fifty miles. The search covered every acre Of ground for miles around.
 Every highway was travelled and in- Qulries made. Thousands Of circulars having his photograph and description were sent out and the reward stood for a year at SiO.O0O The best detectives in the country spent weeks on the case and could not trace him beyond the doors Of che bank. First and ast over fifty men were arrested at different points and held for Identification, but none of them proved to be the missing man. You will say with others that he must have gone somewhere and that some trace ought to have been discov- cred. but the fact remains that nothing has been learned
 A reasonable theory of the case is that he left Che bank to go aboard a steamer 0n a business errand and that ln crossing the gungplank or while moving about aboard he fell into the river and was drowned That his body was not discovered only shows that il might have caught fast on a snag at the bottom or doated past the watchers in the night
 
 It is now about eighteen years since the conductor mystery occurred, and the solution is as far away as ever
 A railroad conductor named George Hopkins lived lu Bowling Green. Ky. At the age Of twenty-five he was mar. ried Go girl of a good family and es tabIlshed a home. Hopkins was a so- ber. steady man and well liked by an who knew him. As far as any one could judge his home life was an that could be desired. while his position as conductor was secure and his salary liberal
 He had been married about ten months when be arranged to build a house. On a certain Tuesday after noon he let the contract Co a builder and entered Into certain other business agreements. He went out at 6 o'clock that evening. and his wife accompa- nied hlm to che depot He spoke to sey- eral people on the train whom be knew and there was nothing whatever iu his looks. or actions to attract attention
 The train reached Nashville on time and Hopkins reported and got bis or ders as usual It was half an hour aft CT the train had pulled out before he was missed. A telegram was sent back but no news of him could be had. Five different people saw Hopkins three OI four times before his train pulled out but no one saw him board any other train. After couple of days the detec dyes were set Co work. but they never got the slightest trace of the missing man. Had he vanished into air Ike smoke bis disappearance could not have been more mysterious
 Was Hopkins an embezz.ert No On the contrary. the railroad company was in his debt Had he left his wife for another wOmaus That theory was worked on. but produced no proof Was be "0H'' In his head? All those who had done business with him that day secuted the idea He had about 5000 ln the bank at home and not over S3 or @ with him He was a man without an enemy. Nobody could find the slight est reason why he should plan to dis appear, and nobody could see how be could be decoyed away and disposed of.
 After months of investigation it was ----.-- ---- ---------- -.-- u-o---u- ha-