The Pacific commercial advertiser., 1906-11-04
STORIES OF STRANGE
D|SAPPEARANCES
Continued from Page seven.)

CONTINUED from Page Seven.)
1fams has nothing to do, however, with
the doubt that still hangs over the end
of Louis XVII, King of France.
Whether ne died in the Temple, the
victim of a shoemaker's brutality, or
was spirited away to die years after
ward in some unknown corner of the
world, the grave of the descendant of
the proudest family in Europe is as
completely lost as that of the poorest
gamin of Paris.
CAPT. MORGAN's STRANGE FATE
In this country one of the most cele-
brated cases of disappearance was that
of Captain William Morgan, a citizen of
Batavia, in New York State. Unlike
Louis, Morgan himself was of little
consequence to the community, but his
fate caused the creation of a political
party and excited for years the whole
Of Northern New York.
Having been in turn mason, mer-
chant and brewer, Morgan drifted to
Batavia from Rochester. In the spring
of 1926 it was rumored in the vicinity
that he was at work on a book which
would reveal the secrets of Freemason-
and which was to be printed by a fell
erward a Notice and Caution appear
ed in a newspaper published in Canaan
daigua, few miles from Batavia. This
remarkable document concluded with
these sentences:
Morgan is considered a swindler and
a dangerous man. There are people in
this village who would be happy to see
this Captain Morgan"
With the gathering of the storm and
the very evident agitation of the Ma
sons in the vicinity, Miller. the printer.
began to grow alarmed, but Morgan
persuaded him to keep on at the work.
Several times Morgan was arrested for
debt, and each time it happened that it
was very difficult to find any one to
give bail for him. On one occasion
mob collected and threatened to break
into the printing office. Upon learning
that both Miller and Morgan were arm
ed with shotguns, however the crowd
dispersed very quietly.
Meanwhile, Mfller's press was turning
out page after page of the obnoxious
book and the indignation grew greater
and greater. Fire broke out near the
printing office. 1t was extinguished
and the work went on. Then more Wig
orous measures were adopted.
On the evening of September 10 Nor
gan was arrested on the complaint of
an innkeeper and was charged with
stealing a shirt and cravat. He was
drivsa to Canandaigua, where the
charge of larceny. which would have
put him in Jail out of harms way, was
not pressed. Instead, Morgan was
locked up for a debt of two dollars.
The next night, a well-known man
no a fn iai nd in
sisted on paying the two dollars. The
jailer was away and the jailer's wife
was. with difficulty, persuaded that the
proceeding was entirely regular. Nor
gan, walking out of the Jail a free man,
was seized on the steps, hustled into
carriage and driven off. His cries of
Murder aroused some attention, but
one or two respected citizens, who were |
standing by, satisfied the curious with '
offhand explanations and the carriage
was not molested.
A LONG. WEIRD JOURNEY.
In the woods near Rochester the per-
sons inside the carriage got out. The
driver, not even asking who was to pay ,
him, turned back to Canandaigua and
another carriage picked up the party |
All day this carriage rolled along the
fridge Road" to Niagara. Though |
the day was hot, the curtains were kept
down and not a sound came from in
side the vehicle. It seemed to be ex-
pected along its route. for relays of [
horses were in readiness.
There was, however. some difficulty /,
in getting reliable drivers, and it was
soon ncised around that Morgan had |
been taken to the deserted arsenal Of
Fort Niagara, the guardian of which
was a Mason, and there locked up.
So far there had been little mystery
about the affair. Indeed, men boasted ,
openly in the streets that Morgan had .
been put where he would disclose no |
secrets The mystery began when the |
arsenal was broken open and no Nor