Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-30

saturday Journnl.
I find his lodgings without assistance,
nor did he know his landlady. When,
| too, he svas leaving to return home,
he would have departed without some
] money he had placed in box, as well
as a postoffice savings bank book, II
| he ha1 not been given such belongings
and told that they were his.
Seen by No One
Il was absolutely certain, in a word,
| that the man knew nothing of what
! had taken place from the time when he
! lost his identity till he recovered 1t In
the workshop. His mind was q blank.
Strange, however, as this incident is
similar happenings are by no means
rare. Frequently men go off just in
the same way as the mechanic, and
afterward nobody can be found who
has seen them, while In many cases
there is evidence that during the time
they are in a sort Of somnambulistic
state their whole nature Is changed.
The spendthrift becomes frugal, the
cheerful man morose, and so on.
One feature common to such cases
is amazing-that when inquiries are
made concerning missing person, mo-
body can be found who saw him on the
day when he disappeared. It is
amazing, because It Is inconceivable
that any man in his normal state
house to the railway station or tram
depot without being seen by somebody
who happened to be looking through
the blinds" running against a friend,
or encountering railway or tram Off
cial who would subsequently testify ac-
cordingly The thing could not be done
by resident of twelve months stand
ing In suburb of London, much less
by an inhabitant Of q small place
where everybody knows everybody
For my own part, l have often tried
hard to get away from and return to
my house without being seen, but have
consistently failed in daylight. Hav-
ing, owing to journalistic exigencies
been a cross between a cab tout and a
scarecrow, 1 have thought 1t just as
we'll that 1 should depart and return
furtively. Always, however, some-
body has spotted me- as l have well
known subsequently.
Thought Himself Mistaken
How comes it, then, that when
disappearance such as that just related
occurs, there is nobody who admits
having seen the missing person on the
all-important day? A clew to the mys-
terry lies in a happening which occur
red not long since One morning a
man left his home to go to work. He
remembers reaching q certain spot,
and the next thing was that he "cane
to- in Scotland about six weeks later.
Now, there was the usual result when
inquiries were made for the missing
man; but after he had returned home
somebody living in the same district
recalled that on the morning of the
disappearance, as he was going to
work, he saw somebody whom he at
first took to be this particular man.
On looking more closely at the sup
posed acquaintance, however, he came
to the conclusion that he had been mis-
led by a similarity of dress, and was
sure that he was wrong because the
man looked at him without the slight
est sign Of recognition.
The fact is that some people do see
a man who goes off automatically, but
do not recognize him, and why? In all
probability because the physical meta
morphosis which has taken place has
been accompanied by physical changes. |
The voice. the features, the bearing.
the expression of the eyes-all, per- |
haps, are different. Such transforma-
tions as these have unquestionably |
happened slowly in persons who have |
walked into the unknown, and it is |
likely that they sometimes occur
rapidly.
This theory was first propounded in
connection with the disappearance of a
man who carried on a flourishing busi-
ness in small town. He went out for
stroll on Sunday, promising to re-
turn to dinner; but he did not come /
back for two years. There was then a
gap in his life-a gap extending from
the time he reached the corner of a |
street until he came to" in a distant |
city, where he had been working as a |
journeyman. On coming round" he |
was absolutely penniless, notwith-
standing that he had been in situa-
ton for six months, whereas he was
ordinarily careful, saving man.
Due to a Physical Change
When, however, he was missing, the |
whole district was secured with a
negative result; not the slightest It'd
ings of him could be cleaned. So on
his return home the doctors conjec-
tured that there was a physical as
there doubtless was a psychical, change
in him soon after he left his home with |
the intention of going for a constitu-
tional.
A startling theory-a startling |
theory, in truth. But how else can we
account for the veriest commonplaces |
of mysterious disappearances of a GER
tain class? What other conceivable |
explanation is there of the fact thats
when an obscure mental change takes
place suddenly, the victim cannot be |
traced? He goes off as If he were in
visible Who then shall Dronound n |