Daily Arizona silver belt., 1909-02-13
STRANGE STORY OF ARIZONA MAN KIDNAPPED
T. A. COX OF PATAGONIA MYs- rERIOUSLY MISSING FOR
 TWO MONTHS
REAPPEARS 1T TACOMA WASH.
WAS MAN OF IMPORTANCE AND WAS SHANGHAIED OUT OF
 SAN FRANCISCO

 unraveling of the story of the myster- ious disappearance of T. A. Cox of Pat agonia in San Francisco on December 20, has begun with tho receipt by Mrs. Cox of message from him in Tacoma. Wash The message announced that he had been shanghaied in San Francisco, taken on board whaling vessel bound for Alaskan waters, had made his es- vape somewhere in the Puget sound country, and had managed to work his way to Tacoma, where he arrived badly injured but still able to travel.
 Cox was superintendent of the Pitts burg & Arizona Development company, which owns valuable mining property near Patagonia, and left for San Fran cisco on mining business, expecting to go from there to the east to confer with the company officials. He was man of good habits, well liked by ali, and had at one time been county sur veyor of Pima county. His disappear ance caused a great sensation in south. ern Arizona, as there was no apparent reason why he should run away of his own accord. The police and detective agencies of the country generally have sought diligently for him for several weeks past, but to no purpose.
 Such an experience as MT. Cox seems to have been victim of is most unusual and almost unbelievable in these days, though in years gone by such incidents were quite common. The practice of shanghaiing, though different in char acter, belongs to the age of piracy and other outrages on the high seas that in modern times are supposed to exist only in romances or the tales of former ! generations. But there is no reason to doubt the authenticity of this informa- tion, and nothing has developed since the disappearance of Mir. Cox to indi, cate any reason he should have for vol untary keeping out of sight. He was one of the most widely known men in southern Arizona.
 Steve Roemer said that he saw MT. Cox in Benson on December 15. He said he was going to Pittsburg to at tend meeting of the directors of the company and said he would go to Tue son and take the limited from there. After leaving Benson, which he did suddenly when the next train came in, be wrote back to the hotel while cn route to Tucson, apologizing for going away without getting his bill, but say ing that he would be back in few days and settle it. For some reason San Francisco, where he had some mat ters of business to attend to. On De cember 20 he wrote lette. to his wife from San Francisco, enclosing a check and informing her that be would leave that day for Pittsburg. That was the last heard of him until the message came a few days ago that he was in Tacoma.
 | His prolonged absence caused in. l quiry at Pittsburg, and it was learned that he had not been there. Then a general search was begun for him and the police of many cities were advised to be on the lookout The San Fran cisco authorities traced him to Oak land, where it was supposed he had taken a train for the east, being last seen in Oakland in company with two other men, who also disappeared and could not be found. An investigation of the company's affairs followed to see if there was any business reason why Cox should want to absent him. self. His books were found correct, and on the contrary it was found that the company owed him money on some contract development work he was do- l ing in the mine
 Asked about his personal habits and his family relations, both Bo White sides and Steve Roemer said they neve- heard of Mir. Cox gambling and that he drank very little, not enough to be elassed as drinking man. His family relations seemed to be ideal. Mrs. Cox is what they termed "nice woman, ' and both husband and wife seemed to be devoted to each other and almost constantly in each other s company, as she usually accompanied him on his business trips. He was not supposed to have had any great amount of money with him when he left home, possibly q couple of hundred dollars.
 The brief message received from Ia coma of course gave few details, and one may speculate as well as another on the facts given. The fact that he was last seen with two strangers adds strength to tho shanghai story, as they may have been the men who made him prisoner. Moreover, the business of whaling is not as attractive as it once was, and it is possible that some ship owner engaged in that business had found difficulty in making up his crew, and picked on MT. Cox as likely man to press into service. The statement that he escaped on Puget sound some where and that he reached Tacoma in an injured condition suggests that he | ont away nnlv affar o atru oula af .o,,a