Omaha daily bee., 1911-04-16
MYSTERIES OF THE MISSING
People Who Drop Out Of Sight With
out Apparent Purpose.
SOME BATTLING CASES ON RECORD
Victims of sudden and Complete Loss
~ Memory Prove Most Difficult
ia Trace or Discover
Wherenhouta

Whereabouts.
Mysterious disappearance such as the
disappearance Of Dorothy Arnold have
alarmed the police before this; disappear
ances that have had in their suddenness
apparent lack Of purpose and ineXplicibly
much in common with the case % Miss
r arnold Leaving out Of account the class
of DISAPPEARANCE for their own convenience.
"mbezzlers blackmailers and so forth
there is still a large number OF recorded
cases where the subjects have dropped out
NJ sight without apparent cause or reason,
and who have left behind them untarnished
regulations and solvent bank accounts.
or these a small percentage are found to
nave met with violence others have been
victims ~ suicidal mania; and sooner or
later a clew has come to light which has
established the fact. The dead are often
easier to find than are the living OF the
remaining small proportion there are on
record a number Of carefully authenticated
cases where the subject has been the vic
tim of a sudden and complete loss OF mem
DRY.
This dislocation of memory is variety
OF aphasia known as amnesa and when
the memory is recurrently lost and re-
stored. alternating personality. The So
ciety for Psychical Research and many
eminent psychologists. among them the late
William James, Dr. Weir Mitchell, Dr.
Hodgson of Boston and Or. A. E. Osborn
Of San Francisco. have reported many
cases Of alternating personality Studious
efforts are being made 70 understand and
20 explain the strange type OF mental phe
nomena exhibited in these cases; but no
one has ever yet given clear and com
prehensive explanation OF them. Such cases
49,, al tsyit
Appearances and exhaustive studies have
been made OF types of alternating rsr-
sonalities that have from first TO last aeen
carefully watched by scientists OF the first
rank The variety known as the ambua-
tory type. where the patient suddenly loses
all knowledge of his own identity and of
his past, takes himself off leaving no trace
or clew. Ia the variety which the present
case calls to popular interest.
A Battling Case.
Or. II. @. Leigh. sr., of Petersburg, Va,
has recorded the case Of mysterious dis
appearance that excited the popular atten-
tlon and baffled the police some twenty
years ago. The subject was a Mr.. X. of a
small town in Virginia At the time OF
his DISAPPEARANCE he was so years old, of
splendid physique. in good health and In
fairly prosperous circumstances. He was
known to be a sober, moral and indus
trious man, happy and contented in his
domestic relations. Born and reared in
Virginia, he had conducted business for
twenty years in the town where he re-
sided Coming north on a business trip to
purchase goods for his store in this city,
he remained here for two days, during
which time he transacted a good deal of
business, met his friends and showed no
indication OF alteration of mind.
Starting home by a steamship line on
which he was accustomed to travel and
and which he was a well known passenger,
he registered and retired to his state
room When the tickets were collected he
was missing. He had suddenly and mys-
teriously disappeared. No one had seen
him leave the boat. jump or fall over
board His open valise and all his clothes
were found in his stateroom. The room
door was open, but the key had been taken
away.
Police and press looked for him in vain.
Finally investigation was abandoned. the
theory that he was dead was accepted,
and the courts appointed an administrator
for his estate and a guardian for his chill
dren Six months later he suddenly APP
peared at the home of a relative in a dis
tant southern city.
He was brought home in a composed
but partially dazed state able to recog
nize but few OF his friends. He was re-
duced in weight from $50 to LOO He wore
the same suit he had on when he disap-
peared, and In his pocket was found the
check and key to his stateroom. He was
put under treatment and in a months
time had completely recovered his previous
bodily and mental health, and has since
remained In perfectly normal state. A
(day or two after his return home an
S9bscess in his ear broke, and from that
Stlme on his return to health went rapidly
forward
Mr.. ks own account OF this case runs
as follows: 81 was feeling very tired after
a busy day in the city; 80 1 went to my
stateroom Immediately upon going abroad
the boat and changed my clothes. Up
TO that time l was thoroughly conscious;
but 1 recall nothing more. All is oblivion
with me until, six months later l came TO
! myself in distant city in the south. l
found myself driving a fruit wagon on
J the street. l was utterly sstounded. Upon
inquiry l learned that l had been there
at work for some time My life since
was in that stateroom six months before
was an absolute blank TO me- l can give
no account of myself during that period e"
Three similar Cases,
Or. A. e. Osborn of California, records
~ hfee cases OF slnlilar KIND that have
come under his immediate personal at
tention. The first case is that of a man
past middle age. seemingly in robust
health, living in q small town suburban
TO Philadelphia He was by trade a tin
smith and plumber and had built up for
himself a thriving trade. His grown sons
had already assumed the cares of his
business, and he appeared to be entering
upon a period of ease and prosperity.
on the Sunday on which he disappeared
he had been In the house all day. About
o'clock he rose from the lounge on which
he had been reading, changed his dress
ing Jacket for a coat and his slippers for
shoes, and announced that he was going
out for a breath OF fresh air, He stepped
out Of his front door and was gone. Two
years passed before he was heard of again.
OF the 5000 Inhabitants OF his native
town none saw him leave. Although he
was known 10 the tralnmen of the rail-
road connecting the small town with the
outer world no one could recall having
seen him. Rewards were useless innumer-