The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-05-24

The many friends OF Homer NJ Mes
senger, who until about three year
ago. resided In Caledonia, will rea,
with the deepest regret an accoun
OF his probable death. as II appearl
in the Cleveland Plain Dealer OF to
day
| Messenger was born and raised II
Caledonia and had spent the greater
part OF his life there. He was mar.
ried to Miss Myrtle Winemiller of thai
place. Caledonia friends have re-
ceived messages telling of the mys.
terry surrounding his death.
The Plain Dealer says:
IAN empty rowboat was found yes
tetday morning an eighth of mile
from the shore In Rocky river. The
boat was anchored one oar was
missing. fish lines dangled over the
side and a can of mnnows 10 be used
as bait was found overturned. Hoo
mer NJ Messenger, 1923 Orchard
Grove avenue, Lakewood, national
officer of the railway clerks union,
who had taken the boat out n short
time before, Is missing
Lakewood police have been unable
to solve the mystery surrounding
Messengers disappearance. Men in
rowboats dragged the river all after
noon and evening, but no trace of
the mans body has been found. II Is
thought possible that he became tenn
porarily unbalanced. swan ashore
and is now somewhere in the vicinity
Of Cleveland
Messenger, n railway mail clerk
with n run between Cleveland and
Cincinnati, awakened his wife early
yesterday morning telling her that he
was going fishing. That was G:S0
o'clock. aI
"'Don't forget cautioned Mrs. Mes
senger. that you have an appoint
ment in Cleveland at 10 o'clock
Rows Away 10 Mystery.
''With the statement that he would
return by S:3O o'clock Messenger left
the house and went to the boat house
of John Andersong just off Detroit ave-
nue.. 1t was raining when Messenger
arrived and boatmen advised him
to wait short time before going out
with a rowboat At $3.50 the men at
the boathouse say the sun was up
and Messenger rowed away That was
the hour when he was supposed to be
starting for Cleveland.
when her husband did not return
at the given time Mrs. Messenger be-
came nervous. She asked her sister
to go 10 the different lighthouses TO
make Inquiries. In answer to the
young woman's questions Anderson
said that a man answering Messen-
- Hn o n
o'clock. Charles Anderson, a son OF
the boatman, was sent in search of
Messenger. A short distance from the
shore. the boat was found, anchored,
but no trace of Messenger could be
found
messenger was named recently one
OF the national trustees OF the rail-
way mail clerks union. II was under
stood that his appointment for yes
terday morning had to do with his
office. rar
Leaves College For War.
Messenger had not been fishing be-
fore this season. and had never gone
out on the river alone before. The
missing man was about 35 years old.
and was a veteran Of the Spanish war
w
sued, Messenger was a student AT
Oberlln college, bat gave up his stu
dies to become a soldier. He went to
the Philippines with the Fourteenth
regiment and after his return en-
tered the railway mail service.
Before entering Oberlin, Messenger
had taught school at Caledonia, o..
where he lived the greater part Of his
life. While in Lakewood Messenger
was lined up with the dry element
and was opposed strongly to the sale
OF liquor. Friends say that there Is
absolutely no reason for his disap
pearance unless he became mentally
or was accidentally
drowned.
"Mrs. Messenger points out that her
husband was subject to sickness
whenever he ventured upon the
water and believes that he fell over
the side of the boat when he became
dizzy. II is said. however, that he
was a fairly good swimmer and no
outcry was heard by the boatmen
on thes hore.
Search for the body will be resum-
ed early today and the police Of
will be asked 10 aid in
the mystery. The missing oar
puzzles the searcherE unless Il Is ad-
mitted that 1t was carried away by the
current.
messenger had one child, Arthur
i've years old"