The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1916-07-01

public generally We're much reE
last night and this morning VIII
was learned that Clerk of the Cfre1S41
Court William H. NIedford had not beer
drowned or murdered the night before
in the vicinity of the Big Blackwatel
bridge, as had been reported, but tina,
while suffering a nervous breakdown
as the result of overwork andf the
weather. had been seized with a hall
cination to impersonate SOMEONE FL
and get away from his work End
vicinity. ,
The facts in the case seem to ~
about as follows:
Mr.. Medford left Cambridge Thurs
day afternoon. about 4 O'Clock, to go to
the Honga Lumber Co.'S plant to tran
sact some business. He left there
shortly after six o'clock and came up
the road as far as George Tucker's one
of the employees, where he stopped for.
a half three quarters of an hos1s.
from there he drove up the road~Et
short distance, nearly to the Hip Roo:
house, v here he stopped the machine
and entered the woods, putting on over
his other clothes a suit of khaki ma.
/ terial and a soft hat. He then droy-7
/ on toward the BlackWater bridge, but
stopped a number of times on account
| of having trouble with his lights, and
upon reaching the BlackWater bridge,
| his machine was run over the bridge
and then partially off of the cause-way
| leading to it, and then ran on a log,
which was off to the side of the road.
| The log being too high for the ma
chine to pass over. the engine stalled.
| Leaving the machine there, he went
| to the home of Mr.. Fred. Handley, close
by, as reported in yesterdays paper,
and having put on large false mus
tache, announced that man who had
given him ride up that far had lost
| control of his machine, and that in
jumping from the car he had jumped
overheard and he believed been drown
ed. He went back With Mr.. Handley,
and his son, to investigate, but little
| later escaped From there he made his
way, apparently, through the Black
water road to the Little Blackwater
bridge, over that through Bucktown
and on the Salem road, and later in the
day reached the vicinity of East New
Market, still wearing the khaki suit
and the false mustache. Last night,
about o'clock, he entered the store of
Mr.. Walter j. Grove, at the station, at
East New Market. and asked to be TAX
en- to fredericksburg. Mr.. Grove at first
agreed to do so, but later, owing to
objections upon the part of his wife
decided not to make the trip. Mr.
Medford then asked him to telephone
to East New Market for a machine to
take him, which he did, but could not
get one, and then, at his suggestion,
telephoned to Covey's garage, in Fed
eralsburg, for machine. Getting the
number. he called Mr.. Medford to the
phone and told him to do the talking
After the arrangement had been
made for the machine, Mr. Medford
walked out of the store and Mr.. Grove,
becoming suspicious. telephoned to
East New Market and was advised to
detain him until someone from there
could arrive. but went out and found
that he had gone. The fredericksburg
machine came along later and Mr.. Med
ford was found by Mr.. Raymond
Charles and a Mr.. Jefferson.who was
with him, about one mile from East
NC" ddIheI, On the rOaQSi no
was brought by them to his irorne in,
this city. Mr.. Medford did not deny
his identity, but seemed to be I'M a
more or less dazed condition. The loss
of sleep and the lack of food, however.
seem to have cleared his mind, and
while in a highly nervous state, his
condition seemed very much improved
this morning.
The concensus of opinion seems to be
that Mr.. Medford, who in addition to
his duties as Clerk of the Court, had
been secretary and treasurer of the
Honga Lumber Company. and the real
active head of it, as we'll as having
other business connections, had been
attempting to do entirely too much
work. and that his mind, temporarily,
broke under the strain of the physical
and mental requirements of his duties
Some believe that he recognized that
he was overworking himself, and that
the hallucination about getting away
from his work resulted therefrom. 1t
is believed that with good rest, he
will quickly recover and soon be able
to assume his regular duties.
The finding of Mr.. Medford. unharm-
ed, lifted a great weight off of the
minds of the people of Cambridge and
the county. The whole community
was shocked and Mortified when his
disappearance, under the apparent
circumstances, was announced, and the
deepest sympathy was felt for his pa.
rents and for his wife and little girl
From shortly after midnight Thursday
until late last night, friends had made
a minute and exhaustive search for
traces of him, covering thoroughly the
points where he was last seen and the
grounds and water between, and when
no trace Of him was then found, hopes
arose that he would be found alive. :.
search was started in a track known
as Thousand Acres" just above the
bridge, and arrangements had been
made for prosecution of this search
until 1t was shown that he was not
there. One of the most popular men in
the county, the manner in which the
public. without hesitancy. abandoned
It's interests to join the search for him,
was deep and sincere tribute to his
popularity. The good news that re
had been found was quickly spread to-
day from one end of the county to the
other, and was the occasion for genu-
inc rejoicing.