The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1921-08-05
Ralph Sanborn Disappears from chel-

sea.
An open letter to Ralph Sanborn OF
Chelsea, Vermont, or anyone who may
know where he is;
Dear Ralph;
1t is now almost a week since you
left us, your friends, your relatives
and last but not least, your three dear
little children, Donald, Helen and Ben
son. Yes, and you left your town
where you grew up as boy, and spent
so many happy childhood hours, and
later as you grew older and left town,
if only for few days you always
returned post haste because you sim
ply couldn't stand it to be away for
any length OF time. You remember
how when you were away to school
one summer when you could get home
no other way you walked fourteen
miles in order to get back to Chelsea
and home
And this is not all, your friends
want you to come back. Do you know
that the night you left us more than
a hundred of your good neighbors and
kinsfolk gathered at your house and
searched the woods and fields all
night long for some trace of you. The
next day your brother and sister COW
cred many long weary miles journey
ing from town to town in their quest
for some news of you. And again to-
day your brother and a few trusty
friends have gone out, still hunting
for you, and yet another day will see
them again on the road.
But oh, Ralph, if you could only
realize how your little children looked
when | saw them last night. Little
Benson is always sure his father has
just gone off hunting, and will return
bringing him three woodchucks, for he
dearly loves to hunt woodchucks Dur
ing the day the children play around
stopping occasionally to look off into
the green hills seeking some glimpse of
you. They are pretty brave during
daylight, but when night time comes,
that is the time when they miss you
playing is over and your days work
was done, how they did like to climb
all over their father. Those evenings
are gone, are fast slipping away, sIt
you will come back and renew them,
won't you Ralph? Your children need
you, want you, demand no one but
YOU. You can't live without them. |
They can't grow up and live as they |
ought to live without you. Fatherhood |
is the grandest thing God ever put |
upon this earth, and you have been |
chosen to fulfill that part. A soldier
Of the Lord never quits, he may lie
down at times but each time he is |
down he gets up and plugs on, ever
toward the goal of an honest !
soul satisfying life. You owe it to
yourself, your friends, your home, your
children. Come back, try again. for
get and be forgiven. Take up life
where you left it, things will be bet
ter. The biggest thing in American
life is the family. Your children are
hunting for you daily. Satisfy their
ongings, come back and start life
anew. Think it over, only come back.
Benson, Helen and Donald.
For the convenience of readers we
might add that Ralph Sanborn dis
appeared, presumably III GOOD healtn,
rom his home in Chelsea, Thursday
light, July 2s, dressed in khaki suit,
cit hat and heavy shoes and carrying
rife. He is man about twenty
line years old, about FIVE feet six
inches in height, of slight but good
,uild, has well clipped brownish
,eard, blue eyes and dark hair. We
hink he has become discouraged.
lightly unbalanced in mind, gone off
With the expectancy of returning, has
,ot away, his mind has cleared and
low hates TO brave the storm and re.
urn. If anyone in north central Yer.
mont has seen or heard of such a man,
las hired such a man for farm work
IS he was an experienced agricultur-