The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1922-10-20
HISTT1RY'S
MYSTERIES
THE MISSING MESSENGER

TT WAS on June Il, 1904, that Kent
l. Loomis. brother of F. B. Loomis,
the assistant secretary of state sailed
from New York on board the Kaiser
Wilhelm II, bearing with him the text
OF a treaty between the United States
and Abyssinia-a treaty concerning
which there had been much conjecture
and speculation on the part Of certain
European powers.
Under ordinary circumstances Loom
Is would have taken his wife and child
with him; on this occasion, he con-
sidered 1t best to leave them behind
In Parkersburg, W. V, both on account
Of the fact that he was on a diplo-
matte mission and because he intended
to participate in some big-game hunt
ing after delivering the treaty to King
Menelik.
Nothing unusual occurred On the
trip until the morning of June 20, the
day on which the steamer was due to
dock at Plymouth, England. It was
then noted that LOOMS seat at the
captains table was empty and
steward was dispatched TO find out II
he were Ill. A few minutes later the
steward returned with the news that
LOOMS berth had not been occupied
and an immediate search of the ship
was Ordered-but without bringing to
light the slightest trace of the repre-
sentative of the American government
Several passengers volunteered the
information that they had seen
LOOMS on deck shortly after mid
night and William E. Ellis, cabin
mate and travelling companion of the
missing passenger. declared that his
friends absence from the cabin had
not alarmed him because of the fact
that LOOMS had come in at a fairly
late hour on several previous evenings
British officials at Plymouth and the
French officers at CherbOurg repeated
the search of the steamer, but in vain
Nothing was missing from the cabin
save the suit which LOomiS was wear
ing at the time and even the fiat dis
patch box which contained the text OF
the treaty was found concealed be
meath a pile of clothing in one corner
Of Loomis' trunk. Investigation de-
veloped the fact, however, that the
State department messenger had been
in the habit of carrying this box In
his pocket and had laid it aside on the
previous evening only because it made
an unseemly bulge in the dress clothes
which he had dOnned in honor of the
captains dinner.
During the next few weeks rumors
of all kinds filed the press on both
sides Of the Atlantic. LOOmis had gone
suddenly mad and had been placed in
q sanatOrium. He had slipped off the
steamer at Plymouth disguised as a
second-class passenger. He was the
victim of a clique of international
spies who. baked in their attempt to
secure possession of the text of the
treaty, were holding him for ransom.
He was still confined in the hold of
the Kaiser Wilhelm-and so on TO the
limit of the imiginations of those who
like to use fact as a basis for fiction.
But all these reports were set at
rest when, on the morning Of July 16
just thirty-two days after LOomis
had sailed from New York-a body
was washed up at Warren Point,
about fifteen miles from Plymouth.
Believing that the body was that Of
common sailor, the local police were
about to inter 1t without further cere-
mony, when, from the watch-pOcket
Of the trousers there dropped water
soaked bit of pastebOard, upon which
6iS0nrrih1o %
"Kent J. Loomis."
Careful examination Of the body
developed the fact that, under the
right ear, there was a circular wound
which appeared to have been inflicted
before death and a post-mortem eK-
animation Of the lungs of the dead
m0n showed conclusively that death
had been due to the blow which had
resulted In this wound, rather than to
drowning. The physicians we're d.
vtded In their opinion as to whether
the blow had been delivered by an In
strument similar to a blackjack or
whether Loomis might have fallen and
struck his head against a projecting
portion Of the ironwork on the steam
or. Examination Of the Kaiser Will
helms log showed, however, that the
sea had been extremely calm on the
night that Loomis came to his death
and that there had not been enough
roll to cause anyone to lose his foot
ing. Besides, there was the evidence
of the manner in which the body was
clothed. The coat was missing, the
collar had been torn partly away and
there were other signs Of rough treat
ment before Loomis had struck the
water.
1t was therefore practically certain
that the messenger had been MUIR
dered. But who had killed him-and
why? Had he been struck down on
account of the money he was carrying
or because Of the treaty? Was his
death a forecast of the World war
which was to follow twelve years
later?
These and all the other questions
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