The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1922-12-29

THE MISSING MESSENGER

TT WAS on Junc AT' Aoo1,
i LOOMS, brother Of T. b. Looms,
the assistant secretary of state, salieo
from New York on board the Kaiser
wilhelm III, 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 or certain
European powers.
Under ordinary circumstances Loom
Ia would have taken his wife and cnlio
with him; on this occasion, ne con-
sidered 1t best to leave them BEHIND
In parkersburg. w. v, both on account
of the fact that he was on diplo-
matte mission and because he INTENDED
to participate in some bsg-game hunt-
ing after delivering the treaty to King
Menelik.
Nothing unusual occurred on the
trin until the morning of June 20, the
day on which the steamer was due TO
dock at Plymouth, England. lie was
then noted that LOOMS seat at the
CAPTAINS table was empty and a
steward was dispatched to find OUT Ii
he were i'll. A few minutes later the
steward returned with the news that
LOOMS berth had not been occupied
and an immediate search Of the snip
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 Il. 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 Loomis had come in at 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 LOOMS trunk. Investigation de-
yeloped the fact, however, that the
State department messenger had Deen
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
captain's dinner.
During the next few weeks rufnors
of all kinds filled the press on both
sides of the Atlantic. Loomis had gone
suddenly mad and had been placed in
a sanatorium He had slipped off the
steamer at Plymouth disguised as
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 basis for fiction.
But all these reports were set at
rest when, on the morning of July 16
Just thirty-two days after LOOMS
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 a
common sailor, the local police were
about to inter it without further cere-
mony, when, from the watch-pocket
Of the trousers there dropped water
soaked bit Of pasteboard, upon which
was barely discernible the name,
"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 ex-
animation Of the lungs Of the dead
man showed conclusively that death
| had been due to the blow which had
resulted in this wound, rather than to
| drowning. The physicians were d.
vided 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 projecting
portion Of the ironwork on the steam.
er. Examination Of the Kaiser VII.
helms log showed, however, that the
sea had been extremely calm on the
night that Loemis 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-anG
why? Had he been struck down or
account of the money he was carrying
or because Of the treaty? Was hill
death a forecast of the World wa,
which was to follow twelve years
later?
These and all the other question.
which surrounded tho mystory rorao In