Weekly News. — 1891-09-17 (Blandford, Dorset, England)

CHICAGO MYSTERY.  A !sensational mystery is reported, which is greatly occupying the public mind, and which up to the present time has baffled all the efforts of the best detectives in Chicago to solve. It appears that Miss Ava, an English lady who was possessed of great wealth, and who has for some considerable time been a resident in the city, had actively interested herself from a philanthropic point of view in the condition of the poorest and most wretched classes, and in pursuance of her labours to ameliorate their condition she had fearlessly ventured, unattended, into the remotest slums, where, however, in recognition of her self-devotion to her errand of mercy she seems to have been treated with a great amount of respect, even amongst the most selfabased of those whom she sought to befriend. Whilst cilgag, d on one of her charitable expeditions some days ago she mysteriously disappeared, and all the efforts of her friends, backed up by the utmost exertions of the Chicago police and private detective staff, have failed up to the present to discover a clue as to her whereabouts. Her friends, who are naturally in a state of the de( pest distress, have informed the authorities tl—t the unfortunate lady had recently received several threatening 1. tters, couched in brutal language, to which, however, she paid very slight attention. So far as can be ascertained up to the present, Miss Ava was last seen in one of the city churches, where she had been in the habit of passing a short time daily in religious devotion, by one of the priests who officiates there, and from his statement it appears that she was then accompanied as far as the door by a lady companion. Miss Ava was still in the church engaged in religious devotion when the priest quitted the building. Her friends, in view of the terms contained in the threutening letters, liar foul play, and are afraid that even if the missing lady has not been decoyed into one of the slums of infamy ti t which the lowest quarters of the city abound-, and there murdered for the sake of the money which it was known she carried about her person for the purpose of immediately relieving urgently necessitous cases, she has at least been abducted by some villains and possibly conveyed b,yond the precincts of the town in order that they might extort blackmail for her release.  At Wolverhampton, on Friday, Florrie Stycha, an sctree.s, was charged with stealing a quantity of clothing from her lodgings in that town. 'The prisoner, who has had engagements with a number of well-known touring theatrical companies, has been out of employment for a short time. She was remanded. - -  Henry Jonas, accountant, was charged at Birmingham on Friday with defrauding the Patent Axle-box and Foundry Company (Limited), of which he was secretary.—The prisoner's counsel read a confession from the prioner pleading guilty to specific charges of fraud, and throwing himself on the mercy of the court and directors, expressing deep regret for his unfortunate folly.—Prosecuting counsel said the defalcations amounted to £40,009 Senor Ayola,ex Vice-President of the truatelo.,,,in Republic, has been accidentally shot arid killed while separating two friends who were quarrelling. Leonard Patch, eldest son of the Vicar of Coggeshall, has committed suicide by hanging liim3elf. Deceased, who was 18 and of great promise, had t,.‘,1 I.lZthaingt been suffering from a painful disease of the i ltr. Accidental death was the verdict on the three oworking i skiff men t ‘ixslikocrwo rterhT e drownedn e one of them Ft q -sn p, and the boat turned over. surcblyvor the s jAI