STRANGER THAN FICTION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 1057, 30 January 1913, Page 4

STRANGER THAN FICTION.

GRUESOME STORY OF THE FRENCH EXHIBITION.

Until a few days ago impenetrable mystery has surrounded the disappearance of a lady wellknown in society. The story dates from the eve ot the last great French Exhibition, and the solution of the mystery, which has only just been revealed, provides a sensation more gruesome than anything in the realms of fiction. It was on the day before that set for the opening of the great exhibition that an American lady and her daughter arrived in Paris, from the East. They drove to a well-known hotel and booked two bedrooms. The daughter kissed her mother “Good-night,” retired to her room, and was not disturbed during the night. Next morning on going to her mother’s room, she found, to her surprise, that it was vacant; the bed had apparently not been slept in, and there were no traces of her mother’s luggage. She at once taag for the chambermaid, and demanded to know what bad become of her mother,

“Mademoiselle is mistaken,” said the chambermaid ; “Mademoiselle arrived last night quite alone. She was certainly not accompanied by her mother.” “Ob, but you must be mad,” exclaimed the girl; “I left my mother here last night.”

“Mademoiselle had better see the manager. I can say no more.”

In a state ot terrible distraction the girl went to the manager’s office and made enquiry. To her amazement, the manager and his clerk disclaimed all knowledge of her mother, and assured her that she had arrived at the hotel by herself. The prey of every suspicion, the agonised girl went to the police, but whilst offering every sympathy and consenting to make every enquiry, they gave her no satisfaction—in fact, they ultimately confirmed the statement of the manager of the hotel that the girl had arrived in Paris alone. Having exhausted every means of enquiry, the girl returned to America in a stale which can better be imagined than described. Her relatives took up the enquiry, but not a single avenue through which information could be obtained yielded any result. It was discovered that the mother and her daughter had travelled by the boat to Marseilles, but no trace of their arrival in Paris could be found. The mother had never been seen since, and but for a strange coincidence—the fact that the daughter was making another European tour, j.nd was present the other evening at a dinner, when the conversation turned on “Strange occurrences’’ —this startling twentieth century mystery might never have been solved. To her horror, one of the guests, who is closely associated with French official life, related a strange occurrence which had hitherto been kept secret. On the night preceding the opening of the last great French Exhibition, a lady and her daughter, he said, arrived in Paris. They occupied separate rooms. In the night the lady was taken ill. The doctor who was called in was astonished to find that she was suffering from plague. His opinion was confirmed by a specialist, whom he summoned. The lady was at once taken from the hotel, and in the early hours of the morning she died. The circumstances were so grave that a hasty conference of the authorities was at once convened. It was then realised that if any information was allowed to leak out —if it was only suspected that there had been a case of plague in Paris, the Exhibition and all that it entailed would be ruined and millions lost. A drastic course was therefore determined upon. Instructions were at once given to cremate the body, burn every article belonging to the dead woman, and swear every individual who bad been in any way associated with the case to secrecy, and to deny all knowledge ot the mother’s existence, The plan was successfully carried out—and with what mental torture to the unhappy girl—and until to-day the secret has been faithfully preserved from all publicity. No doubt the story will be officially denied. We will only add that, as some slight confirmation, there was a case of plague on the last passenger steamer from the East, which arrived at Marseilles prior to the opening of the Exhibition.