STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1507, 18 May 1886, Page 3

STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE.

Much interest has been excited at Sandhurst in connection with a mysterious disappearance of Constable Ryan, which occurred on January flrh at White's Hill, near the town, lie was last seen in the neighborhood of the Chinese camp, whither he had gone to investigate a robbery. Many people believe he has been murdered, but others think he has fallen down one of the many shafts in the vicinity and drowned, Stuart Cumber-; land, the famous thought reader, about a month ago paid a special visit to Sandhurst, and tried operations on some of the Chinese with the view of discovering their knowledge in connection with the missing constable, but the only result was a complete failure. Cumberland discovered that the Chinamen had no thoughts on that or any other subject. Fresh in= terest was leut to the affair in the course of last week by the clairvoyant experiment of Mr Harle, a preacher of a small sect, and Mrs Hart, both of Melbourne. Hurle professes to mesmerife Mrs Hart, who becomes clairvoyant. They vent t& Sandhurst a week or fc«-o "go, and when they arrived it is ailfgod liarfc was mesmerised, and asserted that she traced

Constable Ryan to the camp, and to a house occupied by two women, who were those last known to h*ve seen him alive. She stated that, after having been murdered, the body of the eons-taWe was placed in a cellar, but subsequently put int > a cart and token down a creek by Chinamen. In another sleep Mrs Hurt told Mr Harle that the body was in a paddock on the left-hand side of the creek. Accompanied by Mrs Ryan's brother, Mr Harle went along the creek, and discovered ?a paddock eurrounded by a fench, which accurately answered the description of the place referred to by Mrs Hart. Mtb Hart, while in a sleep, stated that she could distinctly see an old long rickety cart on two wheels, canying the constable's body, being driven along the road into the creek, dowu to the paddock, previously referred to. She pointed out the spot where the Chinamen laid down the bodyr and was positive it must have been placed in a shaft. It is a singular fact that about one o'clock on the night that the constable was missed a cart was heard passing down the road. Mrs Sanderson, a widow, states positively that on the night in question she was lying in bed awake, and heard a horse und cart passing. At that hour in the night, the occurrence at once strack her as being something unusual. The Delbridge family are also positive they heard a horse and cart being driven past their place in the direction of the paddock. Some gravel lying by the side of the shaft to have been recently disturbed, and on dragging in the Bhaft some loose gravel was found in it; also while draggiog in the shaft with a harpoon a small piece of dark tweed was pulled up. The shaft has a considerable quantity of water in it, and this is being bailed out, the result being awaited with much 'interest. It is noteworthy that Harle has gone to great expense in journeying to Sandhurst, living there, and procuring appliances to bale the water out of the shaft. Those who disbelieve in Harle and Mrs Hart assert that they gathered the knowledge about the affair by miuute inquiries made during; the first few days of their stay, and then settled upon the particular paddock as the most likely for the body to have been placed in. This idea gained ground when Harle, while working unsuccessfully to bring up anything with books, said the body might be in one of the other shafts in the paddock. He stated that the clairvoyant had traced tha body cf the constable to the side of this shaft, but could not say what had been done with it after that. Much interest is felt by residents in the neigborhond in the operations of the clairvoyant.—Press.