Show S SALT LT L LAKE iE CITY TY TELEGRAM SUNDAY SUNDAY JUL 1915 G Of Or RANSOM The Story of a Fathers Father's Wide Nation-Wide Search for a Daughter Who Disappeared Last Christmas Christina t k r 1 r k i 1 it r 1 12 t ti V it y r 7 1 Y RS Y 1 J V. V w- w J V i I 1 yV y- y 1 liy i i t M. M I I C r 1 C c I t Mrs Ransoms Hansoms home homo t. t Y In York Pa i r ller HIler leavo leava taking on oil the tho station platform was 1 quiet and conventional pj J r f f- f BY ROWLAND THOMAS ERE EREt is the story of at the vanishIng vanishing vanishing vanish vanish- H ing of at Elsie Ranso Ransom for tor who whom p t a e na nation tion wide search has been going on quietly for tor many weeks The flur surprising thing Is la that such sucha suche a e search sear 1 should have to be made for suc such h a woman oma For Elsie Ransom i never seemed lot of that sort soft that hat could I j do erratic spectacular or adventurous adventurous z things Punctuality precision i j steadiness that amounted almost to r plodding had been the keynotes of off f her herll life V V She Is t R eight twenty years old and 1 up to the day before last Christmas she had been utterly conventional conventional In Int InI Inthe i t I the flourishing little e city of ot York Pa she ehe had lived the prim life lite of ot the best peo people IB in a provincial town She went dutifully to ch church and Sunday school chool and the socials and fairs of I the First Methodist Episcopal were Ef V her wildest dissipations The most J d' V people who knew her through all those years can tell you of at her Is that she Bhe alwa always was a very nl nice e girl and tery quiet girl She was a 0 very studious girl also and after she had been graduated at at atel el eighteen from tram the tho York High School she she Bhe went fo to two years to the Normal Nor na School at Pa I Then Then she began teaching In fa the publicS public S schools of York She Sho was a good teacher and d a very Terr conscientious one ont Apparently her profession was the central interest of her life lito After she ehe had taught for f five vo years she determined determined de de- to fit herself for greater ef efficiency efficiency of- of In her work and she spent th the e summers ers of 1912 1913 and 1914 at atthe atthe the summer ummer sessions o of the Teachers Teachers' CoU College ge of Columbia University InI in I N New w York City There Thero again she created only the tho impression of oto ofa a rather rather neutral neutral personality person person- alit aUt y 1 a very Tery nice girl and a a. very Torr quiet one That is ta all they remember I ber of ot her at Columbia Sho She seems everywhere to b have bave lacked the power to male make ake c contacts with other Her life Uto was muffed so co to Su Such h then was Elsie Elsia Ransom when 8 she he came camo back to York last fall full and nd began her ninth YC year r. r of ot teaching Sho She was was supinely conventional Sho She wasa was wasa a a. dutiful daughter turning OT over r the tho greater part of h her r modest I income in com 0 to tober ber et father nd d she sho was has fast crystal crystal- 1 1 t f into the prim rIm middle-aged middle school schoolmarm schoolmarm marm marm of ot tradition Jt it seemed quite unlikely that she sho would ever be anything anything any any- thing else olse And al all the while under that neutral exterior a storm was as brewing At the end of at the first term of that ninth year Elsie Ransom suddenly suddenly suddenly sud sud- denly revolted against her humdrum existence During the Christmas holidays hoUdaS she surprised friends and parents by anI announcing an an- I she sho had had enough teach teach- h- h ing She had secured a position she he told them with an Insurance company com com- company pany paly In New York Fork City and was going over at once to take It up I In her quiet way she was as very determined determined determined de de- de- de about It and protests and andI entreaties failed to move moo her She I drew her small savings from the bank I She took her diplomas and certificates from the frames they had hung In Inand Inand inand and packed them with her other small belongings And on Dec 24 1914 she took the train from York to Lancaster Her on on the tho station platform was as as quiet and conventional conventional conven conven- as all the rest of ot her doings had been Nothing In her bearing led parents or friends to suspect that few tew words of ot goodby and goodluck good goodluck goodluck luck were perhaps the last words they would ever speak with her that the sight of ot her climbing the tho car car steps suit case laden was perhaps the last sight of her ber they would ever have Yet Tot as a matter of fact tact when Elsie st stepped aboard aboard that train she van van- No relative or friend has seen her her since or seen any anyone one who who has bas seen her I Her Hor father tather Frank A. A Ransom a business man of ot York had made an appointment to meet her In Newark N. N J. J JM J. on New Years Year's Day He kept his tryst but no daughter came to meet him Uneasy Uneasy he went to Now New NewYork cw i York City to look for her at the tho In Insurance Insurance Insurance In- In e company where she had said she aha was to be employed He found th that t no such company existed Elsie Ransom the tho staid and conscientious schoolmarm the devotee of Sand Sunday school schoot and church the dutiful daughter daugh- daugh tor ter had seemingly concocted a 0 1 dellb- i 1 erate crate lie and run away from tram home I j I 1 And not And not merely h had d she sho run away she had vanished I IThen Then came camo a letter to Mr Ransom I which which- both explained and complicated 1 I matters It I was was mailed in Baltimore though inside it bore neither address 8 nor date It ran to this effect 1 Father I am going away I am married I have havo married tho the man whom I wanted and I know ho will treat me right He sells automobile tires and will travel which Is the tho kind of ot life I wanted Ho He will go over the Southern States where I 01 always ways wanted to go You have alwa always s treated treated treated treat treat- ed me as a b baby by I am twenty eight years old and know now how to act for myself I intend to act for tor my my- self I have havo written this letter on the train and h have havo ve had the tho porter mail mall it for tor me mc hence It looks somewhat blurred I must hurry as I must get et this off of In time Four other letters from Elsie Ransom Ran- Ran Born eom have reached York since then Two came carao to Mr Ransom tho the first postmarked Tacoma Wasn 0 Jan 9 1916 1915 5 P P. P M M. M the second postmarked San Francisco Cal Cat Feb 11 1915 A third came to Miss Ino Reichard a schoolmate and was thoughtlessly destroyed It was r received about the first of ot February anti and an 1 was postmarked postmarked postmarked post post- marked from some somo town in Ohio or Illinois or Indiana some State out there The Tho fourth and most myse- myse mys e- e rIous received some two months ago was as postmarked as m mailed In York Itself All four were alike In tenor and represented Elsie Ransom as being well and happy and finding married life lito much preferable to school teach teach- I Ins ins ing All four also agreed In giving no clue outside the postmark to date and place of writing and In making no mention of at the mysterious husbands husband's husbands husband's hus hug bands band's name For that husband was d decidedly mysterious at first and Is still sun to some extent Quiet Elsie Ransom had never never never nev nev- er attracted suitors But In the ransacking ran- ran sacking of possibilities In tn the search ono n Harry rr Ariel Levy for hi his An d the more I sight nuu V. V came into one probes into the depths of the case the more persistent persistent- persistently ly he refuses to drop out of sight again Harry Harr Ariel Arlel Levy was born In Chicago in 1879 of Jewish parentage and on June Juno 5 6 1900 1900 c enlisted Ilsted in the United States Marino Marine Corps Ho He was honorably discharged June 6 1905 on the expiration ton of Cf his enlistment with the tho character character character char char- acter very good He Ho reenlisted re-en- re re-en-J re listed March 13 1907 and was again again- honorably discharged discharged discharged dis dis- charged March 12 1911 upon the expiration of ot his enlistment enlistment enlist enlist- character excellent excellent excel ment with ith lent Ho He again enlisted March March 28 1913 at Baltimore Ba Baltimore Md and about the New Years Year's Da Day of 1914 he was sent up to York with the rank of at Sergeant to open a a. recruiting office there in the Post Office Omen Build Build- ing log He Is very well remembered for I Harry Levys Levy's personality had nothing neutral about it Men marked him instantly In Instantly instantly in- in I as possessing possessing- a a. magnetism and an intelligence far above the average He sh showed It In his securIng securing securing ing of recruits In a town which had been heen notorious for tor Its ness to the call of Mars MaTs He showed It also by making the acquaintance of Miss Elsie Ransom E E Even veto ven amid the democratic simplicity simplic I ity of York it was no easy matter for tor fora a n. Sergeant of at Marines to put himself on terms of ot in intimate friendship with such a girl as Elsie but Levy managed It Ho He walked with her to school and from tram school to church and from church Ho He- called on her at her home Ignoring the coolness of ot her parents until one late tate spring evening Mr Ransom Ran Ran- som ordered him from the house That small squall soon blew over but after atter that If it Levy met Elsie Ransom he ho I must have hae done It surreptitiously I And then on May 7 7 1914 Harry Levy left York with suddenness Afew A Afew few tew days later came the official notices from headquarters of at the Eastern Recruiting Re Re- Division describing him as a deserter and offering fifty fitly dollars to any anyone one who might deliver him to the nearest marine barracks He Is still stilla a deserter at large arge and amenable to arrest at sight with punishment to toll follow ow All that failed to excite York at the time But after Elsie Elslo Ransom ha had d last Christmas and especially especial especial- I ly after atter that first letter postmarked Baltimore had revealed the existence of ot a very suddenly announced husband husband husband hus hus- band people began to remember things Dr Schwartz Elsie's pastor remembered remembered remembered that about East Easter r time of at 1914 Elsie came camo to the tho altar rail rolI after aCter the tho service and very earnestly asked him hima a n question which In Sn the light of at later events might be significant Doctor she begged him tell me mo whether God puts our affections into our hearts I mean ratan the love lovo we have havo for tor people That was about the t time me that Mr Ransom had forbidden LeV Levy to call further at his house Mr Ransom himself himsel remembered that Elsie had gone down to Baltimore I to spend that Easter vacation in the home of at her married brother Mr Sam Ellis postmaster of ot York remembered that the janitor of ot the Post Office Building clearing up ap the room used as a recruiting office after Levys Levy's abrupt departure had tou found d dand and brought to him the rough draft dratt of ofa a letter written In pencil It was In Sn Levys Levy's hand and seemed to tobe tobe tobe be an attempt to console some troubled girl Dont think you did anything wrong In meeting mein me meIn meIn In Baltimore It counselled her You were living with friends you know and I was living In another place Dont Don't be afraid dear and dont don't feel bad about it it Mr Ellis ElUs I glanced the scribble over OTero and carelessly carelessly carelessly care care- lessly tore It up A woman remembered seeing Elsie Ransom and Harry Levy talking to together together together to- to gether on a by street ot In York some sometime sometime sometime time In the fall tall of at 1914 And everybody suddenly remembered remembered remembered something that appeared on the notice which offered a reward of at fifty dollars for the taking of ot the deserter desert r Harry Ariel Levy The blank reserved reserved reserved re re- served for Next of ot Kin was filled out thus Ruth Levy South Fremont Street Baltimore wife A few tew weeks ago in the course coarse of at this investigation I paid a visit to that address It Is In the humblest section of ot Baltimore and Is by no means the most pretentious among the thero therow therow row ro of houses Mrs Mary Marr ZIegler lives Jives there She Is the grandmother grandmother of at the woman described as Ruth Levy wife Ruth Levy described as wife of at Harry Harm Harr Levy Is dead now She died May 16 1914 About a a tort fortnight night before her her death while hUe she was lying on the sick-bed sick from tram which she never rose Harry Levy after atter an absence of or months came to visit her He brought brou with Ransom quiet unsophisticated neutral neutral neu neu- who never took an adventurous step before In all aU her twenty twenty-eI twenty eight hl years of at humdrum existence And where Is 18 Harry Ariel Arid LoTY Levy Sergeant U. U S. S M M. C. C and deserter a at al large Those are the questions Frank A A. Ransom of or No 31 South Duke Street York Pa has been cen asking since sinco th the e beginning of the present year To help him find the answers h ho o called in first the local police of ot York then the police of ot New York City then the police of at every other city where aI a m I clue was offered and finally the newspaper newspaper news news- has I paper press until now the search become nationwide And still the whereabouts of Elslo Elsie Ransom remains as 8 complete a mystery mystery mystery mys mys- tery as on that thal Now New Years Year's Day when she sho was to meet him In Newark an and d failed to keep her tryst Conjecture Is rife rUe as to the tho causes cause s of ot her vanishing Oddly enough no one has offer offered tho the conventional solution of at tho the mystery mystery mystery mys mys- tery the solution suggested in th the tho famous case of ot Dorothy Arnold an anthe and tho the hosts of at other disappearances disappearance which yearly baffle battle tho the police poUce Kidnapping Kidnapping Kidnapping Kid Kid- napping is la seemingly out of at the ques tiM Any Anyone one as competent to care car for herself as Miss Elsie Ransom f Is no convenient prey for the conventional conventional conven conven- trafficker And so the question remains psychological psychological psychological a matter of a girls girl's men men- To tho the casual observer the demure Miss Ransom was tho the last person who might be expected to do the tho She was but another of at the thousands of at girls who who live the dull life of small towns apparently contented contented contented con con- tented with their lot apparently without without without with with- out desire for tor a fuller broader role In lifes life's drama But It Is notoriously the small town girl who runs away finally to Join the chorus the chorus the antithesis evidently to the church social social and and It Is always the town small model who develops Into the staid old maid It takes many manya a a. heartache he however to make a spinster and a great lack of at courage consciously to accept the part The acceptance must necessarily be conscious conscious conscious con con- In the limited circles of at small towns Perhaps Perhaps' Miss Ransom felt the role being thrust upon her perhaps the Jewish Sergeant of at Marines was the first to point out to her hex the other a another the first to break brea through the hedge of provincial convention and nd show her a bigger richer lifo Uto beyond And she lacked the courage to face tace the comments comments com com- ments ment of ot a caustic |