A Rancher Vanished to Alaska—and a Secret Son Came Looking

SNOHOMISH, June 18.—Special. In connection with the disappearance of rancher F. Post and family, who started from Everett months ago in a schooner for Alaska, a story is being told to account for his not being heard from. It appears that some twenty years ago Mr. Post was a resident of the state of New York. He was married and had one child, a boy about a year old. At about this time he met a young lady whose eyes shone brighter into his and whose cheeks had a redder hue to him than those of his lawful wedded wife. A resolve arose in his mind and he took leave of New York, in company with his second love, for the Pacific slope. The boy left behind with his mother grew to manhood, well educated, and now lives at —— in the city of Brooklyn. He resolved to look up his father, and traced the latter from California up here to Lake Stevens. He wrote various letters to his father and finally wrote to Postmaster Ames, of this city, concerning the matter. When the postmaster delivered the message, Post hastily got ready and sailed for Alaska, seeming to be afraid of prosecution by his Eastern relatives. The story now comes that the family was drowned in the spring gales, and the severity of the storms and the adventurers' small knowledge of navigation makes the theory plausible. But the apparent desire of Post to hide himself from the East and its laws gives color to the belief that the shipwrecked sailor is in hiding in British Columbia.