He Walked Out of His House on Park Street and Simply Vanished
H. S. Patterson left the corner of Park Street and Boyer Avenue on a Monday afternoon. His wife was 'almost distracted,' and a diligent police search had turned up nothing at all.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
H. S. Patterson, residing at the corner of Park street and Boyer avenue is missing from his home. He left the family residence yesterday afternoon and although the police have made diligent search, he can not be found. His wife is almost distracted over his disappearance. The description of the man as furnished by Mrs. Patterson follows: About five feet 11 inches in height; dark hair streaked with grey; dark brown mustache. He was attired in a plain dark coat and vest, light striped trousers and wore a soft black hat. He is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows in Minneapolis.
“His wife is almost distracted over his disappearance.”
Before Amber Alerts and social media, a disappearance was circulated by a paragraph in the evening paper and a physical description written down by a frightened spouse. The detail that Patterson was a Mason and Odd Fellow from Minneapolis is the 1903 equivalent of a network broadcast — a fraternal lodges' telegraph line that could carry a description across the country. The item ends where it started: no explanation, no body, no arrest, just a man gone from a street corner.
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