Hanson Hiss
Cincinnati Enquirer, Saturday, 23
February 1907, page 13
It has been just a week ago this morning, that Hanson Hiss,
reporter for a morning paper, mysteriously disappeared from Newport, where he
was employed, and since that time, no word to his probable whereabouts has been
occurred. The general impression seems to be that he committed suicide by
drowning himself in the Ohio River, as he had been very despondent for sometime
and to several of his friends had stated that he intended to kill himself.
Mr. Bliss and his wife had not lived together for some time and this worried him considerably. In addition he had been very sick and had just been discharged from Speers Hospital, where he underwent a course of treatment for nervous trouble.
On Thursday afternoon he told a friend that he told a friend that he would not be alive in two days. Friday night, shortly before midnight and contrary to his usual custom he went to Cincinnati alighting from the car at Pearl and Broadway. He then walked to Pearl and Butler when he boarded Dayton car that arrived at Third and Saratoga streets shortly after midnight. He alighted at this corner and from this point and the slighted trace of the missing man can be secured.
It is known that he failed to collect his salary that was due him, and this gives additional color to the suicide theory, as had he left town suddenly without telling anyone. It is argued that he would first have secured this money. telegrams to his mother and brother in the East have developed the fact that he is not there.
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Cincinnati Enquirer, Sunday, 24 February 1907, page 7
The dead body of Hanson Hiss, reporter for a morning paper, who had been missing for several days, was found yesterday afternoon in Taylor Mill bottoms, about 300 feet west of the horseshoe, between Bellevue and Newport. The discovery was made by Mrs. Linda Greggson, who resides on a houseboat near that point and Miss Nellie Barber, who lives at 647 East Front street. They were returning from Newport and decided to take a shortcut through the bottoms, as the cold weather had frozen the mud sufficiently to bear their weight.
Near the bottom of the bank, they saw the body of a man half buried in the mire. The body was lying facedown and the two women notified Mayor Emig and the Bellevue and Newport Police. The appearance of the man indicated that he struggled fearfully before he died and the discovery of his hat in a yard at the extreme end of Third street in Newport, indicated that he waded through the slim and mud of Taylor Mill Bottoms to his death.
The theory of foul play is not borne out by the appearance of the body and the fact that all of his personal belongings, including a gold watch, a diamond scarf pin and a gold ring, $5.80 and a street car book of passes were found on his person in tact. coroner Digby took charge of his effects and will turn them over to Mr. Hiss's mother. Hiss was in a dazed mental condition when last seen.
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Kentucky Post, Monday, 25 February 1907, page 5
After a short funeral service at the Betz Mortuary Parlor, Newport, conducted by the officers of Mingo Tribe 93 Red Men, the body of Hanson Hiss, Newport Commercial Tribune reporter, who was found dead last Saturday, was shipped last night to Baltimore, his native home, for burial. Two brothers of the deceased, Berry and E R Hiss, arrived in Newport yesterday morning from Chicago. They left over the B&O Railroad with the body an will go direct to Mt Royal Station, Baltimore, where interment will take place today with services at the grave.
Before leaning Newport the two brothers held a consultation with Coroner Digby and later went to Taylor Mill Bottoms to view the place where the body was found. They investigated the case and expressed themselves as satisfied the death of their brother was accidental. Hanson Hiss was next to the youngest of a family of eight children and his death is the first to occur in the family. He was born near Baltimore Feb 2, 1869 and for the past 18 years had been in the newspaper business.
A mother, father and four sister and three brothers survive. The body will be interred in the family lot, beside his grandfather, Bishop E R Ames. Up to the present time Hiss widow has not been located. She had not been living with her husband for some time before his death. The mystery surrounding his disappearance was cleared away late Saturday afternoon when his body was found in Taylor Mill Bottoms, about 300 feet west of the horseshoe, between Bellevue and Newport. The body was found was found by Mrs. Linda Gregson who lives on a houseboat near that point and Miss Nellie Barbour of 647 East Front st. Newport.
They at once notified Mayor George Emig of Bellevue, who was close by, overseeing the work of making the fill on East Front st. He at once identified the body as that of Hiss. Hiss was last seen Friday night a week ago when he alighted from a Bellevue and Dayton car in a dazed condition. He was in a weak physical state and the theory is he wandered east on Third st. and fell down the embankment and then started across the bottoms to the place where his body was found, when he succumbed to exposure.
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Cincinnati Enquirer, Monday, 25 February 1907,
page 8
The remains of Hanson Hiss, newspaper man, who died from exposure
and exhaustion and whose body was found in Taylor Mill Bottoms Saturday, just a
week after he disappeared were last night shipped to Baltimore, MD, his old
home, where they will find their last resting place.
His brothers, Berry Hiss of Chicago and W J Hiss of New York City arrived here yesterday and took charge of the body. During the afternoon the Order of Red Men held services at Betz's mortuary chapel, Chaplain M Sullivan officiating. Several of his newspaper friends and others who knew him well were also in attendance. Up to the present time Mr. Hiss's widow has not been located. She had not been living with her husband for some time before his death.
Coroner Digby will not complete his inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Hiss's death until today. However, there is nothing to indicate that there will be any change in the first conclusion that his demise was caused by exhaustion and exposure following his attempts to get across the mire and mud of Taylor Mill bottoms. His path though the bottoms could be easily traced yesterday and it indicated that his struggles to get to the fires burning brightly as a beacon of safety on the road leading to Speers Hospital were exceedingly violent but of no avail.
As to what prompted him to leave the roundabout course to the hospital immediately after alighting from a car that would have carried him right to the institution is a question that will never be answered.