UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, Issue 13, 29 December 1926, Page 5

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER

WANDERING OVER THE WORLD. DEAF AND DUMB. Auckland, Dec. 28. Regarding the cablegram about a deaf and dumb soldier in Holland, suffering from lapse of memory, who recalled the names of Auckland and Wellington, the records of the American Consulate at Auckland show that a deaf and dumb man, travelling under the name of John Gordon, and claiming to be an American citizen, passed through Auckland in May, 1925. ‘‘So far as wo know John Gordon lived in Australia for about 14 years and came to New Zealand to see if the climate would suit him,’’ said Mr W. F. Boyle, American Consul. ‘‘Unfortunately we have no description of him, but I firmly believe that John Gordon and the Paul Horn mentioned in the cable are the same man. We have no record of any other deaf and dumb man passing through here, Gordon described himself as the deaf American,” The London ‘ ‘ Daily Mail’s ’ ’ Rotterdam correspondent says the British Consul, by a laborious process, has elicited what is believed to be the story of an unidentified British soldier, wandering about in Holland, deaf and dumb and with a faulty memory, but momentarily able to recall wander ings in many countries over the world. His name is believed to be Paul Horn. He was born in Baltimore and served in the infantry at the Dardanelles, where ho was wounded and sent to hospital in Egypt. He also fought in the Irish Rebellion in 1916, at Ypres and Arras. He recalls the names of Auckland and Wellington, whence he was apparently repatriated by the American Consul. Since the war ho has travelled over the world, chiefly as a stowaway.