THE MYSTERY OF MOAT FARM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12260, 2 May 1903, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE MYSTERY OF MOAT FARM.

HISTORY OP MISS HOLLAND.

Miss Camiixe Holland, whose mysterious disappearance from Moat Farm, Clavering, Essex, four years ago now engages the attention of some twenty of the most experienced detectives, was a cousin of the late Mr. W. S. Caine, M.P.

She was a lady of 55 years of age, who looked no more than 40, because her hair resisted the ravages of time and remained a rather vivid yellow. She had at various times inherited from relatives three separate sums of £3000, £4000, and £3000, which, added to her income, made a comfortable independency.

This practically comprised her history up till the vear'lß9B, at which time she lived in Ma Ida Vale. How or where she first met Samuel Herbert Dougal, the exarmy man. who now lies in prison on a remanded charge of forging her signature to cheques, is not known, but there is reason to believe that the acquaintance was made either through a matrimonial agency or a newspaper advertisement offering a' investment for capital. Whether they went through the marriage ceremony is uncertain, but they made their appearance at. Saffron Waldeii as man and wife in March, 1899. and having purchased Moat Farm they had it handsomely furnished, and moved into it at the end of April. Miss Holland, it is said, disliked the place. The mere sight of it even in the sunshine is gloomy and forbidding, so great is the sense of complete isolation conveyed by its wide and deep moat, and the long vista of fields on every hand unbroken by a single habitation. The lady had left Maida Vale because it was too noisy, but she was appalled at the prospect of burying herself in this ancient stronghold, which looks more like a product of Poe's diseased imagination than an ordinary residence.

" I can't think what my husband means by taking the place," she said to Mrs. Wiskeu, with whom they lodged in Saffron Walden. Yet for a few days less than a month Miss Holland lived at Moat Farm and then vanished. The vicar of Claver ing, making a duty call at the end of May, was informed that Mrs. DougaJ, as she was universally called, had gone to the Continent. Further. Miss Holland left the melancholy Moat Farm without taking her jewellery, her clothing, and the hundred and one belongings which go to make up a woman's personality.

So far as the man Don. gal, now under arrest, is concerned, '-he district is alive with stories of all sorts and kinds concerning him. He was at one time a sergeant paymaster in the Royal Engineers — a masterful man, it is said, but kind and well-mannered. After the disappearance of Miss Holland he was often seen about in the district in a dogcart or a motor-car; he dressed well, and though interested in farming made no effort at work on a large scale so far as the many acres attached to the farm were concerned.