["Lost At Sea", The West Australian, Friday 12 February 1909, page 5]
LOST AT SEA.
INCIDENT ON THE KOOMBANA.
DISAPPEARANCE OF A PASSENGER.
The auspicious circumstances under which the Adelaide S.S. Company's new liner Koombana arrived at Fremantle yesterday from Glasgow, via Capetown and Durban, were marred on the run across from the last-mentioned port by the mysterious disappearance of one of the passengers. On the arrival of the steamer at Durban, on January 27, she embarked a large number of people for Australian ports, and among them was a passenger named J. H. Taylor. Two days after departure from that port, January 30, he mysteriously disappeared, and, although the ship was thoroughly searched, no trace could be found of him. He is said to have conversed but little with the other passengers, but, during the two days that he was with them, he informed some of them that he had been in South Africa for some years, and had lost a lot of money. It was concluded that his losses had preyed on his mind, for his manner when conversing with passengers and when by himself was peculiar and eccentric. It is surmised that, in a fit of melancholia, Taylor jumped overboard during the night.
