Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-10-23
Child Stealing in Kew york

sAiu, ana the records Of the departmen.
VI ponce In some measure confirm the or,
'nat tse Ilttie ohve branches that are sun,
| posSi TO flourish best around man. 49,
are occasionally plucked UP BY outsiders snd
carried away TO be trapsplanted in some
| strange places. Nurses and other Attendance
VINO have left the little darlings alone in the
PARKS or pbblic places for a few minutes. have
oeen sorely surprised to find them gone, and
.aat all subsequent efforts to gain trace Of
'ne LOST ones, have proved abortive.
ihls may appear strange, but IL Ia true
some people suppose that the children thus
hlonapped are taken to be initiated into the
secrets OF ground and lofty tumbling, or 20
become lDcIpient wonders of saltatoy,.I d;s
play on the tight rope, or juvenile eo ouestrian,
~O'hers ~ say that they are taken for religious
purposes, TO be proselytes to celibacy. We do
tot HnoW now this may tie; but We have
heard OF 50 many strange efforts 20 obtain the
guardianship Of children from the Sunreme
court, after their mothers have entrusted
tnem to outsiders to rear, that we can easily
ereoit any suoh rumors The following sin
guar Item OF news was related to us a few
day ago by member of the bar:
Our informant said he was applied to by
gentleman Of wealth Of this CITY. 10 Obtain
inc restoration Of a young child which had
been taken away from the care of his family.
under very singular circumstances The gen.
ueman In question had married a Iady of re-
markable beauty and accom- mplishments, who.
atter their union, had introduced to his home
child OF most winsome manners and beauty.
Which sne called her niece. This scion soon
became an especial pet Of the household, and
was duly installed as the feature of the family
In the course Of the summer, the gentleman
with his wife and the child took uo their resi-
dence at fashionable watering place on Long
Island Sound, and the child was there mach
noticed by all the visitors as a little paragon
Of perfecubility in petticoats; bat one a
Southern lady, appeared TO have mbibed for
1t an ardent affection, and wished to adopt it
es her own Inc offer was not accepted
day was at length fixed for the departure Of
the party for their home in the city when TO
the utter sstonishment of all the child was
missing, and could not be found. Every nook
and corner in the house and grounds were
searched, but in vain; and the lady and gem
t!eman returned TO the city, the former incon-
sJlabie for the loss of the chill W hich she then
confessed was hers, before her marriage 20 her
present husband This confession did not pre-
vent him, however, from doing every thing in
ais power TO solve the mystery.
With that view he applied to our legal
friend for advice, and the latter recommended
the service Of writ Of habeas corpus on the
Southern lady-who was then in the city-di-
recting her to have the child before one of the
Justices of the Sspreme Court. This course
was pursued, and the mandate served with
singular result for on the morning Of the day
the child should have been brought before the
J udge, it was left all fcriorn in the ofice of
the lawyer, but so sadly changed. as to be
hardly recognizable by its fond but erring
mother.
Its beautiful auburn locks had been cut of,
its features dyed to a deep brown or dusky
hue it was clad in habiliments Of the most
abject poverty, and presented, altogether, one
Of tie most deplOrable spectacles that could
be imagined. The frat impulse Of the lawyer
was to send the little "vagsbond" to the Alms
House; bat, on reflection, he despatched a
messenger for his client, and the lost one was
thus restored to the arms Of its mother The
child, although most intelligent for its age,
could not furnish any clue for a solution of the
mystery of its disappearance -P0rteT's SPtr't
Of rte Times