The New York herald., 1874-08-06

whether the mention OF sns strangely large sum
OF $780, 900 did not contain some hidden meaning or
even a cOnsempated. ~ Tue demand for TINS sum,
gar ne can ride II he will pay or the carriage.
INTERVIEW WITH A VETERAN.
I had a long interview this morning with an old
we'll Epown veteran detective. Ny sole purpose
in going to him was to ascertain whether the pub.
lication OF rne corespondence would or wonid
NOT defeat the ends OF justice. ] asked MN the
's "Ycn are interested in this case, and you have
spent much money TO untangle II. You know all
about these letters now IN the possession OF Mr.
ROSS and are aware precisely what they contain:
auestion. II | should secure these letters ana
publish them would such action upon my part rem
Ger By NO means, he answered @ I me- rhere is no
man in the commonwealth OF Pennsylvanla that
has this case more at heart than have. Taere 10
no man that has spent more cash to gain informa-
tion than myself but have always argued from
the outset that these letters coming from the kid
public have always said that lithoarapntc
Copies should be made Of all them ana that tney
country. Each moment the father concea!s these
letters he Is rendering the recovery OF his little
URs %SateSer for conceaSs s he There Is neither
consistency nor common sense in such action upon
his part II only Increases the terrible A suspicion rHm
have been from time to time most cruelty
1ion, would furnish much light upon what
just now is dark. and would lead to many
be almost certain to lead to the discovery Of his
lost one. / cannot imagine for q moment why ne
be- snaer the Of
ignorant and incompetent men,"
THE ULTIMATUM OF HUMAN SORROW.
s.Well,n answered him, ''tne father says some
OF the letters are very cruelty worded and II pub
lisned would seriously interfere with the peace OF
ssTnat is simple nonsense" ne answered me.
'I have no DOUBT the iather gave you THIS as bis
but IS Is Of
sense. Surely In this loss OF her child the mother
s addicted as much as s any parent h, could M,n 1e
exposure Of their correspondence would give.
provided any such temporary su6ering would
render this child's recovery more Immediate Let
us take 1t upon the very broadcast grounds that the
could could possibly indulge in. Suppose, for the
moment that l am not aware OF the contents OF
have OF the same comes through the mouth Of Mr..
Ross himseii-suppose, IN fne. these letters
the & s the Ssad tSev
degree beyond anything that mortal eyes have
amount to? II parties capable OF stealing child
choose to abuse an upright and honorable
in Is what they Sne sas 5ss Of
through the impulse OF desplcable characters and
brutal instincts commit an unheard-oi crime ana
after committing 1t turn their attention, for the
sake of money, to the abuse OF an estlmabie lady,
Is any one In the Commonwealth OF Philadelphia
going to believe tnemf'
"How do you regard the refusal to publish these
letters?'' asked.
public scrutiny anything that would furnish ciew
to the recovery OF his child as the publication or
these letters would do. IL Is also foolish tnat he
should give q reason for such action the excuse
that the correspondence would hurl abuse upon
his wife, when the source from which that abuse
individual, would condemn 1t as a lie. l admit
that the father committed fearful error, in
Of efs .helr as correspondence to be made p pubc
but more fatal is the error he commits now in
keeping dark q number Of highly Important letters
important points, some one OF which might solve
this otherwise hopeless mystery.
WHAT THESE LETTERS CONTAIN.
After the first Personal which was published
by the iather the letters from the kdnappers
poured IN a% very py e. EaGn sse
thieves stated that unless their terms were
compsd with the child wGys
| somewhat surprised at the manner IN which these
letters were written and the way In when they
simplest words were grossly misspelled, while
words Of more than three syables, like 'annlhlla-
snsed the rs led ne o
that the parties who were writing the letters
we're not experienced nlackmailers All through
that the police were learlully in error, and that
the kidnappers were perfectly Wn aware ,,,d Of
ano1ug snsn sSe consenss letter.
| which was probably the most bitter that Mr.. Ross
! mas yet received, and which has been cautiously
guarded from tile public: It stated tnat the kid
| nappers were acquainted with the TACT that their
former letters had been shown to the police
that they the th1eves understood what the ia ther
was trying to Dc, and that he had better
| hesitate before he acted. They informed
| him that he was dealing doubiy with
them and that as they had his child in their pos
| session he had better not attempt foul piay They
stated that they understood his "game" perfectly,
| that they were prepared for any emergency, that
they appreciated the danger OF their situation an
! that they were under any circumstances able to
meet it. Or course this letter surprised the police.
1t consumed in writing four pages Of fooiscap II
] was evident that no movement, no matter how
secret, made by the police was unknown to
I the writer's, while the point they made,
that the father was trying to lead
them into trap under the gulse OF false promises,
| was fully dwet unon. Again the chlrography and
| diction OF this letter surprised me. Parts OF 1t
were clothed In the slang used by English thieves,
and other parts were written IN o low Yankee
dialect, which seemed to indicate lack OF lore.
sight upon the part Of the writer so great that
] could not help thinking again that all the letters
| were written simply for "blind,' In order TO de.
| lay the detectives IN Philadelphia, while the actual
| thieves, who had carried the child or Tor some
| other purpose than for money, could easily erecl
their escape.
! d