The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1874-12-31
THE BURGLARS AT BAY RIDGE.
Two Men Shot aud Killed while Robbips n
HOuse-.They Confess 60 being the Abducs
tors Of Charley Ross.

Two Men shot and Killed while aobbips
House-.They Confess 10 being the Abducs
tors Of Charley Ross.
II is many years since we have re-
corded 50 sudden and terrible and end to
life of crime as that which has befallen
the Bay Ridge burglars. The full de-
tails of the affair reveal dark story of
one side of our modern life. In the
dead of night family living in a Sc
cluded spot on New York Bay were
awakened by burglar-alarm connecting
their house with another on their prop
erty. They found that burglars had en-
tered the house, which was unoccupied,
and were moving about in search of val
uables. Four men from the alarmed
house kept guard over the premises
waiting for the appearance of the rob
bers. Presently the burglars, two i'll
number, appeared at the door, and were
commanded to surrender. They replied
with volley from their firearms. A
! fight in the dark took place, in which
| one robber was killed instantly and his
| comrade was mortally wounded. Before
the second man died he told his tale of
crime, incidentally including, among
other things, the abduction of the Ross
child in the list of misdeeds which he or
his companion had cymmitted.
The career of these criminals has been
a long one. 1t connects itself with the
dark deeds of Rulotf, who was hanged i'll
1871, and it makes startling picture i'll
the light of modern civilization and social
progress. At last, after a long immunity
from justice, which must have made them
bold, these hardened wretches have met
their Just deserts. The went into the
Van Brunt house, armed and equipped,
to commit murder if they had been i'll
terrupted in their plundering and they
perished miserably. Law abiding people
must deprecate violence, but these mid
night robbers invited the fate that over
took them, and the thanks of outraged
society is due to the courageous men who
met them, and who successfully defended
their own lives. 1t is not often that
ruffians are overtaken by such signal and
condign punishment. The laws delay,
the interposition of mistaken clemency,
and the active friendship of powerful
men who use the rutfianly element OF
society, too often serve great rascals Il
good turn. If the Bay Ridge burglars
, had got into Jail, the chances are that
they could have staggered through the
, mockery of q trial some jury would
! have disagreed some u" influential poll
, tician in the background would have
pulled wires ; and, by some hocus-poous
never explained, the scoundrels woulC
have been let loose on society agair
within six months, just as other scoun
drels have been before them. Men gen
orally understand this; they defent
their lives and property with powder ant
ball, Just as they did in the bad old times
when there was no law.
OF course, this is not happy state o
things, but it is just what exists; and W,
venture to say that the tragical business
at Bay Ridge has spread more consterna
ton among the thieves and murderer
who infest this region than one hundred
criminal indictments or convictions coul(
have done. Jails are insecure, jailor!
and other officers are venal, and, some
e how or another, there is always a chanc
1 which the bold rascal is ready to take
l The Van Brrlnt family have inspired
new and wholesome terror.
The clew which is now left i'll tn
hands of the police is one of great value
1t not only leads to the unraveling of tn
S mystery of the Ross abduction, but j
i ought to connect the slain brigands witt
s many others who We're their accomplices
g 1t seems that these men have beel
n wanted -" for long time. The stor
l.; of their hidings and evasion of justic
|; has more than the average mystery Q
e crime and it is noticeable that tn
e hunted men were arrested at last by citi
i zens defending themselves-not by tn
1 agents of the law. We shall undoubted
Il ly have now a cOpious amount of infOr
o nation from the startled police officer
e in varions parts OF the country wher
Il these desperate men have carried on op
: erations but the long-sOught game ha
e been brought down by volunteer CON
/. pany while the official sleuth- hounds wer
Il off the scent. 1t is thousand pitie
( that this sort of popular defense shoul
=, be necessary it were far better that tn
-, machinery of the police We're adequat
n to the emergency, and that the move
q ments of the law were quick and shar
e enough to signully punish offenders. S
e long as this is not the case, burglars an
1t other thieves need not be surprised
ys they do sometimes blunder into an ev
W net, and so come to dreadful end.
s, is hoped that the painful mystery su
" rounding the abduction of the Ross chill
2 is now about to be lifted. The une,
d pected light thrown into this sad sto1
s, has fallen with dramatic effect. Blu
er quite as important as any termination
r. the long pursuit of the kidnappers, is IL
% awful sudden vindication of outrage
e: Justice, by which the Bay Ridge brigan(