The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-12-19
(Coutinued from LIST page.l

master, Mr.. CnurcL, WIN was "O0o' | !
old. The child had been playing ABOUT
the grass, and when ! vent to look TOR niIh
/ found he could not be. seen. neaiu
that he was walking on the road WIN =
strange man, and l went out to see VINO II
was, thinking it was so'ne ncighoor WIZ
pany of strange man, and lmmeoiateiy
tnnt the child away" She insisted that
the body of Mosher was that OF sae man
she had seen with the child on that occa-
sion, whom she had never seen before nor
since.
WORKING UP THE ROSS CASE.
supt. Walling yesterday described at
length the steps which have been taken by
the detectives to secure the two men killed
at Bay Ridge, whom they had long, sus-
pected we're the kidnappers of Charlie
Ross. The first clew to connecting Mosher
and Douglas was furnished him by Capt.
Hedden, formerly of the Thirteenth but
now of the Thirty-third precinct. de was
busy in the Ross case in less than week
after Charlie was abducted, and made up
his mind as to the possibility OF William
Mosher being one Of the men that carried
Charles off, within twenty days from the
date of the occurrence. Now, MosheT
had peculiar nose, and was born az and
brought up in the Thirteenth ward: The
nose had seen trouble in its day. This de-
formity would have made Mosher a con-
spicuous object among a thousand persons
Mosher, years ago, too, had teton on the
first finger of the left hand which ate away
the flesh and left the nall-joint skeleton
and he was in the habit OF always wearing
stall on this finger, and sometimes wore
glove on the left hand: Hedden pun
up his theory very carefully, and was a ar
by Officers Doyle and Moran, OF the Ihir
teenth precinct, and Officer Lawler, OF tht
Twenty fourth precinct, both OF whom
knew Mosher well and they were, IT
said, aided by a member Of Mosher s tam
;lv. who, for a share in the reward, was will
ing to assist in his relatives arrest Whe
matters had arrived at a certain stag
Cant Hedden communicated the informa
tion he had obtained to Supt. Walllng. MT
Wallipc had to move very cautiously IL
could trust certain members OF the fhlla
delphia police but there was danger tina
information would leak out that would CIV
clues to certain private detective agencle
and amateur detectives all over the c0un
try, and the regular police could not amor
to 90 in partnership with the outsiders
whose tactics are, if they find rivals likel
10 attain success, to give Information |
suspected persons and place the reward gu
of the reach of any but themselves.
IDENTIFYING THE MEN
The first step was to thoroughly VERT
the descriptions given of the men who stol
Charlie, and ofCharlie himself. Capt. liine
of the PHILADELPHIA police force, wlthor
asking any questions, kept Supt: a1
constantly informed, and finally it Wi
agreed that the descriptions of the mt
who stole the boy, and of Charlie Ross, wei
as accurate as could be gotten up. Eve
point in these descriptions had been lab
riously canvassed but Mr.. Wallipg was
termined to re verify the descriptions
the kidnappers. Detective Selleck "
summoned before the superintendent
did not inform him of what his object W;
and requested him to look after man W
had broken Jail Seeck asked for a descr
of the man, and Mr. Walling slowly w
over description No. ,. When he came
the nose Selleck smiled and said, Nv
that s Billy Nosher, and was immedlat
informed of the suspicion that existed Il
Nosher was one of the men who abduc
Charlie Ross Description No. ! appea
familiar TO those who knew Mosher and
habits, and it was soon agreed on that
person described could be no other Il
Joseph Douglas, one of Moshers old pa
1t was work OF no small magnitude
find Mosher and Douglas in Philadelpl
The next discovery was very import
one A few weeks prior to the abducti
two men fully answering the descripti'
of Douglas and Mosher had been drlv
around the suburbs of Philadelphia SELL
bed bug and roach poison. Their Wis
were in many instances followed by bu
laries, and it is believed that they follow
the peddling trade as a cover to their r.
occupation, and while out peddling mark
down houses easy to rob. Moshers nc
Travelled round with the buggy, and was
marked everywhere, and pointed the {
tectives to a stable on Monroe street, wht
the vehicle was put up on several occaSio
The buggy was identified in this mann
The man who kept the stable was requ
ted by Supt. Nalling to draw sketch
the vehicle, which was locked up. Su
Walling then requested Capt Hines
send him on sketch OF the vehicle III
ished by the little girl who last saw Oh
lie and the kidnappers. TIE two sketcI
we're compared, and tailed exactly. Tn
is little doubt in Supt W alling's mind 4
Mosher and Douglas would have been
custody three months ago, had it not b
for the tactics of the detective agencies
other irresponsible hunters after the
ward, and the unwillingness of the fan
to take any steps toward arresting the S
posed abductors while the possibility
securing the boy was in doubt Besl
Charles relatives were in cons'
state of excitement over the receipt
letters announcing that he had b
found and as each rumor of his dscoy
was thoroughly investigated, the arres
the kidnappers was made secondary
sideration to the recovery of the
This caused a rumor that they '
watched to reach the ears OF Mosher
Douglas. and when Supt Walling
Capt Hines were ready to make al
tempt to arrest them they had fl
Had Mosher's hands been clean he wo
in al! probability, have attempted to n
tiate with the police, but the rewards
lshed offered 5000 for the recover
the child and the conviction of his kid
pers, and Mosher owed about seven y
service to the State of New Jersey. A
five years ago Mosher broke into cou
grocery store near Red Bank, Nonm
County u j., and, placing the proc
OF the robbery in sailboat went to
rian's Island, aud hid the property Il
He then kept out of the way for se'
days. and, when he though. the coast
clear, he took the goods from the isl
and was arrested while dispOsiUg of the
Brooklyn, and locked up in the County