St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-10-22

ter his capture. BY the last of No
veInber, the abductorS abandoned their
correspondence. which haI latterly been
conducted from New York and Brook
lym. and the detectives had nothing but
their own devices to fall back upon.
ON THE WRONG sCENT-HAPs AND MIS-
HArs OF THE DETECTIVES.
All sorts of trails were "run ont" by
the detectives. The sharp unsparing
criticism of the press in regard to the
conduct of the ease SpuIred them on to
redeem their reputation and the fair
fame of the detective force of Philadcl
phia. The men who happened to he
driving buggicS about Germantown
during the week preceding the ahduc-
tion had hard time of it. One myS-
tclious party. consisting of five men
and Il woman. were tracked about the
district. They put up at country tav-
erIS. and no one seemed to know their
business. On the very day of the kid
mapping it was found. culiouSl Y enough,
that two of the men left in il great hur
ry, driving off in buggy, while the
woman left in Il railway train ut the
same time. The other two men had
myStcriously disappeared some time
before. Now the detectives thought
the scent was found. After an immense
amount of work, the fact WAS suddenly
brought to light that these mysterious
people, instead of being thieves, were
engaged i'll Il very innocent business.
Nearly every one whom they met had
been asked strange questions, us to who
lived in certain houses. whether they
were owners OF tenants. etc. But this
WAS all explained when it was shown
that they were merely sellers of trees
and shrubs for il New jersey nursery.
Another mysterious man with buggy
turned out to he Il thief. who had been
engaged III Il series of petty rohbcries
near Germantown but that did not
further the investigation into the Char
lie Ross affair. The letters were made
To serve. if posSihle Us Il clue. after IN
unsuccessful attempt to find the stable
where the hor>r and buggy were kept.
There Wa> also an Interesting search
into the cliro"IaphN of the various hn-
tells in Philadelphia. II VAS discovered
thai about the time of the abduction
two men entered their names at Il Ger
tain hotel in the peculiar chrography
which characterized the miS>iVe> from
the aiductor>. The movements of the
men were suspicious: their character
WAS bad. and more than all. they had
Visited Germantown in Il buggy. The
detectives traced these men. after IL
>caIch very >killtullN conducted. only
L" find that they had been once more
"u the wong scent. The men proved
t" hr ''>Iud pigeons tor gambling hou-
>c>. which explained their mysterious
conduct but nothing could hc brought
forward which in the least Implicated
them with the Ross affair. The au-
thnritir~ Inspected every hnu>, in Phil
adclphia and lis nrighh"lh""d in search
of the Chlld and It's captions, but with
ont discovering the slightest clue I"
thrii whereabouts.
rnE DETECTIVES DISAGREE AND THE
rIEI.Ic pE>nG >'E THEM THE ARMY
OF wAIr> Il rr">En To EE CHARLIE.
A. may Ice imagined. these repeated
failures ot the detectives were the sub
jrct ot much newspaper discussion.
'lhc most pointed charges were brought
not only against the police. who were
SAID To hc in the pay of the thieves.
int against Mr.. Ross himself his whole
family. and his creditors. 1t would hc
pIoiltl,>> to recount the ba>rlr>> char
yc> which WEI" trumpcd up. They had
Il fictiiinu> Importance in the eyes "t
tn. public from the ill->ucCr>~ of til,
police Investigations When the cas-,
WAS given l." private detectives. an nm
fortunate disagreement occurred he
tween them and the regular authnriti,,
which sadly dcla;rd the prosecution al
the inquiry. and gave rIcd,ncc I" {;
Thousand Wild and ah>ud rumor>. IL
the meantime. Charlie Ross WAS hcin.
regularly discovered all over the coUm-
Try. la some c;rsc& absurd and stupi,
hluudrr> were made. and hundreds %
; innocent people ram>cd unnecessary
trnuhlc. Once nr ice. however. tn,
child seemed actually t" have been dis
cnNcrd. At Bennington. VI. Il littl,
child WAS tnurd who Wa> traVcllim.
with woman through the country. IL,
not only rr>cmhlrd The child describe,
in the police notice. hut said his nam,
used tu hc Charlie Ross. that his ''ncv
mamma" had changed il. and that h,
lived ut Germantown. An uncle -
Charlie Ross went post haste to Yer
mont. but the boy WIS not the miSSIm!
child. He WAS an adopted child. who's,
Christian name had been Charlie an,
- the surname IIu$S." which, like
he easily converted into Ross. Charlie
RoSScS were found a> far West us Den
) YER and aS far north rs Quebec; In
I the lost boy WAS hidden safely away
: and not all the efforts of detectives
public and private. could bring hin
: home again.
ON TIE RIGHT TRAIL At LAST. -CLINTo,
, MO>IER'> STORY.
T. But in the LATTER part of August, ISL
i Il great rascal and Il coward as vel
/, named Clinton MoSrr put the polio
% on the right trail. His implication {
II his brother us made to Superintendent
e Walling, was So vague that but littl
IL confidence was placed in it. Whel
Y however. the man WAS put on the wit
d ness stand and answers We're eXtOrte
= from him which showed that he ha
t spoken truly in charging his brother
- William MoSirr. with the crime. Gin
+ ton said that previous to the abduction
William, who was Il Waterman 10y pr,
= fcsSion, had proposed to him to tax
y andrrbilt's child to some intrcquente
|. island in the long Island Sound, as h
: and Il friend named Joseph Clark pre-
Il posed to capture the child. and max
: the C"mmd"rc pay we'll for his return
e Going to New York. ii was found thi
g Mo>icr and Clark were known to til
= police us ''doubtful'' men. After
IL while it was found that the men ha
e >livrd in Philadelphia. in Il small hous
= on Monroe street, in the southern qrIal
q ter of the city. MoSicr had with him
e wife and child. Their business wa
u peddlimg various kinds of stove backim
l. and I.rd-hIIm nniSnm Mhirh with :, co