The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1875-01-29
The Ross Case.

The Ross Case.
The details of the abduction of
Charlie Ross, and of the subsequent
discovery of his kidnappers, excel in
romantic interest any story of crime
yet conceived by romancer or play
wright. The disappearance of the child,
the alterations of hope and despair in
the hearts of the afflicted parents, as
news came from time to time that their
boy had been discovered, the various
threads of rumor which the officers un-
raveled only to find that they led to
nothing, the pursuit of the real kidnap-
pers for months by the detectives act
ing under the orders of Inspector
Walling, OF New York, and the manner
put them off the scent altogether, and
the tragical denouement few days ago,
which discovered them. and at the same
time brought a swift and terrible
revenge upon them, form a series of
chapters in one of the most thrilling
episodes of crime ever known in this
country. The result of the denoue-
ment, however, is like the result of
every other step in the strange story.
No sooner had the sky 1ghtened up
than it clouded over again A ray of
sunlight entered the afflicted home as
the news came OF the discovery of the
kidnappers, but it is only temporary.
The kidnappers have been found at
last, but the boy is still missing.
It will be remembered that, when
Charlie Ross was abducted, the crime
was witnessed by several persons, who
furnished the police with pretty \ac-
curate descriptions. These descriptions
were sent all over the country, and then
followed all kinds of haphazard work.
Charlie Rosses were found every
where, in the remotest parts of
the East and West, in Southern
plantations, ont in the Rocky Noun
tains, among the mines, and numerous
arrests were made. including crimi-
nails and respectable people, fortune
tellers, peddlers, tramps, and gypsies.
Meantime, one detective, Inspector Wal
ling, was on the right track. From the
descriptions, and from the information
he had received, he was convinced that
thetwo kidnappers were two professional
criminals-William Mosher. low
browed, brutal villain. the hero of all
kinds of scoundrelism, upon whom his
own vices had set an indelible stamp by
which he was recognized after death,
and Joseph Douglas, man equally
desperate in his acts Of criminality,
and who had been Mosher's partner in
crime for years, butp man of some
intellectual ability and of respectable
connections. 1t was not long befo re
the officers were upon their track, and
found that in February last the two men
had been travelling through New Jersey
and Eastern Pennsylvania, selling an
insect powder, using for their trans
portation the very wagon they had
when the Ross boy was carried off.
They were tracked as far as Trenton,
n. J., and here the officers lost sight
of them. Meanwhile they did not relax
their vigilance. Mrs. Mosher was kept
under surveillance, and every move
ment she made was noted. More than
once the detectives were almost on the
heels of the two kidnappers in for
tune .teIlers' rooms, saloons, and low
boarding houses, and one day they
came SO close that the two villains be-
came alarmed and dropped out of sight.
The chase was temporarily over, and
might have remained 80 for long time
to come had it not been for a sudden
and mysterious development of good
fortune.
One dark, stormy night two men
came up the river in their little black
sloop, which had been engaged In many
a marauding expedition, and landed at
Bay Ridge, in the rear of the unoccu-
pied residence of Judge Van Brunt,
with the intention of robbing it. Not
knowing that the house was provided
with q burglar alarm connected with
the adjoining residence of the judge 8
brother, the two burglars entered. The
alarm did its work. The family was
aroused, and the Judge, his son, and
the hostler armed themselves. went
over to the house, and at last, tired OF
waiting for the burglars to come out,
opened the doors and provoked an en-
counter which resulted ia the death of
the two villains. They were Mosher
and Douglas. Mosher was killed in
stantly, and Douglas lived long enough
to confess he assisted in the abduction
of Charlie Ross, but died without dis
closing the whereabouts of the boy.
The identity Of the two burglars has
been established beyond doubt, Charlie
Ross brother, uncle, and others having
identified them as the abduetors. and
their relatives having identified them
as Mosher and Douglas.
Death has visited sharp and quick
revenge upon the two ruf1ans, but
where is Charlie Ross Mosher's wife,
who might have told something, has
disappeared. Douglas wife or mis-
tress, through terror of the detectives
power, has sgreed to tell all she knows
at the inquest, but this may not amount
to anything definite. A more joyful
denouement than the restoration of the
little fellow to his home again could
not be imagined but this may not be
possible. The clouds still hang dark
over the afflicted home. but the crime
has been fearfully avenged. The same
Snta Ia f1a fwyO
scoundrels targets for the unerring
practice of the Van Brunts may YET
bring back the little fellow, and AL the
chair which has been vacant 30 long In
the Germantown home. Chicago
Tribune.
uov.rs o& ~o4nro Tsha rnounfain's