Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-07-29
A BRUTE.
Charles NespeF, Tramp nom Riddle
Ten-ez0oc. Held in 1t. Louis for
RaVIShing hts BteP-ChiIdren.
An Incredible Story of two Girls, who
AIlege Ihnt they were kidnapped
by Heat who Outraged
them FearfulIy.

by a Heat who Outraged
them FearfulIy.
st. Louis Times.I
About the middle of May last, the ed
itor Of the Rolla Mo- Herald received
q letter from woman named Louisa
Murray, a resident OF Lanes Prairie,
Maries county, in this State, stating that
her two daughters,a aged respectively nine
and eleven years, had been stolen from
their home and carried into another por-
ton of the State. The letter was pub
lished in the Herald, and although no
immediate result tending to the arrest
and detention of the fugitives followed,
its publication eventually led to the re-
covery of the children and the arrest of
their captOr. A week ago last Friday,
an old man and two children were over
hauled in a skiff while passing Brook
Ign, a few miles north of this city on
the Illinois side. The constable at that
point, who is negro, suspected that
there was something wrong about the
strangers, and placed them under arrest.
The old man was closely questioned
about the children, and in every in
stance maintained that they were his.
He was at length released, the authori-
ties there becoming satisfied that there
was nothing 10 the case. From this
point he set out again, and landed
at Carondelet, where he remained q
short time, and then departed for
Grand Tower, which place he reached
after having landed at several
places on the way. In the meantime
the police at East st. Louis had heard
of the arrest of this man at Brooklyn,
his subsequent release and journey down
the river, and having already obtained
some tidings of the kidnapping of the
Murray children, a dispatch was sent to
Grand Tower requesting the police there
to arrest and hold Charles Neaper and
two children. The return dispatch was
received a short time afterward, an
nOuncing the arrest of the party with the
skiff. An officer was Immediately sent
from East st. Louis to Grand Tower
with instructions to bring him back.
He arrived in this city at one o'clock
yesterday morning, and crossed over on
the bridge. A Times reporter visited the
police station in East st. Louis yester-
day, and through the courtesy Of Captain
RenshaW, was permitted to see the pris-
Oner and children. The latter were
gambollng on the vacant lots with some
They could be easily distinguished
from those about Them both by
their personal appearance and de-
meanor. Ellen, the Oldest, is about eleven
wears old. Her hair is light brown,
hanging from her head straight and I'M
cared for, like an Indians. Her face is
not repulsive, although covered over
with mosquito bites, the result OF expos
ure during their voyage in the skiff.
Her sister, nine years old, is of the same
type. Her hair is dark brown, and
hangs straight and stiff on her neck.
She hss a very strong cast in her eyes,
and somewhat resembles her sister in
facial expression. Both were clothed in
dirty calico dresses. These constituted
their entire outfit. They wore neither
hats nor shoes. The want Of both wfs
plainly distinguishable in the appear
ance of the children. The prisoner,
Charles Neaper, who processes to be the
father, is a man about fifty-siX years old.
He is of the regular Tennessee type. He
wore dirty SLOUGH hat; the remnants
of a soldiers cOathRd been resolved into
jacket; he bad dark jeans pants and
IOw.qusrtered shoes, without socks.
He is farmer by occupation,
and 50 absolutely ignorant that he
can't tell bis own age, or the time
of his marriage with the mother of the
children. He claims to be their father.
The mother and the children say that
he is not; that he is nothing more than
q step-fsther. The reporter first talked
with the children on the subject of the
crime with which their step-father was
charged. Both most phatically stated
that he had ravished their persons. II
the story told by the Oldest be true, he is
fiend in human shape, who deserves
the severest punishment that outraged
law takes cognizance of. The girl stated
that one morning in May last Neaper
came to their house at Lanes prairie
and took both of them away. Their
mother was then absent. When they
had walked as far as cOrntield, which
| lies short distance from the house,
Nesper procured a horse, placed them
both on horseback, and in this way bore
them out Of Maries county. The first
place they stopped at was Little Piney.
Here the old man, according to his own
story, engaged in farming. He lived
| two months in a small hut, and slept
| and ate with the children. 1t was here
! that the alleged outrage occurred. The
| oldest girl insists that her father outraged
| Her little sister says with equal snpha-
sis that he forced her to accede TO his
| wishes in the same house on two different
| occasions. When they left Little Piney
| they proceeded to the Missouri river,
where Neaper disposed of the horse and
| bought a skiff. In this, without cloth.
ing, or anything like fair supply OF
the necessaries OF life, they started down
the river, landing when their stock OF
| hard crackers and crumbled cheese be-
| came exhausted. The children were
almost naked, and suffered intensely
| from hunger and exposure. When the
! reporter remarked that they must have
| suffered good deal from hunger, the
| girl frightened up and said: "He almost
| starved US to death. Whenever he
| bought any new cheese, he would break
| off the best part aud give us the crust"
| While they were landed at small place
| on the Missouri river, the Oldest girl told
! a man there of the treatment they had
received from their step-father while
they were at Little Piney. She said that
! on receiving this information, he became
furious and threatened to get rope ana
hang the old man. The latter, sntlci-
pating uncomfortable treatment, hauled
in his lines and turned south again.
They landed at Brooklyn, and were ar
rested and released. They next landed
at the CarOndelet docks, and from that
point went almost direct to Grand
Tower. They had not been long there
when they were arrested and locked up.
During their trip from Grand Tower to
S.. Louis, on the Bismarck, the story
OF the children became known, and clio
tied for them universal sympathy. The
Isdies Of the boat took them in charge,
especially Mrs. Garry, OF New Orleans.
who felt much interested in their sad
condition, Captain Spsne gave them