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

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with the kidnappers, inserting his COM
munications in the ..perSonal" of the
Philadelphia Ledger The fact of Mr.,
Ross : lack of means was not generally
known, and the capture of the child
WAS, of course. itself proof that the
father was held to be man of property.
The anonymous letters which he re-
ceived contained phrases which he WAS
instructed to use. if h" agreed to the
terms proposed. and in accordance with
the advice of detectives, he tacitly ac
ccptcd the terms offered On the 9TH
of July he inserted the following:
''RoS. We he ready to negotiate.
! The day following:
"RoS will come to terms to the extent
of his ability"
And on July 9:
RIOS is willing. Have not got it. Am
doing my best to raise IT.
1t was hoped hy the police that the
thieves could he trapped in some way,
and the utmost efforts were used to track
the abductors. But the men who had
captured Charlie Ross were not to hc
lured. and the insertion of personals to
the effect that he had the money and
WAS willing to pay il and anXiou>lN ask
ing for an answer proved utterly futile
in obtaining any clue to the kidnap-
pers.
THE CITIZENS AROUSED a REWARD OF
S20,OOO OFFERED FOR THE CAPTURE
ANCE DESCRIBED.
The public Notwithstanding that
these advertisements were inserted
merely to emtrap the thieves and not
with any intent to pay the ransom de
manded. became greatly excited over
the conduct of the case. The Ross
family, the police and the detectives
Were arraigned for acts tending to di-
rcctlN encourage the establishment of
hrigandagr in the United States. The
thieves knew better than the public
and rightly iudgin. ot the intentions of
| the advertisements. declined To answer
them. In the meantime, the story of
the abduction WAS spread broadcast
over the land. In Philadelphia Il ma>s
meeting of the citizens WAS held. and
leading gentlemen pledged Il reward ~
large as the ransom asked 10y the
| thieves. Mayor StokclN. on the 2222d of
July, issued Il proclamation declaring
| Philadelphia hereby offer II reward "i
S2O, 900 Ton the arrest and c"mlic of
the ahductor> OF Charles Brew >lrr Ross
son of Christian X. Ross of phladrl-
phia and the restoration of the child to
his parents" Now. for the first time. Il
description of the ahduct"r> wa> given.
founded on the uncertain Iccollcctinu>
at Walter Ross. The buggy Ma> nt
t.,ll IL.
ton, 50 far aS one could Judge from the
lads story. ;I> afterwards coIIohoratrd
and >uh>tantiatcd. painted black. and
drawn 10y Il dark brown horse. One of
the men WAS perhaps Thirty five YEATS
old. of large build. with Il full tacc,
wearing IL moIIStachc and full htald.
ON the thiId finger of the light hand he
wore Il ring The other WAS described
a> Il man of lighter build. not more than
thirty Years old. with sandy complcNi"I
and mou>tachc and IL rather red. tull
face. Both the men wore du>tcIS. one
wonllcn the other gray and one "i
them wore goggles as Il disguise. On,
of the men WoIc Il we'll worn brow d
straw hat. and the other Il light straw
hat somewhat newer. The action 81
the Philadelphia pr"plr. once evoked.
WIS energetic enough. photographs al
the captured child. with Il full dc>clip-
ti"n of his dress and appearance ano
the marks" of the kidnappcr>. wcI,
; scattered all over the country. Hardly {;
. village IN the United States or the DO
miniun of Canada MAS left in i"unrarIc,
in regard to the abduction. and the am
) atcUr detective force i'll every state So
at work to help the regular officers -
justice in THEN search for Charlie R">
: and his kinappcr>.
THE THIEVES AND THEIR PLANS FAIL
UKE OF THEIR NEGoTIATIn>>.
l The best talent of Philadrlphia va,
| enlisted in the work. BN careful stud,
the fact was brought To light that IN,
| men had been seen in the ncighhorh"",
p of Mr.. Ross house for three or tou
, days. in which time the children hl,
= come to reckon them among their c;I>u
l. al acquaintance. But nothing could h
T. learned in regard to the route of th,
- kidnappcrs from Kcnsingt"n. Som
- supposed that they crossed the Della
;. ware River. The day after the ahdur
I tion IL man appeared at Trenton. NeN
Il Jersey. and sold Il horse and hugg.
t. which tallicd with the dcScriptio
e given, but nothing WAS settled Il
e to the absolute identity. Nh. Ross con
G tinucd TO receive anonymous letter
II until the first of November. Thc>
V were about twenty-five III all. writtc
e on foolScap paper. and enclosed III Il
: envelope of the same, nothing but tn
q postmark indicating their origin. The
d were all penncd in Il curious >craw
is like that of right handed man VIII
: should try To write left handed. Frol
Il first to last the statement WAS mad
that the child who WAS Secrctcd in
u safe hiding place, was stolen for none
and for that alone. He was well care
I for, but would certainly he killed unlc.
the S2O,OOO ransom WAS paid. Tha
IT done, he would he returned To his pal
Is cntS, safe and sound. OF course, occ;
=, sionally, negotiations came to il crisis
re but the utmost ingenuity of the dctc,
l tives could not devise any plan h
le which the kidnappers could bc capturc'
IL All plans provided that the kidnappel
t. should have ample time To receive an
:. examine the money to see if it VA
= marked, etc, ctc.-and guaranteed I'll
ic men at least ten hours start after til
t. child WAS restored. Mr.. Ross could ol
.S tain the child only by going alone to
80 remote and untrequented place i'll til
al vicinity of the town, and after waitiI
IL the pleasure of the captoIs for son
T. hours. With Il wholesome dread of I'll
le police. every prccautlon WAS taken
s. preclude the possibility of detection
l. The boy being held as IL hostage
ST good faith. OF course prevented an
st successful scheme etorentrapping the ki'
d. nappers. At one time the antl"rltic
l. in despair of outwitting the thieNc