Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1875-10-22

pers. Al one time, the authorities, In des-
pair of outwittng the thieves, sent repre-
sentative TO meet them, but they were fear
ful Of being captured, and did not put in
an appearance The contest between the
criminals and the officers Of justice was
then resumed. Philadelphia was 80 close
ly watched that no criminal could escape
being arrested, and several honest men
were held in custody from various reasons.
great many small criminals were con-
victed and the abductors of Charlie Ross
were heartily execrated by the men ION
the make" for whom Philadelphia had
come to he a most unpleasant abiding place.
But Charlie Ross was no nearer being found
than the, day after his capture. BY the last
of November, the abductors abandoned
their correspondence, which had latterly
been conducted from New York and Brook
lyn, and the detectives had nothing but
their own devices 10 fall back upon.
As may he imagined, the repeated fail
ures of the detectives were the subject Of
much newspaper discussion. The most
pointed charges were brought not only
against the police, who were said to bo in
the pay Of the thieves, but against Mr.. Ross
himself, his whole family, and his credit
ors. 1t would be profitless TO recount the
baseless charges which were trumped up.
They had a fictitious importance in the
eyes of the public, from the ill-success Of
the police Investigations. When the case
was given TO private detectives, an unfort-
unate disagreement occurred between them
and the regular authorities which sadly de-
layed The prosecution of the inquiry and
gave credence TO n thousand wild and ab-
surd rumors. In the meantime Charlie
Ross was being regularly discovered all
over the coHnlry. In some cases, absurd
aud stupid bunders we're made, and hun
dreds Of innocent people caused unneces-
sary trouble. Once or twice, however, the
child seemed actually TO have been discov-
cred. At Bennington, VT, little child
was found, who was travelling with wo-
man through the country. He not only re-
sembed the child described in the police
notice, but said his name used TO be Char
lie Ross, that his new mamma had
changed IT,, and that he had lived at Ger
mantown. An uncle If Charlie Ross went
post-haste to Vermont, but the boy was not
the missing child. He was an adopted
child whose Christian name had been Char
lie and the surname "Huss," which, child
like, he easily conv erted into Ross. Char
lie Rosses were found as far west as Den
yer and as far north as Quebec but the
lost boy was safely hidden away, and not
all the Efforts Of the detectives, public and
private, could bring him home again.
CLINTON MosIER's STORY.
But, in the latter part of August, 1874, a
great rascal aud a great coward as well,
named Clinton Mosler, put the police on
the right trail. His implication of his
brother, as made to Superintendent Wall
ing, was so vague that little confidence was
placed in il. When, however, the man was
put In the witness stand, answers were
extorted from him which showed that he
had spoken truly. In charging his broth
er, William Mosier, with the crime, Clin-
ton said that, previous 10 the abduction,
William, who was a waterman by profess
sion, had proposed 10 him 10 take Wander
bilt's child TO some nnfrequented island in
the Long Island Sound, as he and a friend
named Joseph Clark proposed to capture
tho child, and make the Commodore pay
well for his return. Going TO New York,
il was found that Mosier and Clark were
known TO the police as doubtful" men.
Afler while, it vas found that the men
had lived in Philadelphia in a small house
on Monroe street, in the southern quarter
of the city. Mosier had with him a wife
aud child. Their business was peddling
various kinds of stove backing and bed
bug poison, which, with collection of
small goods bought at auctions, tue two
men hawked about the suburbs of Phila-
delphia. 1t was remembered that two men
had iVd their wares for sale in German
town just before the abduction. The long
sought for stable, ii was found, stood near
the house where the meh lived. Being a
ricSety alfIir, il was torn down soon alter
the abduction. The police eagerly but Sc
cretiy followed the trail. In the meantime,
Mr.. Ross, who had been charged with all
sorts OF crimes by some of the unscrupu-
lous papers, brought libel suit against the
Reading EIgle, one of the principal Offend
ing journals, and obtained $1,000 damages.
The police, however, when tracking the
thieves who had been betrayed, had to bear
in silence all the charges of inefficiency and
corruption brought against them. Aud
they kept at work, tracing the abductors
up the Hudson aud among the islands OF
the Sound and, though they did not abSo-
lutely unearth them, brought them to such
pass that in a few days more they must
have been captured, even If fate had not
doomed them to a speedy punishment.
THE TRAGEDY AT BAY RIDaE.
The circumstances attending the famous
burglars assault upon lhe Van Brunt man
sion al Bay Ridge. L. l., are familiar to the
public. The courage and prompt action OF
Albert Van Brunt on the night of the l4th
of December last brought TO deserved pun
ishment two of the men concerned in the
Ross abduction. Mosier, whom the vigil
ance of the police had compelled 10 life of
the most abject poverty, was shot dead.
The other burglar was suffering from a ter
rible wound in the abdomen, but he said to
one of those who came TO bring him water
that his name was Joseph Douglas, and
disclosed his companions connection with
the Koss affair. He added "Its no use
lying now; helped 10 steal Charlie Ross"
When he was pressed to give further par
ticnlars, and told that Mosier was dead, he
said that Superintendent Walling knew OF
the affair. He suffered so intensely from
his wounds that nothing further could be
obtained from him, and AZ 8 o'clock in the
morning after the attempted burglary he
died. In the meantime the news of the
death of the abductors of Charlie Ross
spread far aud near. The lad Walter was
brought 10 see the bodies, in company with