Connecticut western news., 1875-09-24
POOR CHARLEY ROSS.
The Attempt to Blackmail MT. Ross anu
 Why it Failed, f :.

The Attempt to Blackmail MT. Ross and
 Why it Failed,
 It is now more than year since the Ross child was stolen from his parents at Philadelphia. The killing of the ab
 ductors, Mosher and Douglass, while engaged in burglary at Bay Ridge, re- moves from the field the miscreants who, up to that moment, had been car rying on negotiations for the ransom of the captive child. And the death of these men brought to public view much of the information which the police at that time had in possession, but which had been kept as prvate as possible while the child-stealers were alive and within reach. The arrest of Westervelt, brother-in law and familiar friend of Mosher, for alleged complicity in the abduction, has resulted in bringing out on his trial most of the details of the crime, except those which lead directly to the final disposition of the child. These, as unraveled in the trial of Wes- tervelt, at Philadelphia, reveal the con- ception and execution of crime whose boldness and atrocity are uncofnmon, if not quite unprecedented, in this coun- try. It appears that after the child had been taken from Philadelphia, negoti
 ations were at once opened with the father by means of mysterious letters and advertisements in the newspapers. From these letters, now for the first time made public, we see that the kid
 nappers assumed bold position. It was intended to persuade the Ross fam lily that the abductors were band of tremendous fellows, whose plans were | and xuhnon was impregnable, whose machinery was vast and subtle, and whose vengeance was swift and sudden. Occasionally these dark threats verged on the bom- bastic grotesqueness of the Southern Kuklux, betraying some familiarity with that variety of reading known as "yel- low-covered literature" The letters were also designed to mislead the searchers as far as possible. There is no reason to suppose that Mosher would tell MT. Ross that the boy had been dis guised by cutting off his hair and put ting him into girls clothes, even if the transformation had been made. The fact that such story was told by the kid nappers would imply, to 8 shrewd de- tective, that nothing of the kind had been done. By going or sending about the country, the scoundrels succeeded further in mystifying the distracted friends of the stolen child. They were
 thus able to post letters at various diff ferent points, though it is noticeable that none of these baff1ing missives were mailed from any very distant post-ofice, as they might have been.
 The ransom demanded for the child
 was twenty thousand dollars. The child stealers intended to go into this busi- ness extensively. They were deter mined on large profits on their ventures.
 For some reason they made an error in their very first attempt. They believed that MT. Ross was rich man-one to whom ransom of twenty thousand dol lars for favorite child would be light
 sum. If MT. Ross had been as well able
 to pay the money as the conspirators thought he was, they would have speed fly received the cash, and it is quite likely that the business of kidnapping
 would have fourished for season. The
 unhappy father could not at once pro- cure the money demanded; meantime the delay alarmed the robbers, who as-
 cribed it to an attemptss to entrap them
 the whole country was excited over the
 monstrous crime, and the kidnappers
 drew further and further away from all
 the advances of parents, friends, and
 pursuers. This long delay made it dif6-
 cult, if not impossible, to conclude any
 arrangements with the robbers by which
 the stolen child should be restored.
 Mosher and his accomplice were wary.
 The friends of the child were dstrustful of the good faith of the abductors. Men who wantonly steal child and after ward trihe with parents agony, would , not stick at pocketing the ransom, anc 1, then keeping up 8 demand for more . money before performing their part O. an agreement which they had dictated It is by no means certain that they evel intended to return the child !; it is no
 even certain if he was alive when the , later negotiations were reached.
 As we have said, although nearly al the details are now laid bare, the where . abouts of the child, from the time of hi
 abduction until now, remains profound
 mystery. One witness testiies, witl
 positiveness and clearness, that she say
 Westervelt, who was Mosher's relativ
 and companion, with a child, July 7 1874, in Brooklyn street car. It is nov ! found that that child resembled the late 7 ly stolen Charley Ross that he appear | ed to be afraid of his custodian, crie' pitifully, and was sufficiently wretche, in his appearance to attract the attention of the witness, and made vivid mpres . sion on her memory. It is not ikel that Mosher and Douglass ever kept tn !; child near them long at any one time 'l They knew from Westervelt that the 'e were at least suspected of the crime 'l They were in communication with thos z who guarded the boy and they wer ,i careful to have it understood that thei {, arrest would at once be followed by tn \ A sacrifice of the little captive's life. The .s blundered into sudden death, and thei ' secret remained with them. It is nc reasonable to suppose that Westervel y whatever may have been his active gui in this matter, is in ignorance of the fat le of the stolen child. He undoubtedl 'r knows whether Charley Ross is dead ( ls ls alive. It is most likely that he could 'A if he chose, surrender the clews b 'o which the few remaining details of th "A infamous plot could be cleared up. Tn ', afflicted parents of the missing chilt II II suffering in their prolonged suspense a II agony beyond that of an ordinary b. IS reavement, have the sympathy of ever oe 0l generous nature. It is 8 matter for col 1 '1 graduation, however, that thousands al z homes are made more secure by the fai '' ure of an audacious attempt to establis - trade of ld-stealing.-NeWY Yo9
 Times.
 r. Mesmerizing a Fowl.
 ce An experiment. which it may anu 'n the boys to repeat has been describe