Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-01-28
of crimes by some Of the unscrupu

of crimes by some of the unscrupu-
lous papers, brought a libel suit
against the Reading Eag/e, one of
the principle offending journals, and
obtained $1,000 damages. The po-
lice, however, when tracking the
thieves who had been betrayed, had
to bear in silence all the charges of
inetficiency and corruption brought
against them. And they kept at work,
tracing the abductors up the Hudson
and among the islands up the Sound;
and, though they did not absolutely
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 RIEGE.
The circumstances attending the
famous burglars assault upon the
Van Brunt mansion at Bay Ridge, l..
l., arc familiar to the public. The
courage and prompt action of Albert
Van Brunt on the night OF the 18th
of December, 1874, brought to de-
served punishment two of the men
concerned in the Ross abduction
Mosier, whom the vigilance of the
police had compelled to a life of most
abject poverty, was shot dead. The
other burglar was suffering from a
terrible wound in the abdomen, but
he said to one of the men who came
to bring him water, that his name
was Joseph Douglas, and disclosed
his companions connection with the
Ross affair. He added: ats no use
lying now; helped to steal Charley
Ross" When he was pressed to give
further particulars, and told that
Mosier was dead, he said that Super
intendent Walling knew Of the affair.
He suffered so intensely from his
wounds that nothing further could be
obtained from him, and at 5 o'clock
in the morning after the attempted
burglary, he died. In the meantime
the news of the death of the abduc-
tors Of Charley Ross was spread far
and near. The lad Walter was brought
to see the bodies, in company with
the gardener, who recoll cted seeing
the thieves before the abduction
Douglas was recognized the moment
Walter saw him. 80, that's awful
like him; he's the driver" he said,
meaning, of course, the driver of the
buggy. Mosier was recognized with
more difficulty, on account of being
without the heavy beard which he
wore at the time of the abduction,
but he was finally identified by Wal
ter Ross as the man who had invited
them to ride on that July day SO long
before.
THE SEARCH FOR CHARLEY ROSS Be
GUN ANEw-FRUITLESS EFFORTS
THE ARREST AND CONVICTION OF
WEsTERyELr.
! But Charley Ross was not to be
found as easily as his captors were
recognized. All the intimates OF
Mosicr and Clark were hunted up
An Irish woman, who was Il friend of
the Mosicrs, was visited, but she
cleared up all the suspicious circnm-
stances which induced the detectives
to believe in her completely with the
abduction. Two of Mosier's asso
ciates were found in Baltimore; and
| oc,o, /, ,t,;,t oy,n,ino+;o, f,up,1 +o
know nothing about the Kidnapping
1t was evident that Moiser had never
contided the secret "a Charley Ross
hiding place to any one, not even to
his wife. The authorities were all at
sea, and could do nothing except to
make it for the interests of those with
whom Charley Ross had been placed
to restore him. The abductors had
met with their just punishment
though not at the hands of the law;
and the interests of the parents be
came paramount. But though re
wards were offered for tho return oi
the boy, and "no questions" the
search for accomplices in the crime
was not abandoned. The offer Of re-
ward did not prove sufficient to bring
the boy back to his home, although
it was made in good faith. But, as
the telegraph dispatches have shown
from time to time, man certainly
concerned in the secretion of Charley
Ross has been brought to Justice
Westervelt, after long trial, has
been sent to the State Prison for sew
en- years on charge of completely in
the abduction. He has since pre-
served great reticence, and it i:
morally certain that he knows much
more OF the affair than the tria
brought to light.