Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1877-06-23
Acur,..s Case Of CAill.aba.etIs,.

| detective, arrived here yesterday TO take
charge of Mamie Masterson, the little
girl who was stolen from her parents
and brought to this city by profess
sional beggar woman named Fannie
Brown.
The case has no inner history. and is
very simple. Fannie Brown was an old
Philadelphia vagrant, who figured fire.
quently in the police courts there, and
was nearly always on the street. She
became so well known, however. that it
was matter of difficulty to secure a
living by the means To which she pre-
ferred to resort, and so she determined
TO emigrate She was keen enough to
know that she could best reach the SYM
pathies of the people, by having with
her bright little child, and hence be-
fore leaving that city She took a look
around town for something which would
serve her purpose. Visiting a school
house, as a place best calculated to fur
nish what she wanted. she met little
Mamie Masterson, pretty, bright-eyed,
intelligent child, aged g years, who was
on her way to her home at No. ll6 Wal
nut Street The old bag took the child
by the hand, and partly by force and
partly by false pretenses, got her to
railway station, and they came West.
This happened on April IL. Mamie's
father is liquor dealer in quite humble
circumstances, and his loss did not Gre
ate as much of sensation as it might
if he occupied a position of ailluence
Nevertheless, the Charlie Ross mystery
had lent an unusual interest to all cases
of child-stealing for Philadelphia, and
there was deal of Indignation
The police, chagrined at their total
failure in tracing Charley Ross, entered
upon this case with determination to
hunt down the guilty parties if it lay
within the possibilities. Ii was soon
found that the old vagrant had disap-
peared, and it was not long before her
disappearance was connected with that
of the child. Officers visited several
places in New JERSEY where relatives of
hers reside, but could get no trace of
her. Circulars describing the child
were printed, but the statement made
by Philadelphia paper that some of
them were sent to St Louis is incorrect.
rs none ever reached here. Detective
Umstead explains that the department
had no idea the woman would come this
far West, and hence sent no circulars
beyond Chicago. Had the circulars ar
rived here the capture would have been
made nearly three weeks ago, for De-
tective Huthsing met the woman and
child in one of our stores about that
time and fatty told the woman that the
child was not her own, but had no
ground on which TO take her in.
The child has been begging from door
to door here. under direction of the old
woman, for several weeks. On Tues
day last OificerDun saw the child max
inc her rounds, and saw the woman
standing at a distance watching her
The contrast between the brutalized
woman and the handsome little girl
struck him, and he accosted the little
one. A talk with the woman then con-
WINGED him that there was something
wrong il the ease. for the latter first
said the child belonged to her sister and
then To her sister-in-law When the
woman saw she was in trouble she COM
menced in brutal manner TO beat the
little girl for talking to the officer, and
ii was evident that cruelty was the rule
with her. The child was taken to the
Four Courts, where she gave the name
of Mamie Masterson, said that she lived
in the city where the big Centennial
show was, that she had gone to a school
near Shipper Market, and that the
woman met her on the street and took
her away This was revelation, and
the telegraph soon proved the truth of
the little ones statements. The joy of |
the father who had given his little one
up for lost need not be described here.
There was no mother, however, whom
the news might gladden., for Mamie's |
mother died when the little girl was only |
nine months Fold.