Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1884-07-31

'sThe theory proved false. On July
we advertised for him with reward,
and the next day we received an anony-
nous letter in disguised writing, the
first of series of twenty-three, which
said the child was safe, but that no living
power could discover him, and his father
would have to pay "a big cent = to get
him back. The next letter demanded
ransom of $40, 900. from which sum the
kidnapers never abated jot, with the
alternative of putting the child to
death.n
1t is impossible in letter to describe
the methods used for the recovery of the
child and the capture of his jailers, who
demanded that the money should be paid
in advance of the return of the boy.
While negotiations were pending 20, 900
photographs of little Charlie were dis
tributed throughout the land, and tons
ofposters. hand-bills and Autographs sown
broadcast. The citizens of Philadelphia
offered a reward Of $40, 900 for the kid
nappers, of which reward the police vol
unteered to claim no part, and other
large sums were offered from public and
private sources, while the pressure put
on Mr.. Ross not to jeopardize the safety
Of every child in the land by paying the
ransom was tremendous
The police force and detective bureaus
of the whole country engaged in the
search, and in Pennsylvania, New York
and New Jersey every river boat and
sloop, every outhouse, stable. place Of i'll
repute, every hotel and lodging house,
tramp quarter. burglars haunt, barn,
mill, ferry and deserted hut, was searched,
and every building, private and public,
in Philadelphia gone through. Thepost-
Office and all the ietter-boxes were
watched; detectives watched every train
that left or entered the city In fact,
human ingenuity wore itself threadbare
in attempts to recover the stolen boy.
Fraud, too, found festival in this
new form of domestic calamity, and Mr..
Ross received thousands of letters from
spiritualists, clairvoyants and mediums.
From blackmailers of all sorts, including
convicts in Jail and murderers awaiting
their doom, protesting knowledge of the
abductors.
Then came host of these vile crea-
tions called anonymous letters, always
the work, as Superintendent Walling
says, "of creatures who have all the
willingness but not the courage to com
NIT murdern These letters were to the
police, suggesting that Mr.. Ross stole hi
own child; that if his fine garden were
dug up its bones would be discovered:
that tic child was not Mrs. Ross's, etc.
One newspaper boldly printed an article
embodying these suggestions, was sued
for libel, severely reprimanded by the
court and obliged to pay heavy DANA
ges.
The uproar the country was in over
this case, and the way man, woman and
child turned detective thoroughly alarmed
the kidnappers, and they deserted plan
after plan proposed to Mr.. Ross for the
exchange, SO afraid were they of being
entrapped. In the history of civilization
there has never been crime like this,
nor one that as thoroughly bafied the
detectives.
One plan proposed to the abductors,
and which involved almost fatal conse-
quences to Mr.. Ross, was that he should
put the money in a valise, start from
Philadelphia at night, go on to New
York and thence to Albany, riding the
entire distance on the platform of the
rear car, and the instant he saw torch
held by man waving handkerchief he
was to throw the valise on the track,
with the warning that if the train was
stopped the child's throat would be cut.
Mr.. Ross went through this frightful
ordeal standing on his feet the entire
distance, every nerve on an intense
strain, with the fear of missing the signal
which was looked for in vain. His own
description of this heart-rending journey
is thrilling, but, coming after months Of
mental agony and over-fatigue, it termin-
ated in severe illness, which decided
his wife and family to run the risk of
paying the ransom in advance, on the
faint hope that the boy would be re
turned; but though all their directions
were followed, the child thieves, on
whose track the police now were, failed
to appear, and silent lull ensued for
several weeks.
Then the public were electrified at
hearing that two burglars had been
killed while robbing house on Bay
Ridge; that one, Mosher, died instantly,
and his comrade, Douglass, lived long
enough to confess the stealing of Charlie
Ross, and to solemnly swear that no
one but the dead man knew his where
abouts, and SO it is to-day that the fate
of that little sunny faced, golden-haired
boy is still wrapped in dark mystery.
The safety of millions of children has
been purchased, it seems too sadly true,
by the life Of one. though the parents of
that one still fondIy cling to the hope
that their son will some day appear
among them.
Said Mr.. Ross: ''The hue and cry that
rang through this great republic strangIed
this species of crime in its birth. No
one dreamed before what a hold child