, 1889-04-06
MOTIVES OF KIDNAPERS.
WHY CHILDREN ARE so OFTEN
STOLEN FROM THEIR HOMES.

People AFFLICTED with n Mental DeranEe-
ment which Prompts Them to the Com
mission of tho Crims-Celebrated Cases,
Including That of Charley Ross.
Why are children stolen? Not many
of them are kidnapped in the hope of pc
cuniary reward. Cases of this sort, such
as the Charley Ross abduction, are rare.
Revenge may be the motive in exception
al instances, but usually it turns out that
the parents of the stolen child were ut
terly unknown to the abductors. That
the Incentive is a pure love for children
and the desire to have a child is dis
proved by the fact that nine times in ten
the stolen one is wofully abused and
maltreated. Probably the most s~atisfac-
tory explanation is that certain people
are affected by n peculiar mental de
rangement which prompts them TO the
commission of the crime without malice
aforethought. 1t is, in fact, child KEEP
tomania, although this peculiar phase
of mania has not been dignifed with a
scientific name of its own In the book.
NOT OFTEN FOR LOVE.
Even this theory falls short when we
think of the numerous cases in which,
without apparent motive, two or three
persons unite to do the stealing. They
cannot each be afflicted simultaneously
TO such an extent.
Tha n child stolen by n partially insane
person should be inhumanly treated is no
cause for wonder; it naturally follows
that any one with so distorted q sense of
right and wrong, necessarily without a
moiety of love or feeling, would not be
capable of tenderness or even considera-
ton.
In 1916 n child named Lambert was
stolen from her parents in Baltimore by
a young woman, apparently sane, purely
because she wanted it to keep. She was
arrested n few days later, and the child
was found mangled and bleeding, and
almost dead. The evidence showed that
the child had been maltreated because
it wouldn't walk fast enough"
of course, there are many cases when
the abduction is due to abnormal love
and yearning, pure and simple. A well
known judge the other day said: Last
summer / sent my family TO England.
My little girl, 4 years old, being too
young to stand the trip, was placed in
the care of a friend of mine, whose
family consists of n wife and one child.
When the folks came back in the autumn
/ went to get the child, but do you think
he was willing to give her uP1 Not much.
He said: I've had this child six months
now, and i don't propose to part with
her. You have n large family, and can
just as well spare that little girl as not.
Now, If you go to law about it and re-
cover the child, rs / suppose you can, 1
shall regard you as unworthy of respect
and will never speak to you as long as /
i've This from a friend of years stand
ingl He was in earnest, too. / ulti-
mately got the child, but my friend and
! are strangers yet"
o YET FORGOTTEN.
Any mention of child stealing always
recalls the Charley Ross case. So cele-
brated was the affair that now, sixteen
years after, it has not to a great degree
AIDED out of the popular mind, though
perhaps the details have.
Christian X. Ross lived in n handsome
dwelling, isolated by a large yard. in
Germantown, a Philadelphia suburb.
One July afternoon all of the family hap
pened to be absent save two young broth
ers, aged 4 and 8 years. They wero play
ing together in the front street when two
men drove up in n covered wagon. One
of the men jumped out and addressed
the little boys, offered them candy, and
finally pursuaded them to take a ride.
After driving n short distance the elder
brother was given some money and sent
on an Grand for more candy. He re-
turned in d few minutes, but the wagon
had disappeared, and Charley Ross has
not been seen to this day. The crime was
committed to eNtort a ransom for the re-
turn Of the child, but the abductors' fear
of capture was so great that no agree
ment between them and the father wns
ever successfully carried out. The search
for the missing child was pursued I'M
Ceasingly and thoroughly. Prominent
Philadelphians interested themselves In
the matter, and seemingly no stone was
left unturned. Countless trips were made
to Europe, every gypsy camp in the world
was searched; the identity of over 400
children was investigated, but without
avail. Two men were fatally shot while
committing a burglary on Long Island
the following year, and while dying con-
fessed that they had stolen the child, but
did not diyulge its whereabouts.
A third conspirator was subsequently
convicted Of completely and sentenced to
long term III PRISON, protesting his In
nocence and denying all knowledge of
the affair. 1t is the popular theory that
the abductors, at last finding themselves
close pressed, murdered the child. Mr..
Ross is living down at Germantown, a
worn out, heart broken old man, but still
hoping o. that some day, somehow, the
little fellow will come back-little no
longer, but to his loving memory the
same sunny faced, golden haired boy of
sixteen years ago.
Three years before the disappearance
of the Ross boy Freddie Leib, a pretty
little child of 5 years, was stolen in about
the same manner at Quincy, Ills. He was
never recovered, although the father i'm
poverished himself In the search.
One of the most mysterious cases of re-
cent years was the stealing of Lille Shaft
ner, a ~1i-months-old baby, in this city
about five years ago. The family lived