Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-12-27
AN ODD EXPERIENCE.
A Father Arrested for Kidnapping
 His Own Daughter.
How New York's Crack Detectives and Humanitarian Busy-Isodies Annoyed 8 Chicago Newspaper Man-A
 Night in Durance Vile.

Chicago newspaper man not long ago had very odd experience, says the Chicago Herald. The facts in the case arc of character to make withholding the name of the gentleman an advisable proceeding. He has a wife, but the cloud that will occasionally mar we'd ded lives shed it's gloom upon theirs, and the lady now makes her home in a small country town in New Jersey, while the gentleman earns living in Chicago with his pen, supplemented by an occa- sional streak of luck at poker. A child was born of this union, a girl, who is with her mother. She is now twelve years old, large for her age, bright, and with all the freedom and fearlessness of manner natural to ocountry-bred children. Five or six years had elapsed since the father had seen his daughter, and as business took him East not long ago he was seized with sudden desire to meet the girl. He therefore went to the New Jersey town, put up at a hotel and sent word to the mother that he would like to see his daughter. The little one came at once and was evidently much de- lighted with her papa. The man is still young, and ''dressed up'' with new clothes, silk hat and kid gl~ves, he was swell enough to make the young girl feel proud to be seen with him. The father was equally attracted by the bright face and manner of the child, and he felt he would like to take her to New York with him, where his business obliged him to go. The lite girl was of course wild to go. She made life burden for the mother until the latter gave her consent to the trip. All the necessary arrangements were made, and father and daughter were soon in the metropo- lis at a hotel. The morning after their arrival the father said he would be gone all day and told his daughter to amuse herself as best she could, but on no account to go far away from the hotel. The young miss was equal to the occasion. Every thing was new and strange, and she skipped from one part of the house to another, asking in- numerable questions, making friends with the maids, the bell boys, the ele- vator man and all the people she could find to talk to. She was child to at tract attention anywhere, aud her ap- pearance was so much older than her manner and speech that some people about the hotel who had seen the ''slick" looking man she came with did not guess they were father and daugh- ter, and suspicion that something was wrong began to grow. The proprietor of tho hotel and his wife questioned the little maid and became all the more convinced therc was something wrong. 1t seems that just at this time there had been good deal of Kidnapping going on about the country, and New York City was made a hiding place for tho stealers and the stolen. Some woman's society had been organ ized to look after such cases, and to this society word was sent of the suspicious affair. Two or three of the members came at once and had long talk with the girl. They asked where her home was and the girl told them She told them about her mother, but when speaking of her father she went into such raptures about his be- ing ''so nice'' that, as she acknowledged she had not seen him for good many years, the good women were firm in the belief that they were on the trail of sensation. They sent for a detective, and in the evening, when the father returned, he found his daughter in the parlor engaged in entertaining the ladies, and he also found himself con- fronted by an officer in plain clothes, who asked him to step out into the hall. Once there MT. Detective showed his badge of authority and told papa he was under arrest for Kidnapping. The fathers story was not believed, and much to his chagrin he was bundled off to a station. The father had plenty of influential friends in New York, but the hour had arrived when business men had gone home. He gave the names of several and search was be- gun for them. Some were not to be found at all and some lived miles away. The father was therefore held in .durance vile until after midnight before a satisfactory guarantee of his honesty and good character could be obtained There was no trouble after this. Father end daughter had a jolly visit together and the little girl was sorry to be taken back to her New Jersey home, but the father will never forget the time he was arrested for kidna ping his own child.