Evening journal., 1895-02-23
THE GOULD KIDNAPERS
A Gang Has Been After the
Family Since 1876.
FOUR PLOTS HAVE BEEN LAID.


Seen In Lakewood, n. j., Were the last
Of the III Starred short Gang.
NEw YORK, Feb. 2s.-Detective NJ f.
Leech, we'll known and most successful
desperado hunter Of the west, is staying
at the Astor House lie has been laid up
for over year suffering from injuries re-
ceived in railroad accident. In talking
about the recent supposed attempt to kid
nap little Kingdom Gould, he said yester-
day to a reporter:
IL the woman in Lakewood actually
saw two such men as she describes plot
ting about the Gould children, / expect to
find that the survivors Of the old Luke
Short gang-frank Howard and Frank
Mcl<inney-hnye come back to carry out
u scheme that has been in their heads for
years. / don't know how many times
they haye attempted to kidnap Gould,
but / have learned at various times Of four
attempts
In 1879 / was in the employ Of the
Union Pacific railroad rs a detective with
headquarters az Ogallala Neb. We had
good deal Of trouble in those days with
train robbers, road agents, who held up
stage coaches. and horse and cattle thieves
! think it was In July, 1876, that Jay
TO inspect the cattle of Keith a. Barton
With him was Sydney Dillon, Guy G. Bar
ton NJ G. Keith and Superintendent J.
4. Clark Of the Union Pacific Mr.. CLARK
can curroborate my statement
Tried TO Capture Jay Gould.
About an hour before the Gould train
arrived l was informed by little fellow
named Frenehy, who stood in with the
toughs, that a band Of mon had organized
for the purpose Of kidnapping Jay Gould
on his arrival. In the gang were George
Cnndall, who acted as leader; Luke
Short, William Phoebus, William Harris,
alias Missouri Bill, and Sam Brown.
/ got together posse and locked the
gang up and kept them locked up till aft
or Mr.. Gould left. He wns in Ogallala
about four hours At tho request OF SUI
pcrintendent Clark we kept the matter
quiet, as he was afraid II Gould heard of
it he would be backward about continuing
his journey.
"1he gang went Go my house in Ogalla-
Ia about three weeks after that. They had
threatened TO kill me. l was away, but
they got my old father and mother out OF
bed and made my father dance for them
while they shot all around his feet.
Two years later ! met Crandall In
Fort Fetterman, wv. face to face in tho
street We both fired at about the same
time He shot me through the left hand,
and ! shot him through the left lung.
He was in the hospital for awhile and
then we took him down TO Cheyenne for
trial. He caught cold on the way and
died before his trial came of.
Gould came to Georgetown, Colo, in
4 August, 1881, with Mrs. Gould, the little
/ girl and two boys, both little fellows then
4 The scheme was TO capture one or moro OF
the children ana run them Off into the
mines at Middle Park, about 20 miles to
the west
II happened TO be in Georgetown the
day before the Gould party arrived and
saw Short They concluded that / know
their game and was prepared for them,
and they got out.
= got information Of the details after
ward from Frank Howard, whom sus-
1 poet 70 be one Of the mon recently seen at
! Lakewood. He Is n no good fellow, who
would stick to his friends when there was
any money In it and botray thom as soon
as he saw ID was to his advantage
fThe third attempt on the Goulds was
IN the summer Of 1899, only few months
before Jay Gould died. He was up in the
Wood river country, in Idaho. month or
six weeks for his health. He had the two
girls with him and Howard Gould, and 1
think a younger son was there George
Gould came up, but only staid for few
days.
IS IT, H. Clark, the president Of the
Union Pacific, started in his private car to
visit Gould, and / being on my way to
Boise City he invited me to ride with him.
The Plot Of 1892.
In the third gang Luke Short again
appeared as leader Frank Howard was
his first lieutenant, and tho third man,
have always believed from his description,
was Frank Mckinney, whom I now sus-
pcct Go be with Howard in this vicinity.
I never had Mckinney positively identi-
fed, but his description was well known
through the west as he was wanted for
/ various crimes
My presence with President Clark in
his car again led the gang to believe that
| their game was blocked, as learned after
ward from Frank Howard in Boise City.
/ came east in the summer Of 1898.
\ took my boy down TO Coney Island to SEQ
the sights and / was greatly surprised
Il when on the iron pier / saw Short, How
ard and this man whom think is Frank
Mckinney.
II didn't want any trouble on account
Of my boy being with me, and tried to
keep out Of sight. Howard saw me, and
as soon as he could get away from his
friends he joined me and told me he had
something to tell me l told him was
stopping at the Astor House. and later he
called TO see me.
He told me he was in with the others
to kidnap one Of the Gould children, and
that they had been laying for them up in
the Catskills, but that the family had left
there and come down to New York, and
that he and his companions had about de-
SPARED Of carrying out the scheme.
He wanted me to go to George Gould
with a proposition that he would for S.
900 betIay his pals into the hands Of the
police. He was TO leave the country with
the money as soon as his pals were arrest
ed. / declined Of course and warned him
to drop the business.
No Extra Session Probable.