The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-02-24
FAMOUS KIDNAPPING CASE
Ex-MAYOR TRENTON TELLS WHAT
HE KNOWS OF ROSS
CASE
HOW THE YOUNG BOY DIED
Neglect, HOmestcLness and Disease
Finished Him Three Months After
Capture-SeIhshness of De-
tectives Was Fatal.

Ex-Mayor John Briest, of Trenton. N.
d. mas made statement of what he
knows about the kidnapping of Charley
ROSS He was brought into the case be-
cause 1t was believed at first that the
boy was hidden In or about Trenton. and.
the police wanted Mr.. Briest,s help in
searching for him. Most of his knowI-
edge Of the case came from the Phil
adelphia detectives. Mr.. Briest SAYS:
The secret as to who the kidnapera
were was confined to the heads of the
Philadelphia and New York police de-
partments, and both supposed that they
were on a boat plying either on the Della
ware and Raritan or the Pennsylvania
canal. the letters being posted from Tren-
ton, Bristol, New Brunswick and Newark
tending to confirm that theory
The detectives felt so certain that they
would have the kidnapers within a few
days, and receive the credit and reward,
that their identity was kept a close Sc
cret among themselves. Had the matter
been made as public as was the Cudahy
aHair at Omaha the criminal abductors
would have been arrested within a few
DAYS by the police officers Of Newark,
Jersey City or Bayonne Their theory
that the kidnapers were on a boat was
correct, but it was not the kind of boat
they were looking for, as 1t afterward
turned out
were the abductors. They had bean
peddlers and engaged in an oil and lamp
store In Philadelphia with a branch
store IN Trenton, in charge of other par
ues: The wagon was one that had been
used In the business They brought Char
ley from Germantown to Trenton over
the lower Delaware bridge, and through
Bridge street to Hamilton avenue and
across the state to a yacht they had
prepared for the purpose on RarItan bav.
Inc Inc detectives had the right parties, but
b Eney were H on on the wrong scent for the
Dy depositing their letters In the
Trenton postoffice and other cities near It.
~, Mosher and Douglas no doubt kept
Charley Ross on that boat while thew
sailed around Newark, Raritan. and
New York bays. and adjacent waters. up
the Hudson river on marauding expedi.
lions to maintain themselves. There ha
Stpy neighbors.
Charley Ross died not more than
three months after his capture from
neglect, inconsistencies and disease and
his little body was buried in the waters
OF Newark bay. The body of a bow about
MS size and age, dressed In clothes too
large for him, as if they had been pur-
chased at random, was found floating on
the bay, and turned over to the at-
thor1tIes OF Jersey City. Mr. Ross was
called over to see 1t, but he failed to
identity 1t as that of his lost child
whether 1t was the body Of the boy
whose tate had touched the hearts OF ;
millions Of mothers and fathers through
out the land [ am not prepared to saw.
But feel Just as certain that that was
the end or the unfortunate boy as I am
that he was kidnapped. They did not
mean to harm him, but only to hold him.
as Pat Grove did the Cudahy child until
they could get the ransom money in
their hands. and then he would have
been sent home or placed where he
could have reached there.
MISTAKES OF THE DETECTIVES.
William Mosher was a man of ability.
lie had children of his own whom he
loved, and for whom he had strfven hard
10 earn honest dollars, but poverty had
peen the lot of him and his, and his wife
SAID that they had always been poor. and
ne TOOK that means to get money to Sc
cure some Of the luXuries Of life that
others were enjoying, and which he COW
eted. He had no idea of doing harm Ia
the boy, but thought that he would be
ransomed within very short time
douglas was only weak man IN Mo-
Sners hands, and was under hus sublec.
tion The mistake of the detectives was
In the kind Of boat the kidnappers were
on, and In keeping within themselves the
names and descriptions of the abductors.
Full and general publicity at the start
would have resulted in their capture and
the restoration of the bow to hts Iovins,
and almost heartbroken parents.
On the night of Dec. ID, 1875 Mosher
and Douglas broke into the house of
Judge Van Brunt, at Bay Ridge j.. /.
and We're discovered. Mosher was shot
and killed. As Douglas lay on the grass
plot where he had been carried wounded
Ross He was urged to say more, being
assured that Mosher was dead, but he
would not believe It, and died before he
could again open his lips"