The Washington times., 1906-02-21
CHILD |NNOCENTt
KIDNAPS IFANT
Mixed Coupons { Store
Causes TPOple.
MOTHERS INHYSTERlCS
Boy and Girl in PambulatOr Finally
Exchanged Aff Police Alarm
Is Set Out.
MOTHERS INHYSTERICS

NEW YORK. rb. I.-When a genius
originated the scheme Of attracting
notbers ont ford days shopping to his
store nv offerig TO check their babies
and babv caryages, the funny men at
once got busvnventing imaginary COM
plications.
In the higHst flights Of their humor.
however, thu did not strike on ANYTHING
better thanhappened when Mrs. Annie
Ross trun.ed her boy, William John.
five montk old, in a pretty perambu-
lator to L department store at VIII
loughby venue and Broadway. Brook
lyn, an6after checking baby and car
rage, 'andered about the place in
search # bargains
Duplicate Perambulator,
Ten minutes after Mrs. Ross had left
her fecious burden in care Of the at
tendAt, Mrs. Mary NJ. Johnson entered
the core She also had a perambulator,
an ixact duplicate Of the one left by
Mn Ross IN which reposed Irene John
Sol four months old Mrs. Johnson's
daughter Florence, eight years old. also
vas with her mother, and after check
jig the baby, mother and daughter wan
Tered about the store.
Florence. however. got tired of push
ing her way through the crowd of shop
pers, and the genial fates saw at once
that here was a rare chance for a
hearty laugh. The fates made the best
of their opportunity, and when Florence
left her mother she determined to trun-
die home her little sister.
stepping up To the attendant who had
checked the carriage, she handed him
the check and in return received the
"a in frh h. 81 l..
Ross boy. Without looking at the occu-
pant Of the carriage. she FASTENED out
or the store, happy and smiling,
The First Row.
The first row came when Mrs. Ross
decided to go home and looked for her
baby, The attendant could not find the
perambulator which bore the duplicate
Of her check. so he invited her to look
through the long line of baby guests.
TIE mother. however, could not find her
baby. and became hystericaI. The heads
Of the store had a difficult time calming
her and finally she was taken to the po-
lice station. where she reported her loss
A general alarm was sent out for the
missing baby. while the mother waited
anxiously at home for some word from
the police.
When Mrs. Johnson applied for her
baby she found a mix-up in the checks,
but seeing her little one asleep in its
carriage identified the baby and took
il home. She knew Florence had left
the store an hour before, and when she
did not find her daughter at home Mrs.
Johnson became alarmed. She waited
three long hours for Florence. and
when the girl did not appear in that
time the mother rushed eXCitedly into
the police station where the loss Of
the baby had been reported and asked
that a general alarm be sent out for
her daughter
Kept Policemen Busy.
For several hours the police looked
for Florence and the missing baby 1t
was after o'clock when a policeman
found little girl with a baby carriage
crying outside of the gate of Evergreen
Cemetery. He took both TO the Ham
burg avenue police station. where the
sergeant recognized both Florence and
the baby as the persons for whom he
had received alarms from Police Head
quarters.
Mrs. Ross and Mrs. Johnson were
asked to visit the police station, where
each clasped her missing one in an
affectionate embrace Florence ex-
planned what had happened and the
shock she received when she saw she
had kidnapped someone else's baby. She
became so frightened she was afraid 10
go home