Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-19

and the boy arrived at the city hall great
crowd had gathered. Kean. white with
fear. trembled SO that he could scarcely
walk. and begged the detectives not to let
them kill him.
With the boy he was taken into Mayor
Weavers Office, and the mayor immedi-
ately communicated by telephone with Mr..
Muth. who fastened to the mayors office
and the meeting between father and child
was most affecting When his father had
ceased to hug and caress him Freddie drew
several small coins from his pocket ana
showed them to Mr.. Muth, Saying In his
childish way that the man had given them
to him
The child bore no evidence of ill-treat-
ment beyond lack of sufficient nourish-
ment. He had been fed on bread and milk
which Kean had stolen from doorsteps
When found he held a couple of crusts OF
bread In his hands and his school book was
under his arm. He had not been washed
since his abduction, and his face was
smudged, while his jacket was much soiled
from sleeping on the dirty floor of the
house. Kean never left him alone until he
was asleep.
Appearance of the Abductor.
The abductor. as he sat to be photo
graphed, was the picture of misery He Is
about five feet ten inches in height and
very thin. His clothing was greatly worn
and his coliarless shirt was filthy He had
cut Off short imperial with pair of seis-
sors. but he had not been shaved since he
disappeared. He shrank from the gaze or
the detectives and newspaper men, and
when making his statement to Superintend
ent of Police Taylor he broke down anu
sobbed. He seemed to be in mortal fear
that some one intended doing him personal
injury and pleaded for protection.
Not since the abduction of Charlie Ross
has Philadelphia been so wrought up by the
commission of a criminal act The newspa-
pers, In order to aid the police In tracing
the ktdDanpr COmnpiled to publish
misleading stories for the purpose of throw
ing kean off his guard In the letters which
the kidnaper wrote to Mr.. Muth he threat
ened to kill the boy IL his demands were
not met He demanded that Mr.. Muth tell
the police a fictitious tale about the dis
appearance of his son. In order that the de-
tectives might be withdrawn His letters
were answered by Capt Donaghy through
the personal columns of the newspapers
and apparently all of his demands were
granted. The reward of 81 600 offered by
the father of the boy was accepted by
Kean. and as a test he sent letter TO Mr..
Muth requesting him to send $500 to GER
tain address, the remainder to be paid
later.
Another letter commanded Mr.. Muth to
place the money in the engine shed of an
engineering operation in the center of the
city. The police were on hand to arrest
Kean IL he should appear. but the letter
was received late that when the police
arrived at the point Kean, IL he had been
ter to send the boy to his aunt, Mrs. Beck
err, at New Brunswick IL the money was
forthcoming.
Reason for the Abduction.
Kean told the police In his statement that
he abducted the boy primarily to secure the
500 he had embezzled from Charles J.
Cooke. In addition, he said, he is in debt,
with no means of providing for his family.
He said he never intended to harm the boy
and declared the statements he made in his
letters to Mr.. Muth that the child was be-
ing dosed with whisky were untrue. He
kept Freddie quiet by giving him candy and
pennies, he said.
Previous to kidnapping the Muth child he
had attempted unsuccessrulIy TO abduct
Louis Kolasky. a siX-year-old boy, whose
parents he believed were well-to-do.
Keans parents live at 967 Park avenue,
New York. 1t developed after Kean's ar
rest that he had stolen $4,000 from the
Harlem Bank. New York, when he was a
bookkeeper in 1894 He admitted the theft
A brother of Kean said last night: John
was the black sheep of the family He has
not been In the family for fourteen years
and we know nothing of him. He has
broken his mothers heart. and we are not
going to help him out or have anything to
do with him.