The Washington herald., 1907-03-08
Special to The Washington Herald

-+t'NN'ts- h' tt0 ~ ffc1-lli'Etul llElh4it
Dover, March $50 intense is the feel
ing over the disappearance of Horace
Marvin, jr.. the -year-old son of Dg,
Fl. n. Marvin, that to-day the legislature
OF the State departed from all precedents
and PASSED a special appropriation bill
providing for the appointment OF deJec-
tives by the governor to unravel the mys-
terry. The bill carries S2.000 Of the States
money 20 pay the sleuths. In a twinkling
the measure went through both houses by
unanimous vote and viii tomorrow Doe
signed by the governor.
Developments to-day all seem 20 point
10 the kidnapping of the child by bold
Togues. who fled by boat from the Marvin
farm. Important new witnesses were seen
and questioned by State Detective
Hawkins and his assistant, Detective Fin
ney.
One OF these witnesses Is Mrs. Charles
WoodaIl, wife Of fisherman, who lives
at Kits Hammock one mile from the
Marvin farm. II was on Monday last at
10 O'Clock in the morning that the boy
Horace dropped out of sight. II was the
preceding day, Sunday, that Mrs WoodaU
Witnessed ar incident now deemed all-im-
portant
L was walking on the beach Sunday
morning. said Mrs WcodaIl. to-day,
'and I happened TO glance at my hus-
bands deserted shanty on the beach Of
the Marvin farm. To my astonishment 1
saw two persons about the shanty I saw
them 90 into it and then come out again
and then go in and stay. / was lar away,
white beach and / could see them plainly.
One Looked like a woman.
WOodaH Not Near Shanty.
My husband was at the time calling at
the Marvin house, half a mile up marsh
road from the sharty. As soon as he
came home ! asked him ii he had been at
the shanty OF seen any one there He told
me he had not and / thought no more of
ii until after Dr. Maryin's little boy was
missing Now / know that the persons
/ saw were the kidnappers, and believe
one of them is woman
On Tu -sday. the day after the Marvin
boy was missed, the womans husband
Charles W0odaH, e. investigate his wife's
story. went TO the shanty. In fuH corro5-
Grafton of what the woman had said. he
found that the place had been broken
open and entered by some persons. Part
OF "a rufflc from "a wcmaus skirt was ora
the floor by the bunk in the shanty. The
cot had been tumbled and the clothing
disturbed as if the rude bed had been
slept in.
spent Night in Shanty.
Dr. Marvin said to-day that he thinks
the kidnappears spent Saturday night ia
this shanty on his land a half mile from
his house. remained at the shanty all
day Sunday and Sunday night. sHeaked
To the barn near the straw stack on
which little Horace was playing when last
seen. He believes stIu the kidnappeTs
were hidden in the loft of the barn while
the children were playing in the straw
Monday morning They watched through
the cracks and then ran off with the boy
when left alone by his little playmate.
1T seems to me plausible enough that
one Of the Hdnappers was a woman, per
haps dressed in mems clothing" said Dr.
Marvin.
Il think that any crook clever enough
To plot the stealing of my boy would
naturally seek q woman for q co-conspira-
tor knowing that a woman could best
care for So young a child
Witnesses interviewed.
This suggestion that one Of the kidnap-
pers may be- woman is the startling
development Of the day. To investigate
it your correspondent drove miles over
swamp road TO interview Ollie Pleasant
and the negro John and the boy Bob
Pleasant0n. who think they saw the
kidnappers on the beach a mile from the
Marvin farm some days before the boy
was missed.
1T was Thursday morning we saw the
two men, said Ollie PleaSantou. .and
now that you speak of it, I think the
younger may have been a woman I
thought at the time he had very
smooth face, and l took him to be not
over twenty-five.
These men We're seen on the beach
Thursday. four days before the kidnap-
ping, but Dr. Marvin, when at the Capital
Hotel here, talked of moving to his farm
on Thursday, the day the men were seen.
The family was delayed and did not get
TO the place until Sunday, the day before
the boy was stolen.
Myles Standish. who is married to the
sister Of Dr. Marvin's deceased wife ar
rived at Bay Meadows" the doctor $
farm at Kits Hammock, to-day. He
says he feels sure that the kidnapped
boy Was carried away 10y water, and to-
morrow he will lead a search to discover.
If possible, where the kidnappers' boat
was concealed. Search will be made i'm
Little Creek. three miles from the Mar
Win farm. and In other inIets
SIOOp Passed Up Delaware.
Private teIegrams from the marine re-
porter at Reedy Island received by Tel
ographer Friends here to-day state that
AT 3 o'clock Monday afternoon a small
cat-rigged sloop passed the island bound
UP the Delaware. The boat acted suspi-
ciously. the steersman apparently intent
on keeping away from the island report
Ing station. Much ice was coming down
tho channel. and man in the bow was
fighting It away with pike pole The
sloop was under sail. When nearest the
station the man in the bow went below,
as if fearful Of being seen. and the steers
man turned his back on the island.
II little Horace Marvin was on the
sioop at the time. he was kept in the
cabin.
Grandmother Dreams of Fidnappers.
a vision in her sleep of a heavy-set.
evii-lOOking man IN fsherman's garb, car