The Washington herald., 1907-03-13
DRAG BAY MEADOWS
DR.. MarVin's Farm Searched
by Many Volunteers.
NO CLEW YET TO MISSING BOY
Detective Chief scouts Theory That
Child Was kidnapped, but Claims
1t Was Drowned in Marshes or
TumbIed Into Some WeIi-Many
Letters Received from CranEs.
SPECIAL to Tho Washington Horald.

Special 20 The Washington Herald
Dover. Del. March l2-Dr H. y. Mar
vim. father of the strangely missing four
year-old eAld. Horace n. Marvin jr.. who
disappeared eight days ago at the Marvin
farm, Bay Meadows said tonight thai
he is still as much in the dark as he was
the day of the disappearance.
Despite all the yarns / see in the pa
pers, said the doctor, sadly, "the truth
is that ] have no news of my boy. / don't
know whether ne has been kidnapped or
lost in a marsh. and / don't know whether
he is dead OF alive
Thousands of letters from cranks. detec-
tiyes. and persons who think they have
seen the boy have reached the doctor. but
at least one is taken seriously. This is the
communication forwarded to the State
officials by Charles Tannebaum. a mem
ber of the Sheldon Detective Agency In
this letter the head of the detective
agency admits having received from the
kidnappers of the Marvin child a letter
asking Tannebaum 10 become an interme-
diary and TO bring the reward demanded
TO the Canadian border. where the boy
would be turned over 10 him mharmed
Doubts kidnapping Theory.
In view of the lack of clothes Super
iutcndent Damato, of the Pinkertons. in
sists that The child has not been kid
mapped. but has been drowned in the
marshes or tumbled into some well or
cistern.
So many men volunteered 70 help tear
down the straw stack that the search
went forward much more rapidly than
expected. All the water in the well nsar
tho old barn was pumped out and the
muck at the bottom was gaked over and
thoroughly dragged. Ii is hoped to finish
the work on the stack by noon to-m~i-
row. Statements have been obtained
from each Of the men who were about
the barn on the Marvin farm on Monday,
March 4, shortly before the boy was
missed
1T is utterly ridiculous for the Marvins
TO say that little Horace might have been
put head first into sack and carried
away on the wagons. slid Horace Cald-
Well who was employed around the straw
stack tO-days Il was one of the men who
got the screenings mt the old barn. not
thirty feet from the straw stack where
the children were playing. When We
finished loading and started away from
the barn the little girl Rose and the hoy
John had gone into the house. Horace
was playing alone ON the straw No one
was with me az that time but Frank But
Ter. We did not either Of US, go upstairs
in the barn. ard. OF course. we do not
know whether or not any one was hiding
there.
Happened in Three Minutes.
To show how quickly it al must have
happened. 7 want 90 tell YOU something.
We drove with our load of screenings
less than 2o1 yards to the new c1rnN Nribs.
where WoodaI and Harry Virdin were
loading corn. We got of and helped them
finish loading just as we got the wagon
loaded, saw Rose and John coming out
Of the house go so back to the straw
stack. When the two children got TO the
stack the boy Horace was gone. I don't
believe il could have been three minutes
from the time I saw the boy playing alone
until the children must have reached the
straw stack 10 dHd MIN missing
Frank Butler was the one man with
Caldwell at the old barn. He has been
at the Marvin place helping In tie search
for the boy repeatedly since
Il saw the two children go To-. tho
house, said Builder to-day The little
boy was not near us any time He got on,
Of sight so quickly that I am sure ne was
carried Jwag"
An experiment was made to-day to de-
termine how long it would take stranger
to walk through the marsh from the straw
stack on the Marvin farm to the beach.
He took am hour and ten minutes. The
water most of the way was over a foot
deep. not an easy course for a llidnapper