Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-08-24
k|DNAPERS OF
THE E|NCUBATOR
BABY ARE Held
AFTER CAPTURE OF WOMAN AND
\ ESCORT AND RETURN OF CHILD
1.-TWO STATES FIGHT FOR GUS
ToDY OF PRISONERS.

siaIs here have begun their cam
paignt to get possession ofgMrs.
Stella Barclay and John Gentry,
charged with the kidnapping of
Marian BIeakIey, the "incubator
baby" here. Saturday, and now un-
der arrest In Kansas City.
Sheriff Norton went to Jefferson
City with requisiton on Gov.
Hadley asking the return of the
two to Topeka to be tried on the
kidnapping charge. There Is some
doubt that the requisition will be
1onored, on account of the child
having been awarded to Mrs. Bar
clay by the Missouri courts. 1t is
possible Gov. Hadley may decide
TO await court action regarding
the custody of the child before al
lowing the prisoners to leave Mis-
souri.
In order to obtain possession of
the prisoners IL Missouri refuses
to give them up on the kidnapping
charge, Chief of Police Eaton has
secured warrants against Mrs.
Barclay and Gentry, accusing
them Of assault with intent to Kill.
This charge results from the at
tack on Clarence Belknap at the
BIeakiey home during the kidnap-
Ing. n e. h .Ig, &
Kansas City, Aug. 23.- Through the
successive use of a buggy, an automo
bile and a Burlington train Saturday
the kidnapers of little Marion Bleak
ley of Topeka, Kas., eluded the police
OF two states for over twelve hours
only to be captured by Kansas City
detectives at the end of their journey
n. N, Gentry of Kansas City and Mrs
James G.. Barclay, who has been called
the foster mother, were arrested al
11:S0~ D. m, on Burlington train
rs 1t was crossing the Hannibal
bridge. The twice kidnapped child
whose face was tearstained and travel
worn. was asleep in the arms of the
woman when the Topeka officers. rec
pgnized her.
Babe Has Stormy Career.
st. Louis, Aug. 23-Marion Bleakley
the Worlds Fair incubator baby, who
was stolen from home in Topeka, Kas.
Saturday, has had stormy career
She was born in hospital in st. Louis
and was placed in one of the incubat
prs shown at the exposition there
While here she was formally adopted
by Mrs. James G.. Barclay of Moline
Ill. Mrs. Bleakley signed a release, but
afterwards sued to recover the child
and was successful in the Illinois
courts. She took the little girl to Kan
sas and she was kidnapped from the
mother in Montgomery county, bu
later was recovered.
Bitter litigation over the possession
OF the child, extending over severa
years, grew out of the claim that the
two babies at the incubator exhibit OF
the "Pike" at st. Louis had beer
mixed. Two girl babies arrived at the
incubator at about the same time. Tht
name of one was given as Edith Stan
ley and the other as Emily Bleakley
One of the babies died. Mrs Char
lotte Bleakley of Lawrence, Kas., wa'
the mother of the Bleakley infant
born at a st. Louis hospital The chilt
was so small and weak that there wa
doubt whether she would live. She wal
placed in an incubator on the pike
In the hope Of saving her life.
r z ~ =
Believed Babies Switched.
Mrs. Bleakley was told that her bab.
had died. The child who survived wa
adopted by Mr.. and Mrs. James G
Barclay of Moline. Ill. Mrs Bleakle.
signed papers giving her consent a
mother. but says that she thought tn
signing away of a waif, the child o
Rnother woman, an accommodation.
She returned to her home in Kar
Bas, but conviction grew upon he
that the other child had died and tha
she had unintentionally given ava
her own child.
Mrs. Blealsley instituted habeas col
pus proceedings, andsb long, bite
struggle ensued In .9Ae courts, whic
finally plunged the higher courts G
the two states into conflict. On tn
Bame evidence the Illinois court
decided one way and the Kansa
courts another. The Illinois COURTS sal
the Barclays were entitled to the chile
The Kansas courts awarded the chill
tc Mrs. Bleakley.
President Hill Sleeps In Hay.