Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1909-03-25
THE RETURN OF
WILLIE WH|TLA
THE MISSING BOY RETURNED To
HIS FATHER WAITING IN
CLEVELAND.
HE HAD PAID THE REWARD
The story Of the Lads Captivity and
the Deal Made With a Woman for
Hls Safe Return.

tho Deal Maoe WIN woman Tor
He Safe Return.
The whole country was aroused and
every effort made TO recover Willie
Whitla, stolen from his parents In
Sharon, Pa, last week and held for
ransom by the abductors. All efforts
of detectives in various cities failed to
locate the boy or secure clues to the
captors. Letters came TO the dis
tracted parents, offering to return the
boy for $4,000. Then 1t was arranged
that the father was 10 put the money
in a specified place in a park in Ash
tabula, Ohio, and the boy would be
returned, but the police watched the
park and frustrated the plan. The dis
tracted parents announced that they
would pay the ransom and would not
prosecute the abductors. No result
was reached till Monday night, when
the father received his boy, having
made the deal and the abductors were
not apprehended. The overjoyed par
.ent refused to disclose most of the
details, but It is said that he received
word in Sharon Sunday after a fruit
less trip to Ashtabula that he could
get his son in Cleveland II he fulfilled
certain promises and conditions. One
Of these was that he or his repre-
sentatives should visit certain drug
store in Cleveland, meet a representa-
tive of the abductors, pay over the
money and the boy would then be re-
turned TO him at the hotel.
Mr.. Whitla went to Cleveland to de
liver the ransom money as directed
ho Of do raft inc
his boy. Shortly after s o'clock a
Payne avenue oar stopped in front of
the hotel, the conductor jumped off
with the boy in his arms. called a po-
liceman and said This is Billy
Whitla Take him TO his father at
the Hollenden hotel" Then he Jump
ed back on his car and started away
without any further explanation.
The policeman took the boy to Mr.
Whitla as directed.
The reunion of father and son was
accomplished by needing letter re-
ceived in Sharon Monday In this let
ter the kidnapers wrote:
"A mistake was made at Ashtabula
Saturday night. You come 10 Cleve-
land on the Erie train leaving Youngs-
town at 11:10 a. m. Leave the train
at Wilson avenue. Take a car to
Wilson and st. Clair At Dunbar's
drug store you will find letter ad-
dressed to William Williams We will
not write you again on this matter
II you attempt to catch us you will
never see your son again"
Following the instructions, Whitla
had paid the $4,000 ransom in con-
fectionery store in East Fifty-third
street to which he had been directed
at the drug store, in the letter re-
ceived there. In the candy store he
met a woman. He asked only one
question.
rs the boy well?"
He's all right" replied the woman.
Then the money passed.
Go to the Hollenden and register
as William Williams" said the woman.
go to parlor n and wait there for a
message. The boy is in Sharon. near
your home
That this was transformation later
developments show. but Whitla follow.
ed instructions.
The Boys Story.
Whitla received the newspaper men
later. Willie told his story as best he
]
every way, but ii was romantic from
his childish lips. He could not re-
member every place he had been, but
/ he gave an idea of his travels so that
| il will be possible for the police to
cover a part of the trail made by the
kidnapers.
Papa said the boy in a tone of
childish prattle, 81 have been buggy
riding, been on cars and in a nice big
white house that looked like a hos
pital. | have been treated nice and
had lots of good things to eat.
"One man, tall and with a black
mustache, came TO the school house
Thursday and told my teacher, Mrs.
! Anna Lewis, that YOU wanted me at
/ your office. ! went out TO a buggy
with him. | got in and then he got in.
Then we rode away. On the way
down town he asked me TO address
letter to you. | did this and then
dropped il into a mail box. He was
awfully kind.
1--WE went from Sharon to Warren.
We had the incest trip. The man,
who was the same one who brought
me to the car line tonight, was nice to
me. He tucked the robe about my
was a nice ride and I enjoyed II. Gee
he was good
when we got to place the man
said was Warren. the man left the
buggy in the road Then we got on
what | think was an electric car.
don't just remember what ii was, but
il was something like street car.
don't know what became of the horse
and buggy. | was sleepy when we got
on the car and | slept much of the
way to the place where we were go
ing.
when we got to a town that the
man called Newcastle. they took me
to a big building and turned me over
TO a woman. She was good to me
The hospital. or whatever the building
was. was a clean place There was a
man there who / think was a doctor
He looked like a doctor because he
had whiskers, short. gray whiskers
THE people in the hospital told me
7 must do just what they told me &c
do II / did not obey them. they said
they would take me to a place called
the pest house where folks that have
smallpox have 10 go. IL wasn't q
clean or pretty place to go. they told
me. I would have been good anyhow
h,,t rx.bo, thnunhf thoro moe onx