The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-03-31
HOW THEY GOT HIM
THE LAD TELLS HOW HE WAS
STOLEN

STOLEN
And Carried Off, and How the Kid
nappers Treated Him While They
Had Him.
Cleveland, Ohio, March 22.-Ful-
ly 1900 gathered in the Railways
and Hobbies of the hotel when it
became known that Willie Whitla
had been surrendered to his father
at the Hollenden Hotel this evening
as related in another column. Those
who were unable to get into the
hotel stood on the sidewalk and
shouted for a glimpse of the boy.
Again and again they called him by
name and implored his father to
bring him out and let them look
at him. Whitla a%cquiesced to the
request of the crowd, and carrying
the boy on his shoulder, walked down
into the lobby. Mounting a raised
platform in the centre of the lobby,
Whitla gave every n a chance to
see both father and son..
Cries of Speech" caused Whitla
to say a few words as follows:
This is my son. He was lost and
is found again. If I live a thousand
years, 1 never can do enough to re-
pay the press, the police and the peo-
pie who all have done noble work in
helping to find my boy and in extend
ing their sympathy to me and my
family and relatives"
The father then sought to induce
the child to say a few words in re-
Spouse to the crowds demand, but
frightened, Willie began to cry, so
the assemblage cheered him again
and desisted in its efforts to make
him speak.
Later the boy related his story
to his father and the newspaper men,
as follows:
"A man, tall and with a black
mustache, came to the school hou e.
Thursday and told my school teach
| er, Mrs. Anna Lewis, that you want
ed me at your office. I went out to
a buggy with him. On the way down
town, he asked me to address a let
ter to you. I did this, and then
dropped it into a small box. He was
awfully kind.
I'VE went from Sharon to War
rem. 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 legs. Gee, he
was good.
when he got to a place the man
said was Warren, the man left the
buggy in the road. Then we got on
what I think was an electric car. I
was sleepy when we got on the car.
when we got to a town that the
man called New, Castle they took me
to a big building and turned me over
to a woman. She was good to me.
The hospital, or whatever the build
ing was, was a clean place. There
was a man there who / think was a
doctor. He looked like a doctor, be-
cause he had short, merry whiskers.
1.-THE people in the hospital told
me that I must do just what they
told me to do. If I did not obey them
they said they would take me to a
place called the pest house, where
folks that have smallpox have to go.
I walked the chalk just like a good
boy, papa, like you've told me to
do.
"On Saturday night I was taken
away from the hospital, and I think
we went to a town called Ashtabula.
We travelled in a buggy and on foot.
Early in the morning we went back
to the hospital. / heard one of the
men say: There will be nothing
doing tonight, I guess
"They told me I was taking a
little vacation. I was not going to
be hurt, they told me, so 1 just acted
nice and had a good time playing
around the hospital. I knew I would
| get back home all right, and just
supposed Mr.. Jones was one OF my
fathers friends, who was treating
me nice because you wanted him to
treat me that way, papa, dear"