Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-04-05
CONVICT LOCKED
MISSING ROGERS
BOY IN BOX CAR
Writes ChiId's Uncle, Assistant
Prosecutor, He Sought Re-
venge for Conviction.

PHILADELPHIA, April 1.-Two
strange messages received yesterday
by Cornelius Rogers, Of 1884 South
Eighteenth street, uncle OF 12-year-old
Bernard Rogers, who has been missing
since March q, deepened his conyictidh
hat some dark mystery surrounds the
-sappearan of the s~choolboy.
In n of the letters an anonymous
writer declares that he locked the hild
in a freight car in a spirit of vengeance,
because Assistant District Attorney Jo-
seph p. Rogers. another uncle of the
boy, had brought about his conviction
four years age
That this declaration was not looked
upon lightly by the assistant district
attorney was shown by the fact that he
had a policeman detailed to guard his
daughter Josephine. z years old, as the
little girl went from her home, at 1902
South Fifteenth street. to a kindergar-
ten in Broad street and back again
yesterday.
Revenge the Motive.
The first OF the two messages was
scrubbed upon a postal card. 1t was
as follows:
April 3, 1911-Dear Sir: Your nephew
you will find in an empty box car, |
think D., l.. & w. CO., No. 59496, which
L put him in at Thirty-fourth and Reed
streets, on the Baltimore & Ohio Rail-
road. The uncle of the said boy con-
victed me for fou years in the pen. l
swore vengeance on him, but ] take
Greater Pleasure in making his people
miserable like he made my sisters. Ii
this does not work | will see him again.
This is no Phoney letter. and / hope
to God he is dead. Yours from the
Pen. Convict s643, Cell 352."
1t was quickly established that there
had been such a convict, and that the
Eastern ~penitentiary contains a cell
No. 352. But it will take some time to
determine whether convict No. S643 was
eyer confined in cell 352.
The Baltimore and Ohio and h Del
aware, Lackawanna and Western rail-
roads have also been asked to aid in
the search for box car No. 59496, SO as
to determine as speedily as possible
whether the boy is actually a prisoner
in it.
cue in Second Message.
The second message was contained in
a letter signed by Joe Brown" 1t was
as follows:
mr.. Rogers-I saw a child answering
the description of our with a short,
dark colored woman. He was in
Waverly street, neal Sixteenth. They
entered a yellow house with green
shutters at 3 O'Clock. She and a tall
dark man thai went to the Woodson
Club, seventeenth and Lombard
streets. l will point her out to you If
you meet me at 8 o'clock. I will point
her out to you then. JOE BROWN"
AT 9 o'clock last night Cornelius Rog-
ers and his brother. John Rogers, OF
Twentieth and Dickinson streets, went
to Seventeenth and Lombard streets,
as directed by Joe Brown" They
were accompanied by a negro, who said
he knew a man of that name. But
Brown was not there waiting for them.
After waiting for nearly an hour and
making a tour of the neighborhood,
Rogers went to the police station at
Twelfth and Pine streets and asked
that detectives be detailed to locate
Brown and investigate his story. He
left Browns letter at the station house.
Detectives were Immediately set al
work hunting for Brown and the
.'short, dark colored woman" he de-
scribed.