The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-02-20
A Woman $
Wit
By EDITH v. ROSS

1t was on bright morning in De-
cember that Mrs. Garland decided to
send her little boy to the sidewalk to
get the fresh air. She put on his over
coat and his toQue and his gloves and
took him out on to the stoop. Then.
giving him 4 kiss. she told him to run
about for awhile. Jimmie was six
years old. and his mother. who was q
self reliant woman. had discharged his
nuEse.
Jimmie did not return. and bis moth
Or went out to look for him. He was
not on the stOOp or on the sidewalk
Indeed, be was not In sight His moth
er walked hurriedly up and down the
street. expecting every moment to
catch sight Of him. but she did not
Finally she asked some children play
ing near by. and they told her that
they had seen little boy-describing
Jimmie-go OF with man.
Then Mrs. Garland knew that her
boy had been kidnapped BY q strong
effort Of the will she kept her head
and questioned the children closely as
to the appearance Of the man. They
described q small. poorly dressed per
son. his trousers patched and his ell
bows In rags. His hair was what
they called brown. This IL all they
could remember.
Mrs. Garland, though In agony about
her boy. being an unusually self con
tained woman. very soon brought her
self into condition to think what she
should do. When a child IL kidnapped
1t Is usually for money. The parent Is
Informed Of the fact and negotiations
opened for payment Mrs. Garland.
who was widow. made up her mind
to await the kidnaper's demand before
taking any action
And yet one can never be certain
when q child has disappeared that he
will ever be heard from. There are
many disappearances that remain for.
ever mysteries. 1t Is therefore the
more remarkable that this mother
should have contained herself and act
ed in a way that would AFFORD the
greatest number Of chances for getting
her boy safely back. She reasoned that
II the boys loss were published In the
newspapers the kidnaper would read
It and. taking fright. might remove her
boy to distance. II no notice were
taken Of the matter he would write
On the third day after the kidnapping
the p0stman handed In letter which
as soon as Mrs. Garland looked at 1t
she knew was the one expected. II
was addressed simply to the street and
number and written in English a. an
Italian would write English. The kid,
naper demanded 5000 for the return
Of the child. An Italian name was
signed. the writer stating that q reply
could be sent to the general delivery
at the postofi1ce, but whoever called
for It would have nothing to do with
the case.
Mrs. Garland determined, II possible.
to win the confidence Of the kidnaper
So she replied that her only wish was
to recover her child. She could raise
but 5000. which she would be glad
to give II the person would instruct
her where o make the delivery. She
also said that she had not reported her
loss to the police and had no intention
Of doing So She preferred to pay and
recover her boy
The kidnaper wrote that he would
accept the $1,000. On certain avenue
between two streets was a vacant lot
At or near II o'clock on a certain
night Mrs. Garland was to leave the
money in cracker box she would find
In a corner farthest from the street
Within two days after the receipt OF
the money the boy would be placed ON
the street near his home. Mrs. Garland
wrote back that the conditions were
accepted, except that her boy was to
be returned within twelve hours after
the depositing Of the funds. A letter
came agreeing to this stipulation.
Now, on this last letter Mrs. Gar.
land noticed stamp that had evident.
" been placed on another envelope
and removed. The stamp was sOiled,
indicating that some one with dirty
hands had endeavored to make It stick.
Mrs. Garland took up q magnifying
glass and discovered thumb marks.
Thus far no notice Of the kidnapping
had appeared In any newspaper, and
the police were ignorant Of MIS- Gar
lands lUss. On the appointed night
she went to the vacant lot and de-
posted bills to the amount Of 5000.
The next morning at dawn there was
sharp ring at the dOorbell. Mrs.
Garland ran downstairs and opened
the door, and there stood Jimmie. He
said he had been left there BY q girl
Having got her child back safe and
well, Mrs. Garland went to the office
Of the police and informed them of the
case, stating that she had obtained
from United States treasury officers
5000 in captured counterfeit ten and
twenty dollar bills. Since they had
been paid to an ignorant Italian he
would not likely know that they were
counterfeit and he might be caught
trying to pass them. Instructions bear.
ing on the case were sent out. and a
girl was spotted Offering one Of the
bills She was followed to q squalidl
room In tenement building. and ev-
cry one found there was arrested
All hut few Of the counterfeit bills
were taken. and man arrested was
found to be the kidnaper. The chill
'lren who had seen him take Jimmie
away were not able to state positively
that he was the person they had seen