The Monett times., 1922-10-27
MRS. OMER ASH AND BABY
VICTIM OF KIDNAPPERS

nappers at Marshall, Texas, sl1e an,
her baby being roughly treated b..
men, who had evidently m. staken he's
Tor someone else.
! The Marshall (TeXas) Morning
News gives the following account on
the affair:
One of the most outrageous acts
ever perpetrated was done Sunday
evening, between 6 and $3.50 O'Clock
when Mrs. Omer L. Ash and her lit
tie II months old baby son We're kid
mapped, thrown into an automobile
and carried from an uptown street of
Marshall out into the country. Mrs.
Ash was roughly handled and her
clothes were torn almost to shreds.
Mr.. Ash, when seen by reporter,
told the following story as it was told
by his wife:
"My wife was coming down the
street just across from the fire sta
ton when the affair occurred. She
had walked on a little way ahead of
the baby and had just looked around
to call him when she saw man pick
him up. AS the child is an attractive
one and is often picked up and petted
by people, she thought nothing OF see-
ing him picked up and had turned
around to go back and get him when
she was grabbed from behind, her
head bent back and handkerchief
stuffed into her mouth. She says she
had Just time to see the child thrown
into the front seat of waiting Ford
car. The man who had thrown the
child into the car then assisted the one
who was holding the woman and they
threw her bodily into the back seat OF
the car and tumtled in after her,
thrust her head down into one corner
of the seat.
"They then started the car and
drove for some distance out into the
country. My wife was unable to tell
where they went or how far, but she
thinks they must have gone five or
six miles. She says that after they
had gotten into the country they pull
ed off her shoes and made deliberate
attempts to pull off her stockings and
all of her other clothes. She fought
them savagely, all the time trying to
talk to them. Finally they took the
handkerchief out of her mouth
They threatened to kill her and asked
what she had to say for herself. She
told them that was not a strike
breaker, that / was not working at
any of the shop trades, and that was
not employed by the Texas & Pacific
Railroad, but was employed by the
List & Clifford Construction Company
to run the comissary, that this was
my regular line of work and that /
had been employed by the company
for commissary work before the strike
began.
"When she told them this the man
who was driving the car said to the
Others, turn around and they told
him yes which he did, and brought
her back to town. She had asked
them about the baby as soon as they
let her talk and they told her ne was
all right, which was fact.
at is my opinion that the parties
were mistaken in the persons they
took and thought they were getting
some one ese. AS soon as they found
out who she was they came back and
threw her out few blocks from where
she was picked up.
"Mrs. Ash was so excited when she
was thrown out of the car that she9
did not know exactly where she was,
but she knew in which direction the
house was. She grabbed the baby and
ran all the way to the house. She
phoned to me as soon as she reached
the house"
According to statements by Mr..
Ash and deputy sheriff Ellis Johnson,
the kidnapping was effected at about
the intersections of Bolivar and Bowie
streets. It is believed that some light
on the situation will develop in a very
short time and that a possible clue is
already in possession Of the officers.
Mr.. Ash stated the deputy sheriff
johnson and Captain Nichols were
working on the case from the time it
was reported to him.
Mrs. Ash was robbed of her wrist
watch and some small change that she
carried with her.
Mr.. Ash states that his wife had
been in ill health for the past two
months, with malaria and dengue few
er, and that the shock, struggle and
run with the child have put her in
a bad condition. Her face and mouth
are badly bruised from the rough
treatment in forcing the handkerchief
into her mouth.
Considerable public feeling was