Evening star., 1933-11-12
Fifty Years Ago
i'm The Star

"Manifestly something must be done.
a rioUu VI ito stop the flood Of
War Claims. vss,n war CLAIMS not ~nicn nr,S Is
around Congress but every department
of the Government. Here 1t is nearly
twenty years after the war and yet we
find more original war claims are fled
now than ever before. One would think
that a person having just claim grow
ing out of the war would not wait al
most generation before presenting it,
but, judging from the number of fresh
claims, the debtors Of the Government
prefer to let their bills hang on for
fifteen or twenty years instead Of pre-
senting them at once and getting the
cash. The secret of this sudden activity
Is not hard to find. Within a few years
class OF men have developed busi-
ness of claim getting. or rather claim
presenting, for very small fraction of
the claims ever succeed. That is, how
ever, Of no particular consequence to
the agent, as that person finds his profit
In what Is merely a nominal fee in each
case, but which mounts up into a very
respectable income If large business
can be secured. The country Is raked,
therefore, a with a hne-tooth comb
and every man. woman or child who has
the slightest shadow OF claim on the
Nations gratitude or favor Is urged to
make the effort to have it recognized.
perhaps vague, and if the claim is
Stoutly made and pushed it may be
hard to establish a negative. And at
any rate the fee is small-only five or
ten dollars-and people Will risk that
much, as in a lottery, on the bare
chance Of winning. The consequence
Is trat Congress and the departments
are overwhelmed with claims. nearly all
spurious or devoid of legal merit, set up
at venture and prosecuted on a specu-
lation, to the delay and prejudice of
honest claims and the needless loss of
Government time and money. The sec
ond auditor. in his report, says that
only about f1ve per cent of the claims
settled by his Office are valid. and no
doubt that proportion holds good gen.
orally. The evil, which is growing into
a scandal, would be largely rectifed if
Congress would afford such facilities for
the adjudication of claims that it would
be generally understood that they
would be settled promptly and sternly
on their merits"
*
The abduction of Charley Ross. the
Lindberg1 case" of its day, occurred
W., rL July ], 1874, and
was Onarley for a long time
Ross Drowned s5IesTsG rEard d stories 1r;ns
regarding his probable whereabouts and
his fate. None was verified, and the
crime remains a mystery TO this day.
The Star of November TO- 1888, con-
ta1ns the following news item:
"A man giving the name of Charles
Clarke, who arrived in this city Thurs
day from New York, claims that he has
positive information that Charley Ross
vas drowned in Newark Bay shortly
after his abduction by Mosher and
Douglas. He says that a notorious
character, known by the name of Jack
Shepard, who has recently escaped from
sing Sing Prison. was one of the parties
with the abduction. and was
With Mosher and Douglas when they
we're shot. while trying to rob the house
y Judge Dent. He claims that he met
Shepard not long since and learned
rom him the whole story of the abduc-
ION, which was to the effect that the
'oy was taken directly to New York and
rom there to Newark. At Newark they
we're pressed so closely by the detectives
nat they put of in a rowboat at night
nd when they got in the middle of the
ay threw the boy overheard. having
lrst fastened heavy weights TO him 10
revent the body from rising. This
tory, said Clarke, I got from Shenard
lmself, and he swore to the truthful-
ess OF u, l went over to Newark with
nm ana ne pointed cut the place where
ney mad sunk the boy, and he said
There's where Charley Ross sr an5
neres no use hunting for him" he
eve what he said was true. I live On
vest Sixteenth street, New York and
ave known Shepard long time"