Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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KIDNAFPED CHILD RECOVIED o Little Willie Whitla Restored to His rather's Arms-Was Found at Cleveland. Cleveland, Ohio. March 22.-Little Willie Whitla, who has caused the police of the country endless worry since he was kidnapped from schooi in Sharon, Pa., last Thursdav. was returned to his father at the Hollen den hotel here tonight at 8.30 o'clock. In compliance with an arrangement entered into between the kidnapped boy's father and an - agent of the kidnappers here today, the boy was placed on a street car on the outskirts of the city and started to the hotel shortly after 8 o'clock. Two boys, G. W. Ramsey, and Edward Mahon ey, recognized the lad on the car and, taking him in charge, conducted him to his father, who was in waiting. .The boy wandered about the hotel lobby unannounced for several mina tes, asking bell boys for his father, before the latter knew his son was in the big foyer. Tbe moment the anx ioirs parent heard that a strange boy was in the hotel he rushed across the lobby, grasped him in his arms and smothered his face with kisses. An attempt had been made to dis guise the lad. He wore a pair of smoked glasses and a large tan cap, which was pulled down over his ears, and the father said it would have been difficult to have recognized the boy in such a garb had he passed him on the street. Willie is in perfect health. He says that he :has been well treated, and ever since his capture has been constantly indoors. He believes that he was taken from Sharon to Warren, and thence to New Castle, Pa. It is his opinion, expressed in a happy, schoolboy way, that he was in Ash tabula on Saturday night, at the time his father was to leave his $10,000 in Flat Iron Park. Whitla senior refused to state whether he had, paid the ransom or -not. He said that he received a letter today from the kidnappers at his home in Shiron,, saying that if he called at a confectionery store in th e east end of Cleveland, he would be told how to seeure his boy unharmed, and "well fed." Father Goes to Cleveland. Shortly after noon 'he left Sharon for Cleveland. He was urnaccompa' nied. His immediate fam~ilv and the private deteetives h~e had in his em ploy he apprised of the proposed se cre meeting, but insisted that he make the trip alone. Every one of them was warned that he must be al aowed to go unheralded and no at tempt at the capture of the kidnap pers now be made. Wh.itla was cer tain that if he -spoiled the plans of hiis son's captors tonight, he would niever see the lad again. His experi enee 'at Ashtabuila served as a warn ing. About 2 o'clock this afternoon, he went to a candy store in the East End. With him he carried the $10,000, expecting that it would be demanded of him there.. He was met by a wo manl, who detailed to him the terms of the kidnappers. With all the eag e.rness of a distracted parent Whitla agreed to them imimediately. Detec lives in his employ say that he paid the money, but on this point the fath er declines to' commit himself. Half an hour later he returned to the Hol lenden hotel and awaited develop ments. As he waited in the hotel dlobby and corridors Whitla was in a higihly nervous condition. A few newspaper men walked over to talk to him. "In heavens name, men, do not say anything to me. I am on the verge of nervous prostration,'' he said. "I expect the boy will be back tonight, 'but I cannot state positively whether he will be returned safe and sound. Do not ask me to reveal the alleged settlement. That might ruin all of 'the plans.'' For more than an hour Whitla anx iously a>waited in the lobby, smoking black eigars and 'muttering to him self. Detective Perkins sat near him and pleaded with him to have pat ience. A friend approached and Whitla walked into a secluded corner of the hotel and talked to him in monosyllables. His eyelids twitched nervously. Willie Well Treated. In the meantime little Willie was being treated kindly, and even at this time does not realize what danger he was in. The woman in the candy store had d'one her duty. She com mnunicated with the captors of the boy and told them that the father had made no attempt to trap t.hem. The boy was brought from his unknown hiding place to a car line in the east end of the city. The kidnapper. according to Willie, was chleerful1 enough. The young-ter and his caiptor Skipped in schloolboy fash ion toward th'e trolley line, jest-. ing in thle meant;me. . A few rod- fromi the~ ear line the in these." The sides of the black yarn cap were pulled carefully over the boy's ears. A slip, which Willie was to hand to the conductor, was put in the boy's pocket. It read: "Send this boy to the Hollenden ho .tel double quick." Willie says the man told him that if anybody asked him who took him to the car line to tell them it was "Mr. Jones." "All right, Mr. Jones," answered Willie. Presently a car came into view and the mysterious Mr. Jones drew the bov closer to him 'Well, Willie, you are going down town now, and you will see your pa pa pretty soon, he said. . This delighted Willie. He swung on to the car quickly, according to the conductor. "fr. Jones" paid the boy's fare and then got of the car and disappeared' after waving a friendly adieu. Presently Edward Mahoney, aged 17, sat down in the seat with the boy. Mahoney, like most evary other per son in Cleveland last night, was look ing for Willie Whitla. So he started .a conversation. Boy Discovers His Identity. "What's your name" he queried. "Jones," answered Willie, as his kidnapper friend had told him to do. But Mahoney was not to be fooled. He called his friend, Ramsey, over from another part of the ear and sholwed him Willie. He suggested that it might be the missing ohild. Then Willie showed them his trans fer slip, saying that he should be put off at the Hollenden hotel, and they were convitced it was he. The boys took Willie to the hotel. He skipped through the doors ahead of them and into the lobby. Willie did not see his father. moth er, or sister in the lobby. Walking over to the clerk he asked: "Have you seen my pa-pa?' "Who is he, boy!'' he was asked. 'Oh, I'm Mfr. Whitla's Willie," he replied. Father 'and Son Meet. The crowd nearest the boy who heard the words rushed in around him. The father and this boy were then brought together and the rapid ly increasing erowd gave - frantic cheers for them both. Father and son went to the former's room. Then through the door came 'these words, spoken by the father to the boy's mother, on the long distance tele phone: "Oh, mother, I have Willie b.ere in my arms. He is safe. Glory to God, mama, it is the happiest night of my life.'' Fully 2,000 people gathered in the hallways and lobbies of the hotel. 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 his name and implored his father to bring him :ut and let them look at him. - Whitla aquiesced to 'the request of the crowd and carrying the boy on .his shoulder, walked down into the lobby. Mount ing a raised platform in the centre of the lobby, Whit]? gave every one a hance to see both father and son. Cries of "speech,'' caused Whitla to say a few words as follows: Whitla Makes Speech. "This is my son. He was lost and is found again. If I live a thousand years, I never can do enough to re pay the press, the police and the peo pe who all have done noble work in helping to find my boy and in ex tending their sympathy to me and my family and relatives.'' The father then sought to induce the child to say a few words in re sponse to the crowds' demand, but, frightened, Willie began to cry, so 'the assembilage cheered ihim again and desisted;,An its efforts to make im speak. Later the boy related his story to his father and the newspaper m:en, as follows: Willie's Story. "A man, tall and with a black inus tache. came to the 'school house Thu rsday and told my school teacher, Mrs. Anna Lewis, that you wan:ed me at your oflice. I wenit out to a buggy ,with him. Un the way down town. he asked me to address a let ter to you. I did this, and then drop ed it into a mfail box. He was aw fully kind. "We went from Sharon to Warren. 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 w'e got to a place the man said was Warren, the man lefit the buggy in the road. Then we got on what I think was an electric ca.r. 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 wais good to me. The hospital. or whatever the build nv was, was a1 clean place. There was a man there who I think was a doctor. Hie looked like a doctor he ause be had short, merry whiskers. "The pople in the hospital 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 emallpox 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 tthink 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. I heard one of the men say: 'There will be nothing do ing tonight, I guess.' "They told me I was taking a lit tle vacation. I was not going to be hunt, they told me, so I just acted nice and had a good time playiDCg around th-e hospital. I knew I would get back home all right, and just supposed 'Mr. Jones' was one of my father's friends, who was treating me nice because you wanted him to treat me that way, papa, dear." Ransom was Paid. Cleveland, 0., March 22.-Before retiring for the night. Mr. Whitla admitted that he had paid $10,000 to the woman in the candy store. It was in currency and bills. The wo man did not count the money. Mr. Whitla believes .the woman was an Italian, -but refuses to disclose her 1identity. ORIGIN OF "RED SHIRTS." Col. Crews Does Not Think CoL Sit ton Was Originator. The following from Col. T. B. Crews, the veteran editor of the Lau rens Herald, appeared in that paper in its issue of March 18: "We see it stated in several ne'"s papers that Col. A. J. Sitton, who re cently died in Anderson county, was the "first captain of Red Shirts that did so much to redeem South Caro lina from Radical misrule in '76." With no disposition to take any cred it from the memory of Col. Sitton due him, we will say that th-e claim that he was the originator of the famous Red Shirts is different from the gen erally conceded version that the late Gen. Mart Gary, of Edgefield, was the originator of the "searlet uni form," and that first made its ap pearance at that plaee on the oc casion of a Radical powwow there, at which the then governor (Chamber lain) was pres'ent; that the old 'Bald Eagle' (as Gen. Gary was sometimes called) forced Chamberlain to 'divide time,' and that the pe rwow was fin YOU WANT TI YOU CA And yet you do not we much. Well, WE WILL' the softest, silkiest an stuff on the mnarket. used the Wand of the SLOVELIEST within the reach c Pocket COLORS, DID YOU SAY? Lilac, Pink, Blue, C W'hite ar Crepe, plain and fig S5 to50Ocents. C E a": initial incident occurred, if we re member correetly, a short time pre vious to the opening of the regular Hampton canpaign of '76. "As to the origin of the 'Red Shirts' as a uniform, so far as our ;recollection goes, they made tireir first appearance at Abbevilee on the day immediately suceceding the his torie event of firng on the Federal steamer 'Star of the West' by the Citadel eadets in Charleston harbor, from a battery on Morris Island, on -the morning of January 9. 1861. Capt. Jas. M. Perrin. of Abbeville, who commanded a company of minute vien, received orders from Gen. Maxcy Gregg, then colonel of the First regiment, on the evening of the 9th to report with his company in Charleston, fort.hwith, and the com pany left for the designated point on -the morning of either the 10th or 11th of January. 1861. "The Minute Men, of which the writer was a member, -h'aving no uni form, the Red Shirt was adopted. CALL and see Broaddus & ff's Easter cards before you buy. 60 YEARS' EXPERIENCE TRADE MARKS DESIGNS COPYRIGHTS &C. 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Our institution is under the supervisiona of and regularly examined by the State Bank Examiner. The Dank of P'osperitU, P1 osperity, S. C. DR. GEO. Y. HUNTER, DR. J. S. WHEELER, President. V. President. J. F. BROWNE, 3. A. COUNTS, Cashier. Assistant Cashier. . A CURIOSITY! To AUl Our Subscribers! - teest s ee k e s h C es l Ag GRs eATdva UISTYabe 30 Vnarit how igh in ,One PCh, me RtestUAldt n so aiter a R tesak, EDe n, F Bc e e, KeWkl h~mel o w ill prmein terettt we ts,d Do rkiona,vess, S pashe ah C e' Eary, mnl, s's on to et s.diby s id , 30 ins of cans ig IronrCha, KsGr e ,Dxe,igs ra and Good,ndohes eons ab t en wrthic yo ik Brafo r dopose o lder, e erless, KINDS IciTPA, K as Wod las bsot. e aree with o aer- amon riea ofo a, nue one,Ford a e ,acsr. Oul oS.0r, at 3il cet l a p a nsl otb aalfr30., sasa