KIDNAPPING ADVENTURE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3778, 26 November 1907, Page 3

KIDNAPPING ADVENTURE.

The sequel to a thrilling kid" napping adventure will shortly be enacted before the courts in London, whither the principal actor, an Englishman who is a member of a well-known country family, is now hastening under an assumed name on board the Umbria in order to sue for his sequestrated estates. The man in question, whose name those responsible for the publication of the details of his dramatic actions refuse to disclose, some time ago deserted his wife in London, and fled to America with two sons and another woman, who is much beneath him in station.

Before his flight his wife brought a suit for the restoration of conjugal rights, and pending the decision, the court awarded her the custody of the children. The husband, however, by a ruse, got his sons away from the school where they were studying in England, and on -arrival in New York sent them to an establishment on Long Island. After living with his woman companion for some months in the most extravagant style in New York, the Englishman wrote to his London lawyers, instructing them to sell his property, which includes a town house and large country estates of great historical interest. He then learnt that his action in. kidnapping his own sons had been declared contempt of court, and that an order had been made for the sequestration of his property. Deprived thus of means of support, the husband and father somewhat over a month ago wrote to his wife’s solicitors that unless were forwarded within four weeks he would kill himself and his two sons. The letter, couched in the most solemn and emphatic language, affirmed that the writer had registered a vow to God to do as he threatened. The wife in vain sought a chance to appeal to him, and a host of detectives were placed on his trail. Finally, with the assistance of the postmaster of New York, District Attorney Jerome discovered him two days before the expiry of the four weeks. Under pain of arrest and subsequent imprisonment, the man consented to give up his two sons, who were placed on the Umbria, but subsequently, on the appearance, contrary to arrangements, of the father on board, were secretly and hurriedly transferred to a Red Star liner, which left the pier thirty minutes later. Not till he was on the high seas did the desperate parent, whose name will shortly be revealed in the law courts, discover how he had been baulked.