Maryland free press., 1866-08-09
THE TORN BILL. :

1t was in the spring of 1864 that. the incidents
which am about to relate occurred. was ut
that time postmaster in the town of $500
An unusual warm spell of weather had, earriah
away much of the snow, left the raods very
muddy, and rendered the travelling very bad =
thought Of this US closed the shutters about %
O'Clock in the evening, and also remembered
that as it WIS Wednesday, the stage tfoti c.
was due at 8, but owing to the bad going it Vas
not yet in. | therefore determined that would
as had often done before, lock the front door
between the inner and outer rooms, aud, leaving
Light burning, 10 60 o'sleep, trusting TO the
dtirerto wake Inc BY rafting the door, '''''
1t seemed but a, few moments, so soundly had
| slept, ere was awakened By II pounding on the
door. Glancing at Tie clock, which stood oppo-
site' discovered, however, that it was oEe o.
clock in morning, and that had Lecn asleep
nearly four hofrs. AS hurried toward the door
Ipat my hand into my pocket FOR the key aud
found twas empty. The two door-keys and both
the Keys of my iaic, AL of which had wben I
went 10 sleep; ;yefe gope. Stepping To- rear door
in the lock of which always kept the key, also
found that locked and the Key gone. This so
surprised me that for few SECONDS remained On
they. spot, utterly unable to solve the mystery.
From tliis state was aroitscd by renewed p6nh-
ding on the door. There was but one available
mode ofexit from my prison, and that was
throdghta side window. Throwing up the sash
sprpg out and hurried round to where ex5
pccted to find the. driver. Mysteries seemed to
Iiave no end; for stead ofmeeting the driver Il
came ypana an, excited crowd Of about tYenty,7TT
Ny appearance was Tie signal for all to conl
niencs telling ne the ciuse of thcirexcitclneHt.
Silence was, hoYerer, at last obtained: and then
the sheriff told me in as few words as possible tire
1t seems that one of the physicians of the town,
nr II ,.;e
to a. patient, and when about "a mile from the
town heard in the road ahead of him IL pistol
shut. ffurryins on, he foahd about hsslf a mile
further on, the st sge, for which was waiting,
drawn up by the side Of the road, and In the
middle Of the road the body OF ~ man.g BriDg-
ing his lantern near the face lie found that it was
the driver, and that he was dead, having been
shot Through the head. lie fiund the robes &c.,
of the team scattered around On the ground, as
was also the mail bag, but the latter had been
unlocked, notcw open. and tite contents were
gone. He lifted the body. up and placed il in the
stage, and was Just starting On for assistance,
when he saw a revolver lying near, iby (which,
from the fact that one barrel had been discharged
he decided was the Weapon with which the deed
hal been committed. y ArriYed in town, be "a.
ronsed the sheriff and few neighbors and while
soine where dispatched with'tc Doctor after the
body, the Sheriff asds others had gone to, my
house after me. Finding was not there, they
came9o the office and just as Joined them The
body arrived. 4 y,.fs ct hs1eh 1.yslt All trI
This vas the substance Of the facts related 10
me- II seemed strange tlIat the sheriff should
haye,gone to my hpuse instead Of after dheibods,
and WAS about TO express myself when he step
ped forward, and laying his hand upon MY
shouldey,1 said:,,al 'oDt ,suu noy ei.rsits y
II arrest you John Blanchard, for the murder
Of Charles Smith stage driver" .fA57
II he should have stsuek me ! should not
have been more surprised. ! tried 10, o,reasop with
him, but although very civil, he was equally .Rrn
and the result was that spent the remainder 0i
the, night in the county G', YIich building r,wai
situated in L., that t,ing the SHIRE town
The examination the n, Authorizing aicitcd Lths
When The Sheriff searched my PERSON he was
surprised to ind7 no Keys, and indeed ND waiet,
or memorandum book. Sending to my assistant
he obtained the door Keys, but the safe keys
could notite found, and my CLERK Declared thai
always carried them with me, Upon enterine
| they found tliat the letters were all gone, the
money drawer empty and al few stamps, (which
safe at night, missing. And no trace could bt
found of the safe kets,r Surprising tliatrd had
disposed of them in order, that the trace of my
guilt, which il Vas taken for granted had CON
cealed in the SAFE, could not be discovered, they
brought q locksmith, and after, much labor forced
the lock. This labor served only to Show then
that the safe bad been completely rified, aud tha
the sum of three thousand, dollars, which ,hatf
been in il the night before, was gone. = :,
4 found that the causes which led to- suspicion
ing: hl ~ ~" H''n '''''' '''7 ~ F'i'''
First, the revolver with whiclctl the ldsrd swa
committed had upon the but q, silver plate OF
which was ehgravedmy iiame.a The CLERK tool
oath that the weapon was minc, sndo tlsat IL af
ways kept it in the Office. When they produced
it'll could not doubt for a, sspmspt that 1t did be
long to me. Second, that, the bag was Juplocke,
and not cut open, showing that tit Must have beel
United States mail key. >, Third, that, had, no
been DIT home during the evening, hnd That Mbc,
spmmond at the. Rosiefice delayed SO long Il
making my aDpearance.