The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-07-11
marrin OF couple of postage stamps,

which had printed upon 1t mo. 10
Plate," but the "No." and "Plate" bad
been crossed out, and substituted in their
place was "Mar." and "ls64," making it
read MAR. 15-ls64," which was the day
before the robbery and murder. This may
seem all common enough, but to me it was
array of light aud hope; for the change was
in my own handwriting. l also reniem-
bered perfectly we'll making the change
also, that I had placed my initials on the
underside, and that the bill must have
been in the safe at the time of the robbery.
Calling my friend, We went into side
room, and there carefully removed the pa
pc. On the underside we discovered, as
/ had expected, the letters 81. B." much
blurred from wettiDg, but still legible. My
friend agreed with me that it was very
important discovery, and in order to press
it forward we called in the landlord and
questioned him. -,
He remembered having received the Dill
that morning, and had rather questioned
it on account of the tear. On beng asheu
to describe the man, ne said
GAS near as / can recollect, ne was
about five feet ten inches in height, ana
quite stout ID proportion. He was dressed
entirely in black. The only peculiar marx
that I noticed was deep scar running
across his face, and his left eye was gone
the place being supplied by piece OF BLACK
silk, which he showed very plainly "nen
he winked."
7 think must have started very percep--
tiblv when I heard this description, tor l
ronoonized the man Immediately as run
ner for the firm of Bagley & Mason, OF
BOSTON. who had been in our town for
week previous to the murder, and had left
the same morning. His own name was
James Burnham.
AS we could learn nothing more from
the landlord save that he had heard him
order the hackman to drive to the boston
depot, we dismissed him and held con-
suitation. We both agreed that it was
best to go Immediately to Boston, see
Bagley & Mason, and, if possible, learn of
Burnham's whereabouts. Carrying out
this plan, we learned from the firm the fol-
lowing facts:
James Burnham was good, reliable
business man. He had been in their en-
ployment for about fifteen years, and
they were willing to trust him with any
amount of their funds. He was now in
Vermont, where he had been since leaving
l., and had not, to their certain know
ledge, been at C..
This rather perple1ed US, but at last we
determined that he must have deceived
his employers; and although we did not
think that we had sufficient cause to arrest
him, still we determined to track him.
With this purpose, we went to Vermont,
and fell in with him at Montpelier. For a
week we observed him closely, but at the
end of that time had discovered nothing
save that he would stay in town about one
week longer. Feeling that my friend was
fully capable of watching him alone, de-
termined to 60 to Boston to see if could
learn anything new; and accordingly, on
the morning Of the 2lst day Of April, left,
eftcr having first arranged q system OF
cypher, by which we could communicate
with each other if occasion required it.
Early on the morning Of the 22d was
standing on the steps Of the - Hotel,
when a paper dropped at my feet, appa-
rently from one Of the upper windows.
STOPPING down, I picked it up: but dis
covered that it was but an envelope, and
was about to drop it, when the name upon
il caught my eye. 1t was that Of lead
ing merchant of l.. Looking up at
the window, | saw, to my surprise, the
face of James Burnham, and that he
! turned deadly pale when he saw ME.
Feeling certain that he knew my errand, 1
saw that it would not be safe to let him
escape me longer. Immediately deter
mined on having him arrested at all
hazards. Hurriedly writing dispatch
which, to the operator, would read: "Joln
me in Portland tomorrow. Immediately
on the receipt Of this you may close the
bargain I spoke to you about yesterday -;
but to my friend it read: flames Burn
ham is in Boston, Why are you not +! L
I have clue. Shall arrest him immedi-
ately." l sent it to the telegraph office,
and then hurried to the police station.
Here told my story as briefly as possible,
and in fifteen minutes more was at the
door of the room from which the envelope
had fallen. A noise Of some one moving
rapidly about told US that the occupant
was still there.
The door of the room was not fastened,
but as the officers approached, Burnham
sprang to do so but they were too quick
for him, and had entered before he could
get it done. AS we came in he stepped
back, and in no gentle tones demanded the
cause of our intrusion. In answer to him,
one officer said:
81 arrest you, James Burnham, for the
murder of Charles Smith and the robbery
of the post-oflice at D, on the night OF
the 10th of March last"
The effect was instantaneous. lie
turned deadly pale, and sank into chair
near by; but after moment reused him
self, and said:
"You have mistaken your man. My
name is not James Burnham, but William
Chase"
We considered this, however, as but an
attempt to bully us, and he was accord
ingly led away. The search which fol-
lowed brought to light considerable money
in bills, and a number Of checks,
many of them payable to certain mer-
chants in L, and some of them from
citizens in l. payable to persons living
in Boston.
Immediately telegraphed the pa~ticu-
lars of the arrest to my friend, and he join
ed me next morning; but the strangest of
all, James B,unham came acitt him, and then
I saw that it was a case Of mistaken identl-
ty. But it was not to be wondered at, for |
think never saw two men look more alike.
We also telegraphed to the landlord at
C., and learned thing we had neglect
ed before, namely, that the man who pos
sessed the torn bill went by the name of
William Chase.
Little more remains to be told. The
man finding that there was no hope for
him, made confession soon after his arrest.
From this it appeared that he was a noto-
rious criminal, who, after some bold deed,