Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-03-02
THE MARTYR CASHIER.

hour.
THE MARTYR CASHIER.
MORE DETlILS OF THE MINE
TRAGEDY.
"A Murder which Rivals that of the
Younger Brothers at Northficld---He
Could Have Saved His Life by Allow
ing the Bank to be Robbed
We gave yesterday the first account of the
murder of bank cashier at Dexter, Maine,
by robbers who sought to compel him to
open the vault. Dexter special of Feb.
25th, gives the following additional particu-
lars:
When Cashier j. w. Barron read the ac-
count of the gagging and forcing the COM
bination from Cashier Whittlesey of the
Northampton bank by masked robbers, he
said, ''f the bank funds have got to go in
that way, perfer to go with Them Had
he not SO preferred last Friday afternoon,
he would have saved himself from ter
rible death, but the bank of which he was
cashier would have lost a very large sum of
money. Careful investigation confirms the
Geographic reports sent Saturday night, and
make this case without parallel. The
cashier of the Mortified bank in Minnesota
was instantly killed after refusal. Mr.. Bar
ron was subjected to slow torture and the
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yield.
Dexter is little village near the northern
limit of railroad travel in Maine. In the
central part of Dexter is the Masonic build
ing, in the second story of which are the
savings bank of which Mr.. Barron was
cashier, and the National bank.
On Friday Mr.. Barron left his wife later
than usual, saying that it was holiday, and
he was going to the bank to do some igur-
ing, and would be home at 3. He did not
come then and7delayed SO long that Mrs.
Barron SAID to milkman named Bement
that she feared he had heart disease. Mr..
Bement to relieve Mrs. Barron went to the
bank building, and seeing no light in the
bank Office thought Mr.. Barron was gone.
He asked one or two persons if they had seen
him pay money. No one had. Then he
looked for FL. G. Parsons, an insurance
agent, who had desk in the savings bank
room. Meeting Cashier Curtis of the Ma
tional bank he asked him about Mr.. Barron.
Both went to the door of the savings bank
room and listened They heard faint
groan. Then they thought that Mr.. Barron
was i'll. They attempted to burst open the
door of the savings bank room with an axe,
but failed, Mr.. Curtis said that he could get
in by passing through the small space be-
tween his safe and the savings bank safe.
The two safes were in one vault. Capt.
Wood, a small man, was summoned, and
squeezed through the space, but found the
savings bank safe door open and something
| behind it, which prevented him from shut
ting it. This door, when opened, blocked
the space between the vault walls and the
safe walls Meanwhile the groans continued.
A lad named Crowell climbed over the safe
door and found Mr.. Balron's body on the
floor. Drawing it along SO that the safe
door could be shut, Capt. Wood was able to
come through. BY the lanterns light he
saw Mr.. Barron, with his eyes set, his hands
behind his back, his face livid, woollen gag
in his mouth, and rope around his neck.
The hands were held by handouts behind the
back. Mr.. Barron was unconscious and ap-
parently dying. The men tried to open the
vault door in the savings bank room. It
was locked, and they were obliged to squeeze
| the unconscious man through the narrow
space to get him into the National bank
room. The air in the vault was SO close
that one of the men nearly tainted before he
got out. A cot was brought and Mr.. Barron
placed on it. DR.. Clough was soon by him,
but Mr.. Barron never rallied for an instant.
Just before death, an hour past midnight,
he opened his eyes, recognized his wife,
smiled family, and then died. The hand
cuffs were cut from his wrists with cold
| chisel.
1t was evident that an attempt had been
made to rob the bank, and after Mr.. Bar
ron's death an examination Of the premises
was made. Besides the large outer door,
which was open, there were two inner doors
to the safe, fitted with combination and a
time lock. The safe door was locked, and
when opened everything was found all right.
About 500 that was in drawer in the
outer Office was missing, and that was all.
Beyond this all is mystery. In the coal
room were found an overturned coal hod,
Mr.. Barrons false teeth, a lead pencil, the
key of the handouts, and broken eyeglass.
! Here Mr.. Barron was first attacked, and the
manner in which he was found shows that
there must have been three men at least in
the job. He had slight cuts on the face,
none of which were severe enough to knock
him senseless. Everything tends
to show that Mr.. Barron was seized
from behind suddenly, and gagged before
he could speak while he was filling the coal
hod. Then he was bound, and while strug-
Cling received the wounds. Then he was
taken to the vault and commanded to dis
close the combination. This he refused
and rope was put about his neck, and
drawn taut. Then he was threatened with
being locked in the vault, his pockets were
rifed, the key to the vault door taken, and
the door closed and locked on him. Then
the robbers escaped.
All this was done in daylight in a building
in busy village street, and yet no one heard
it: and there is little evidence that the men
were seen going away. That it was done in
daylight shows that the robbers we're famil
lar with the bank. They knew that the
time lock would be set at night, and then il
would do no good if Mr.. Barron gave up thu
combination.
The cashier leaves wife and one child
His life was insured for $4,000.
1 Cunt be Induced.
Minneapolis Mirror.
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