Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1885-11-20
THE PORTLAND MYSTERY.
The Dyer Sensation Proves to Have no
Foundation.

PORTLAND, Nov. 10.
The great and much discussed Dyer mys-
terry has at last been fathomed. The solu-
ton was the result of the efforts of news
paper correspondents who, Wednesday night,
had the satisfaction of hearing Blanche Ed
wards say, 81 have told the truth" To reach
this point and to follow down and prove false
the almost innumerable mis-statements that
Blanche Edwards had made was a work of
no small difficulty. In the course of the in
vestigation they made, it was necessary for
them to 60 to almost every school district
in several of the adjoining towns.
Search had been made until Wednesday
afternoon for the mysterious house in the
woods and the Ward house, another of the
creations of the fertile brain of Miss Blanche.
Wednesday, to still more complicated mat
ters, Blanche recalled one more statement.
She said that Mr.. and Mrs. Dyer had con-
tributed to fund for the purchase of a sill
yer service that was presented to DR.. and
Mrs. Richardson on the occasion of their
marriage. This was only disproved after
long search.
Some days ago, some friends OF Blanche
placed in the hands of reporter three pho
tographs that she said were those of Mr.. and
Mrs. Dyer, and of Joseph when he was a boy.
These furnished the first clue to the mystery.
Wedne sday morning, gentleman identified
the portrait of the lady as that of we'll
known Deering lady. little later, Mr..
Fred Harris, who resides at Oak street,
Deering, was seen. He said that the pictures
were taken from his home, He said that
Blanche Edwards worked at his house at the
very time she was commonly supposed to
have been in Portland at the house of her
father, in the vicinity of the rolling mills.
He added that she was so respondent over
the loss of Joseph that at last they were
obliged to discharge her. The letters were
compared with specimens of the writing
known to beby Blanche, and were pronounced
the same.
Wednesday evening, il was discovered that
on the day when Blanche said that Joseph L.
Dyer was killed, a boy of H. named Charlie
Archibald, met with fatal accident, and that
he was buried on the day fixed by Blanche as
that on which the funeral of Joseph took
place. Following this clue, reporters went
to Cape Elizabeth, found the house of Mr..
Robert Archibald, and found at once the
missing 'house in the woods" and in a great
part the explanation of the mystery. There
was the house that had been sought for miles
away, ana altnOugn Mr. archibald knew
nothing about it, everything went to prove
that Joseph l.. Dyer was the name that
Blanche either knew Charlie Archibald by,
or that she called him so for the purpose of
mystification.
The reporters then went to the house of
Mr.. Thomas Edwards, where an interview
was obtained with Blanche. She identified
the photographs taken from the house of
Mr.. Harris as those of the Dyer family She
again repeated her story and was then con-
fronted with proofs of falsity. She then con-
fessed that the entire story of the doctors
was unfounded but she says: 81 know saw
him." (meaning the lOver)
The facts seem to be that Blanche and
Charlie formed an attachment. He may have,
and it is supposed that he did tell her that
his name was Joe Dyer.
She saw him few times and then he met
with sudden death. She invented the Mr..
and Mrs. Dyer. She put on mourning for
him and when her people grumbled at the ex-
pense, she wrote the first letter from Mrs.
Dyer saying that she was to have $3.50 tina.
had belonged to Joe. When her mother again
troubled her about her mourning she wrote
the letter from Mrs. Dyer that was published.
Her mind is doubtless little affected and
she no doubt is honest in the belief that she
has talks with Joseph.