The Portland daily press., 1886-10-25
A GOOD WELL DIGGER.
Exploits Of TWO Detectives In Mon
son.

Sunday, October 18th, Detectives Ira M. |
Trne and Thomas A. Simpson, started for |
Monson to look up the cause of the blowing
up of the building owned and occupied by
DR.. C. C. Hall, as an Office The building
was one story high and about 20 feet square,
and was attached to the dwelling house oc-
cupied by the doctor and family. On the
night of August 9th, between l2 and
o'clock, the people in the house as well as In
the village, were aroused from their beds by
terrible explosion. Leaving their houses to
ascertain the cause, they discoyed on reach
ing the street, that the Office was all blown
to pieces and fire progressing in its ruins.
On the arrival of Detectives True and Simp-
son, on Monday, Oct. IS, Detective Simp-
son procured board in a laborer's boarding
house and disguised himself in the garb
of laborer. Between the two detectives
the crime was fixed on two men. Albert
Sears. one of the men, was at work digging
q well on the premises of the pastor of the
Congregational church. Detective Simpson
obtained the job to help Sears dig the well
and went to work and worked in the well
until he had obtained information enough
from Sears to lead to his arrest. When
Sears had been turned over to Detective
True and told what was known of him, he
confessed the whole business and implicated
Colby Moore of the same village, man who
was feared by all the people of the place.
This Moore, Sears said. tried to get him to
burn the buildings of a man by the name of
Ramsdell at night. when his family were all
asleep in the house. Sears started to COM
nit the crime but his courage failed and he
returned to Moore, telling him he could not
make the fire burn. A short time ago the
| freight station at Monson was entered in the
night time by false keys and two cases of
liquor, shipped to Moore under an assumed
name were stolen from the station. On the
arrest of Moore he was searched and the
keys taken from him. Detective Simpson
\ went to The depot and tried a key Moore had
which unlocked both the depot and freight
| car. Sears confessed and made the follow
ing statement:
On or about the 9th day of August,
1886, Colby Moore of said Monson came to
me at my house or at my barn where l was
at work doing my chores just before sunset
and wanted me to 60 up TO his house the next
| evening, Tuesday, and said he had job for
| me to do. lie said he had two-gallOn Jug
| OF powder, all fixed with fuse, and said,
want you to go to DIR. Halls Office and blow
itup; | have got So to pay you, and if that
he had key that would fit the doctors Of
| fee. did not want to do it and told
him so, but went to his house the next night
as agreed to. He said no one could find it
out, but only he and / would know it, /
went up to his hsuse one Tuesday night as
agreed, but did not go in. Did not see him
| the next night. Wednesday he came to my
house and saw me out in the barn. He says,
| you concluded not to it. l said no. He said,
what is the trouble" said, ''parties saw me
| go by the night before, and so l went home"
| He said, 'Dr. Hall has gone away to be gone
until the following Monday and and
have got box of liquor at the junction and
l want you to go down Thursday night and
get 1t and fetch it up to my house after dark
when everything is all quiet, and want you
TO blow up that office that night as that is
our only chance, and went down and got
the box and brought it to Colby Moore's
house. Colby took it and then took me into
his back entry and showed me a two-gallon
| jug with fuse attached and running through
a cork stopper into theijug,wit a coil of fuse
around the nose of the jug about 80 feet long.
| Colby gave me two stiff drinks of whiskey.
and said it was all fixed for the occasion in
| good shape. | then took the jug down to the
doctors Office, took 1t into the Office unlock
ing the ot1ce with key given me by Colby
Moore; asked Mr.. Moore how he got the
key. He said one day he examined the doe
TORS key and made one almost like it and
filed it to fit, and one night about II o'clock.
telling his wife he was going to the depot to
| see II there was any liquor there he slipped
down, and tried the key in the door. 1t
| would unlock but not lock it. He went
| home and filed it little more and the next
night went down and it was just the fit and
when l went in put the jug in the back
| the door to the back Office, and came out
| the front door, closed and lockedIit and went
home. 1t was clear night but no moon. /
| went from the street to the office. When |
| vert in twas between 1870 and l O'Clock
in the night. Colby gave as his motive and
| object in hiring me to do it that the doctor
| went away and left his child sick at one
time and the child died by reason of the dog
tors going away. live about two miles
| away out from the village and had got about
| 70 rods towards home when | heard the ex-
| plosion. | did not see Colby Moore until the
next Monday forenoon. He seemed good
deal pleased and said it was good job and
| paid me the 50, and said they would never
| find it out He said he was down to the doc
tors the night before. and said the doctor
| thought 1t was explosive material that was
| in the effice.
| Sears and Moore were both arrested and
| arranged before Trial Justice Hart and both
| plead guilty and were committed without
bail.
| After Moore's arrest and True had OBJ
tanned the confession from Sears, Simpson
told Moore that Sears had confessed. He
said. IF / had known this when l was
brought here you would never have got
| me-"
This Moore is considered a very bad man
and the people in the village were all afraid
of him. The detectives had very hard work
to get any assistance in the matter as the
people were afraid If they did not succeed
they would be driven from their homes as
the man Ramsdell was, whose buildings
Moore tried to hire Sears to burn. The peo-
pie of the village were much rejoiced over
the work done by Detectives True and Simp-
son, and said when they left there Saturday
| If there were to be any more wells dug in
town they would send for Simpson to come
| and do it.
DR.. Halls loss on buildings and contents
was about $500.