The Portland daily press., 1890-03-13
The stain and mweII pecIsIon.

Eleven years have passed since the dead
body OF John W. Barron, bound and gagged
was found in the vault of the savings bank
In the little town of Dexter When the body
was found there nobody had any doubt that
the dead cashier had been the victim of a
band OF robbers, who, to accomplish their
scheme of plumber, had found 1t necessary to
bind and gag the man who stood between
them and the accomplishment of their pur-
pose, and that his death had been the result
OF the cruel wounds received at their hands.
For weeks and months after the event Mr..
Barron was martyr to his trust in the esti-
nation Of all the people who either had seen
hisdead body crowded into the narrow vault,
as 1t was found on the evening of the fatal
day, or heard or read of the circumstances of
the tragedy But after weeks and months
had passed another theory was constructed to
explain the presence of Mr.. Barron's body
where it was found and the other facts sur
rounding the tragedy. We say constructed,
for the new theory gave abundant evidence
that 1t had not grown up naturally, but
had been built up by skillfully marshalling
whatever circumstances there were that
made in its favor and throwing into the
shade those that made against it. To say
that this theory was built up by people who
did not really believe it, and who were ac-
tuated by Ubiquitous motives, would be to
say something of which there is no evidence.
But to say that it was built up by somebody
who conceived the theory independent of
the facts, and then interpreted the circum-
stances with view to the support of the
theory, overlooking the most obvious and
natural explanations of them, would be
pretty near the truth. This theory was that
Barron had deliberately committed sui
eide, choosing method that would give
the Impression that the bank had been
robbed, and choosing it for the purpose of
giving that impression Though this theory
was supported with considerable ingenuity,
1t failed to make much impression, and the
great majority people still remained firm In
the belief that Barron was, as everybody.
the suicide theorists included, had thought
on the night Of the tragedy, martyr to his
fidelity to his trust.
Ten years later, when the story of the
tragedy had largely faded from public recol-
lection, two men-David L. Stain and Oliver
Cromwell were arrested in Massachusetts
the authors Of the robbery and murder in
Dexter on the evening of the 22d of Febru-
airy 1873. The trial of these men is fresh in
the public mind. While the principal wit
ness against them was man whose word
was entitled to little credit standing alone,
1t was so corroborated by a chain of circum-
stances as to produce conviction in the mind
OF the presiding justice and the jury that they
were guilty as charged, and that the mystery
tnat mad surrounded the Dexter tragedy for
SO many years had at last been solved. This
trial and this verdict has now been reviewed.
by the supreme judges and every one of
them affirms. after thorough examination that
the trial was fair and impartial and that tho
evidence of the guilt Of these men was con-
elusive. Thus it has been established bv the
verdict Of jury of twelve men and by the
opinion of the highest court in the State.
without Dissenting voice, that Barron was.
as everybody supposed he was at the time of
the tragedy, hero and martyr, fully de.
serving all the eulogies that have been pro-
nounced upon him, all the tributes that have
been paid to his memory, and that David l..
Stain and Oliver Cromwell were his murder
ers. That these verdicts will silence all cayil
is not to be expected. Nothing short Of a
mathematical demonstration could do that,
but they will leave In the minds Of all reason