Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-09-29

Investigations made during the last
week prove conclusively-as, in fact, did
previous inquiry-that the story told in
the Boston Herald of last week regard
ing the disturbance of graves in the
local cemetery was utterly without
foundation.
One Billings, a reporter of the Herald
staff. appeared in town last week for the
avowed purpose of getting at the truth.
He interviewed the town and college
authorities and sent long dispatches to
his paper concerning the matter. They
contained nothing corroborative of the
original yarn and nothing of the slightest
consequence anyway. 1t Is difficult to
see why any reputable paper should
print such stuff, unless it was exceeding
y hard up for something with which to
fill its columns.
This week Mr.. Billings appeared here
again. He was sure on his second advent
that he could prove the story his paper
had printed was true. He asked Mr..
Matthews of the board of selectmen to
go to Rutland with him on Wednesday
and see the author of the original article
with reference to the subject. Mr.. Mat
thews could not leave home, but Judge
Slade went. On reaching Rutland no
author was to be found. but, instead, a
telegram from him stating that he would
be up on the afternoon flyer. Mr.. Slade
insisted that he wouldn't remain over
night in Rutland, and that the writer of
the tale must come to Middlebury. He
with him Wednesday evening. He said
he was Charles F. Thurston, member
of the junior class at Trinity college,
Hartford, Conn. He averred that he
knew the story he wrote for the Herald
was true, but he would give no further
details than that in certain town, the
name of which he wouldn't tell, he had
seen two skeletons, the possessOrs of
which, whose names he would not
divulge, related to him a yarn like that
with which he furnished the Herald. In
the course of further conversation Thurs
]
ton owned that he was in Boston within
three weeks and out of money He had
done some work for the Herald. so he sat
down and wrote up a long article relat-
ing the pranks of college students in one
and another college of the country, in
cudng this grave-robbery tale, which
was gwen without stating the place
where it occurred. When completed he
took the article to the Herald's city edi-
tor, who cut out all the rest of It as of
no account, but let the grave-robbery
stand, first, however, insisting that the
name of the college be stated. 1t was
then printed, and. presumably, Thurston
was paid for his JOB
The thing, then, SINNERS down to
this; An irresponsible penny-a-liner,
finding himself strapped and having
heard, somewhere or somehow, a story
that he ought to have known was un-
true, writes 1t out and sells it. The fore
going statement is based on the assump-
ton that ThurstOn did not lie to Judge
Slade.
The Herald is more blameable than
Thurston, If there is any difference in
the degrees of their guilt. The Herald
should have investigated before it print
ed anything of this kind. Now that the
falsity of its alleged news is so evident,
1t cannot in decency do less than own
up, promptly and squarely, that it has
been sold. If 1t doesn't, it may properly
be set down as sensational, consclenee-