The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-04-17
HIS LIFE FOR HIS TRUST
BANK C1SHIER BRUTALLY MUIR
 DERED BY TIVO ROBBERS

NnO hiHe the bank vault or @OJOOO anu
 Escape-After Beating the Cashier Into
 Insensibility With Slungshot They Cut
 His Throat-No Clue to Their Identity Countryside in Torment.
 somersworth, N. H., April 16.-While resisting the entry of two desperate and determined robbers, and during heroic but futile struggle to protect $50, ,000 or more in money and securities which is in the compartments of the open vault of the Great Falls National bank of Somersworth, this afternoon Cashier Joseph A. Stickney was struck down and brutally murdered near the desk which he had occupied for years.
 After killing Stickney the murderers ransacked the vault at will, no one be- | ing near to molest them, and fled with all the cash it contained with the ex- ception of five dollar gold piece.
 As near as can be estimated without making a systematic examination of the banks books, about $6,000 was taken, but it is quite possible that the loss will considerably exceed this sum- as no one but the dead cashier knew the exact amount in the institution at the time.
 The robbers after knocking Stickney down with black jack, cut his throat The most remarkable feature of the robbery is the fact that $100,0O0 in bonds of the United States, which were kept in one of the drawers in one of the big vaults, and which the robbers evil dently examined, were not taken, neither were any of the negotiable pa per and securities of the bank; in fact, nothing is missing except the cash.
 No one was aware that there was anything wrong at the bank until two o'clock, or nearly an hour after the murderous work was done. The perpe- | traitors had ample time to escape, and l this evening scores of deputy sheriffs marshals, police and citizens are SCOUT ing this section of the state and the ad- joining state of Maine, which from this city is just across Salmon Falls river. | The men made their visit to the bank | ttI lilt DllslcSl llIllG Ol tie udy III Lllc locality where the bank is situated, and so completely and thoroughly did they accomplish the robbery that only an uncertain clue and very meagre de- scription of the men was obtainable up to eight o'clock tonight.
 l The bank was besieged by hundreds when the news of the terrible affair be- came known, and large numbers of people came into the city from Berwick, Dover, Salmon Falls, Rollingford, Rochester and towns in this section. Had the robbers been apprehended soon after the murder and robbery be- came public, their captors would have found 1t difficult task to prevent a double lynching in the Granite state.
 For the first few hours indignation was intense, but tonight public feeling has in measure subsided. Grea t sympathy is expressed for the family of the murdered man, who, in addition to his position as director of the Great Falls bank, was city treasurer, and was universally esteemed wherever he was known.
 No occurrence in Stafford county, not even excepting that of the murder of Deputy Sheriff Smith by the outlaw McArthur at Harrington few years ago has caused such a tremendous sen- sation in this section. The town is alive with people, and for miles around there Is no other topic discussed.
 The tragedy occurred during what Is known as the noon hour at the bank, that is from 12 until 2. It has always been customary for Cashier Stickney and the bank clerk, Mrs. Parker Swa- zey, to close the bank at 12 o'clock and not reopen again until ?.
 To-day Mrs. Swazey left her desk at noon and went home to dinner. She left the cashier looking over the bank g accounts. He usually remained in the bank until the clerk returned, but 1t is thought he was preparing to go out to-day when the robbers entered.
 The bank is situated In the center of the business portion of the city and dozens of people pass by at that time of the day. The building Is two story brick one and stands on the corner of Market and Prospect streets, the rear of the structure abutting the side of a steep hill. The banking rooms are on the second floor of the building on the front side, but the rear of the bank is on level with the hill, by which there was a second entrance.
 It is not known exactly what time the bank was entered, but it was evidently between 1 and 1:15 o'clock, as two men suspicious looking strangers, were seen going up the hill not very far from the bank at I:20 o'clock. One of the men carried a bag. As there was no wit ness but the dead cashier and his mur- derers 1t is not known minutely how the robbery was conducted, but it is certain that the men lost very little time in the bank, and when their work was accomplished, they fled with al possible haste.
 The first suspicion that the bank had been robbed was at two minutes to 2 when MT Frank F. Reed, a local mer- chant, went up the staircase of the bank building and found that the thick plate glass in the front outside or hall door of the bank completely shattered He was considerably alarmed, and with out waiting to investigate he hurred from the building and notified City Marshal Eaton. The latter responded as soon as he was told of Mir. Reeds discovery. Both men, after failing tc open the door, broke it in and then ,1 # T