Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-04-22
BRUTALITY MURDERED.
a Cashiers Heroic Struggle in De-
Tense Of His Charge,
Killed by Determined Robbers, Wh0
Then Loot the Vault and Make Their
Escape-The Whole Community
Aroused and in Pursuit.

SoMERswoRTH, N H., April IT While
resisting the entry of two desperate and
! determined robbers, and during he
roic, but futile. struggle to protect
$3.50. 900 or more in money and securi-
| ties, in the compartments of the open
vault of the Great Falls national bank
of Somersworth, yesterday 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 and fed with all
the cash it contained with the excep-
| ton of a five dollar gold piece. As
near as can be estimated, about $4,000
was taken, but it is possible that the
amount will considerably exceed this
sum, as no one but the dead cashier
knew the exact amount that was in
the institution at the time.
The robbers. after knocking Stickney
down with blackjack, cut his throat.
The most remarkable feature of the
robbery is the fact that 500, 700 in
bonds of the United States, which were
kept in one of the drawers of the big
examined hastily, were not taken.
Neither was 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 an hour after the murderous
work was done. The perpetrators had
ample time to escape, and yesterday
evening scores of deputy sheriffs, mar
shals, police and citizens were securing
this section of the state and the ad-
joining state of Maine, which from
this city is just across the Salmon
Falls river.
The men made their visit to the
bank at the busiest time of the day
in the locality where the bank is
situated and so completely and thor
oughIy did they accomplish the robbery
that only an uncertain clew and a very
meager description of them was OBJ
tainable.
The bank was beseiged by hundreds
when the news of the terrible affair
became known, and large mum bers OF
people came here from surrounding
cities. Had the robbers been appre-
hended soon after the murder and rob-
berry became public, it would have
been found difficult to prevent a
lynching in the Granite state. Great
sympathy is expressed for the family
of the murdered man, who, in addition
to his position as cashier and director
of the Great Falls bank, was town treas
urer
It has always been customary fo1
Cashier SticBney and Bank Clerk Mrs.
Parker Swazey to close the bank at
noon and not reopen it until two
o'clock. Mrs. Swazey left her desk at
noon. The cashier, however, remained
looking over the banks accounts, and
it is thought he was preparing to go
out when the robbers entered.
The first suspicion that the bank had
been robbed was at 1:5S o'clock when
Mr.. Frank P. Reed went up the stair
case of the bank building and found
the thick plate glass in the front
outside or hall door OF the bank COM
pletely shattered. He notified City Mar
shall Eaton, and they broke in the
door and found evidences of a desper-
ate struggle.
On the floor, in a great pool of blood,
was the lifeless body of Stickney. His
head had been nearly severed from the
body, the robbers having cut his throat.
The head was marked with several
deep gashes made by a heavy black
jack, and the skull was fractured.
The body was covered with blood, and
the walls and furniture bore additional
evidence of the terrible deed. Stick
ney had died fighting desperately.
The first clew that the officers found
was from persons who reported seeing
a man hurrying up the hill carrying a
bag heavily weighted over his shoulder.
He threw the bag behind stone wall,
got into a buggy driven by an
other man. Other persons reported
seeing the buggy, and in West
Rochester horse and buggy were
seen headed for Salmon Falls river,
which forms the main state boundary.
This outfit has mysteriously disap-
peared despite the fact that the whole
section hereabouts is being searched
tonight
There were und oubtedly two men
concerned in the affair. The outside
door had been locked by Mr.. Stickney
after Mrs. Swazey's departure, and when
the robbers found they could not open
it they smashed the plate glass which
formed the upper half of it. The men
then crawled through the hole made
in the door. The inside door,
which led into the apartment be-
hind the counter, was fastened by
a heavy iron bar. Marks have been
found showing that one of the men had
endeavored to raise the iron bar and
Cashier Stickney endeavored to keep
the bar in its place. The robber was
too much for the cashier, for the door
was forced. It was then that the
cashier made his last stand, and aftera
short but heroic struggle, was killed. |
Mr.. Stickney's family consisted of |
his wife, son and two daughters. He |
was wealthy and well-known in New |
banking circles.