Year: 1870

sual warm spell OF weather had car
ried away much OF the snow, left the |
roads very muddy, and rendering the /
travelling very bad. / thought Of this /
as 1 closed the shutters, at o'clock i
in the evening, and also remembered /
that as 1t was Wednesday the stage |
from G. was due at eight, but owing /
to the bad going it was not yet in. 1 !
therefore determined that I would, as |
had often done before, lock the front /
door and the door between the inner |
and outer rooms, and, leaving a light /
burning, 90 to sleep, trusting to the /
driver to wake me by rattling the
door.


1t seemed but a few moments, so
sOundly I had slept, ere was awak-
ened by a pounding on the door,
stood opposite, l discovered, how |
ever, that it was l o'clock in the /
morning, and that had been asleep


nearly four hours. AS I hurried to- /.
ward the door put my hand into my
pocket for the key, and found it was
empty. The two door keys and both |
the keys to my safe, all Of which / |
had when l went to sleep, were gone. I
Stepping to a rear door, in the lock Of


which always kept the key, found
that also locked and the key gone.
This so surprised me that for a few
seconds ] remained on the spot, ut |
terly unable to do anything TO solve
the mystery. From this state / was
aroused by renewed pounding on the
door. There was but one available
mode Of exit from my prison, and
that was through a side window
Throwing up the sash, I spr3ng out
and hurried around, where I expected
to find the driver. Mysteries seemed
TO have no end, for instead Of meet
ing the driver came upon an excited
crowd Of about twenty. My appear
anee was the signal for all to COM


mence telling me the cause Of their
excitement. Silence was, however,


at last obtained, and then the Sheriff
told me in as few words as possible


the state Of affairs.


1t seems that one Of the physicians


Of the town, DR.. Smith, was return


ing from prolonged visit TO a patient,


and when about q mile from the town,
heard in the road ahead Of him q pis-


tOl shot. Hurrying on he found the
stage / was expecting, drawn up by
the side Of the road, and in the mid
die Of the road the body Of a man.
Bringing his lantern near the face he
found that it was the driver, and that
he was dead, having been shot thrO'
the head. He found the robes, ETC.,
of the Vehicle scattered around on
the ground, as was also the mail bag


but the latter had been unlocked, not
cut open, and the contents were gone.
BE lifted the body up and placed 1t


in the stage, and was just starting on
for assistance, when he saw a revolver
near by, which, from the fact that
one barrel had been discharged, he
decided was the weapon with which
the deed had had been committed.
Arrived in town, he aroused the Sher-
iff and few neighbors; and while
he was dispatched after the body, the
Sheriff had gone to my house after
me. Finding that L was no. there
had come to the Office, and Just as I
Joined them the body arrived.


This was the substance Of the facts
related to me. It seemed strange that
the Sheriff should have gone to my
house instead Of after the body, and I
was about to express myself when he
stepped forward, and laying his hand
on my shoulder, said: arrest you,
John Blanchard, for the murder Of
Charles Smith, stage driver"


II he had struck me / should not
have been more surprised. i tried to
reason with him, but although he was
very civil, he was equally as firm,
and the result was that I spent the
remainder Of the night in the county
Jail, which building was situated in
l., that being the county seat. The
examination the next morning elic-
tied the following rather curious facts.


When the Sheriff searched my per-
son he was surprised to find no keys,
and indeed no wallet or memOran-
dunn book. Sending to my assistant,
he obtained the door keys, but the
safe keys could not be found, and my
clerk said that always carried them
with me. Upon entering, they found
that the letters were all gone, the
money drawer empty, and q few
stamps, which the clerk informed
them we always left out o. the safe at
night, missing. And no trace could
be found Of the safe keys. SuppOs- /
that had disposed Of them in order
" y
was taken for granted ] had concealed
in the safe-eOuld not be discovered,
they brought in q lOcksmith, and after
much trouble forced THO lock. This
labor served only to show them that
the safe had been completely rified,
and that the sum Of three thousand
dollars which had been in il the night
before was gone.


I found that the causes which led |
to suspicion being fastened on me
were the three following: First, the |
revolver with which the deed was 1
committed, had upon the butt end /
silver plate, upon which was engraved 4
my name. The clerk took oath that j
the weapon was mine, and that 1
always Kept it in the effice. When /
they produced it / could not for a 4
moment doubt that It belonged to me.
Second, that the bag was unlocked,
and not cut open, showing that itI
must have been done by some one i
having in his possession q United /
States mail key. Third, that had
not been at home during the evening, |
and that when summoned at the post
office I delayed so long in making 4
my appearance.


70 combat these facts argued that
the state Of the office proved eOnclu-
sively that it had been robbed and |
that, without doubt, the keys and
revolver had been taken at that time.
Also, that no trace Of the stolen arti-
cles was found about me, my house,
or my Office; and that, further, if I
had desired to rob the mail, I might
have waited until IL arrived at the
office, and thus saved myself the
crime Of murder. Against the third
statement I told the reason for my
in the Office so late, and
brought forth witnesses to prove that
often did so Wednesday evenings,
in order that the mail might be de-
Iayed as little as possible. Further,
that the reason Of my remaining so
long in the Office was that I could not
open the door, and brought forward
.he fact that the keys were missing to
sustain my declaration.


Although these arguments were by
20 means fully satisfactory to those
who took the ground that I was
guilty. they were so strong that
was released on bail Of five thousand
iOllars, which I readily obtained. By
he consent of the -POstOffiee Depart
nent, turned the affairs Of the Office
,ver to my assistant. I was thus left
rec to pursue every means to prove
ny innocence, which I felt could only
De done by discovering the guilty
party.


I accordingly placed the best detect
ves at work, with orders to COM !
nunfoafa IN ma the first susDfoiOn I