Chenango County Jail Explosion Explained, 1909

Mystery Solved

Sheriff Beardsley No Longer Worried

Explosion is Explained

Norwich Sun, Oct. 29, 1909

 

One hot night last summer, Sheriff William E Beardsley was startled by what he took to be an explosion, the noise apparently coming from his private office in the jail building.  Though clad only in his pajamas, the sheriff immediately proceeded to investigate, but could find nothing wrong and could discover no traces of an explosion.  The affair was set down as the remnant of a fragile dream and remained without other explanation until a day or two ago, when upon looking and opening a little used drawer in his safe, Mr. Beardsley solved the mystery of the midnight crash.

 

To turn backward the hands of time, the cause of the explosion originally came to Norwich from Sherburne [Chenango Co., NY].  It will be recalled that several months ago, there was an investigation of excise conditions in that village.  Mr. Huff of the Anti-Saloon league had deputies collecting liquid evidence.  This evidence was shown before the grand jury and after that body had concluded its deliberations, the evidence was turned over the Sheriff Beardsley for safe keeping.  Included in the evidence was a bottle of beer, said to have been purchased at a certain hotel on Sunday, and also included in the lot were several bottles said to contain whiskey, said to have been purchased under similar conditions.

 

It was in the winter time that these exhibits were turned over to the sheriff.  They were carefully locked up in a drawer of the safe and forgotten.  When the strange and unexplained explosion was heard in the office last summer, no one thought of the Sherburne liquor case exhibits.  They remained in seclusion until just now, when the sheriff had occasion to open the drawer.  Imagine his surprise when instead of a bottle of beer, he found only fragments of glass.  It was evident that the bottle and contents, becoming over heated, had gone up with a loud bang.  As evidence, the remains were useless.  And too, the flying beer had so obliterated the inscriptions on some of the tags sealing the other liquid exhibits, that they too, are now of doubtful value.