PRELLER'S MURDER. MAXWELL'S FATHER ON THE CRIME.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 251, 31 March 1888, Page 4

PRELLER'S MURDER. MAXWELL'S FATHER ON THE CRIME.

Tin. father of the prisoner Brooks., aliaa .Maxwell, condemned to death at St. Louie 01 the mmder of I 'roller, has arrived a(, Now \oik iiom Liverpool. A lepresentati\e oi the ""World" called on Brooks senior a feu- day.s prior to \u* departure at his residence, Hyde, n small manutactiuing village eight miles from Manche-tei. .Sunny Bank, the home ot the JJrooks fa.mil v, is one ot a row ot bmall red bnek cottages in Chappel-fctieeL, uquiettboioughlaio loading 1 oil the main iuad ot the villagi\ Biooks senior is a quiet - looking man ot respectable appeal anee, uho.-e lace h closely shasen, with the exception ot d,ak gioy whiskers, wueh he allows to giow down tiom his ears and bfneuth his chin. He was j4unly atthed jn,i>nitof giey tweed, and\sote a ( heck shut, a white collar and a\ simple black necktie. As he is a local f-r-hoolmastci, he is natuiallv better informed and mote intelligent than mot of hi-, neighbour. Upon JiciiMno my object °he conducted meinf-) a co/.y looking Mttmg-ioom. in a eoiiK-i of whin, stood a small piano, and m .inutJici a small sideboaid V cabinet. Hpon Iho table h\y -omo undci clothing' andaihclcs uhich indicated that he \\a» j picpaiiiiLi loi .» journey . He told mo that , !u intended, attei a shoi t dch.y at 2s'ew Yoik. Lo piocted straight to St. Louis, in iepl> (<> a quay as (o Ins opinion ot the (k( i-iuh of the bupieme Couit, he dcelaied that lie bchc\ed it Lo be the mu-t unfair and uii|Urtt indgment e\er paf-aed in a ci\di-(d (uimti). he tin thet added that one ot the di^enticnt jud^ts betoie whom the c.isc wjishojud haducolaieu tliat duringall the )(.Mh lie had "lit upon the bench he hud noser, m cithci cuminal or civil procLediny.s, sten |u-iuc so iiagiantly denied to an I'ecused pei.son. He belies ed ttiat in no Engli h or Europiuu cuiut svould a pusonei base been LicMted -n unj.mlj. li wa N m In*, opinion, niainl.v oum^ to the manner m which the Aiucncin pic^ had piejudiced the minds, otthcjuiv. Ho cvpie^ed hun&elt as. perlectlj -au-iic({ ssiLn the lass yeis who had undi'i taken (lie delence of his ton, J. ]. Mai tin and li W. Fontleioy, and said that ]he i. ad been Miminoiu-d by them to the Li'iitcd .States, lie had abn received a bnel, which hi had not yet had time to puiK-e, and theiefoie could not exactly uudeibtand ho.v matter stood until he had seen the counsel in Ameuca in regaidto pioceeitin»s m connection with a svrit of en oi. He said lfc could be shown that in analogous ca-us dnti.se decisions had been •rncn. and that altogether the accused had been Heated with a^icat deal of injustice. He was inmly comineed oi his ton s innocence, ami find that h'n> whole pie\iou.s life svould tend to bhosv that he was quite incapable ot committing to foul a deed. In answer to a qucatiori as to what caiue, m his opinion, the death ot I'ieller wa-a to be attributed, he said he behc\ed it -v\as accidental. He had, from the \ cry first moment ot vocinj: his, fcO n, called on him to tell the whole truth about the aflair, >o tar as In; knew ot it. He complained bitterly ot teitain statements winch had been punted in American ncw&papei & which know noihiny w hates er about it concerningthe pn-oiiei's previous career. Such things, he belles cd. would not ha\e been ici mured id England. The c\icienco a-, to the conie.ssion made by the prisoner to a dttcetisc he eharacten&ed a< benio th e perluicd falsehood of a paid hhehnsr%vho was sent into gaol as a pusoncr in order to trump up a case lor the jjrosecution. This whole haneaehon ho icyaided ac a mo-1 infamous in or-c< dinf, r . ( At (his jumtuie Mis Hiooks onunci! the ' apailmentand pi od need two rather sl )0 \vy I n.M-klie-Mith black, icd and blue stripes, \sluch .she pic-ented for her husband'.s (appnnal She i- a fjuioL-lookmg woman. | who wcais nla--.c-, and her placid counteni .mre had an e\prc~-]on of s tu (nes o and resit.- ! nation ;i- sst.h t . mutch glanced in my direc- ! (ion ,i?n l oni ijis nut lor an instant. Shu \s i- followed In her .second son, a tall, pale, studious looking, spectacled young- man^ who, attei laying- s O uie articles on a table' left thi 100 m bilently. Alter a critical examination thcialhei dcelaied that the ties \sonkl do \ci_> well. * L'pon Hsumin-jour con\oi>ation, the old man deckned that his s O ns chai actor was well known in lly]<_\ where he had taken a piomiiu'iit pint in the work of mis^ionarv sodities and had niaeliscd as u solicitor. He was umiideut that all his neighbour^' would buu him out m this. The u hole little tamil\ s eunct i (0( 0 ear a „e ^iu nec ] } (•aiewoui appearance, and the latherYonfilled to me that the cxeitioiis ho had made in his sous hchalt ha\e cost him a lot of moiK's. When he In A- Msited America he concealed his identity tor tear of detention, and thus heiu<r unable to leturn heie to his duties When, howc\ei,he found he tree, he ojieiilv stated who he was. His departure at picscnt. would entail a loss as the examinations weic coming on, and the u-sulting lees weie an important part* ot his meome. Beioie leasing IJyde 1 made numerous inquiries of the itilmbitanLs concerning- the antecedents ot the condemned man, and as a result ot these inquiries [ may state that most ot the people weie either 'silent upon or declared that they ha\e boon comineed by the reports ot the e\idence. The accounts in the American papci^ were widely copied by the local pie>>s heie, and as it is on!) about tour jears since young- Brooks left Hyde he is lemembcrcd well. 8o far a- J could asccttam ho bore a very yood ehaiaeter up to (ho time ho left, when ciieulated that he had in a bill transaction dehauded his lather. The latter, while admitting- that his son did not let. him know of his intende i departure, stouth maintains his innocence. Althouoh much sympathy is telL for hi& parents hefe, it svould scarcely be coneet to say as, much concerning- the prisoner.