The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-02
THE DYNAMITE HORROR.
The Strange Story OF Thomas's WIFE
Her Ignorance OF His Early History
Was the Fiend n Monomaniac!
lFrom the New York Herald.l


The Strange Story OF Thomas's WIFE
Her Ignorance OF His Early History
Was the Fiend Monomaniac!
lFrom the New York Herald
As was announced in the Herald, the
steamer Wieland brought from Europe
on her last trip, the widow of Thomas
whose dynamite plot resulted so disas
trously at Bremerhaven. At the time 8
Herald reporter called upon her and ar
interview was arranged, the lady promis
ing to disclose her knowledge of Thorn
as and his antecedents, and to make
whatever statements might tend to es.
tablish his somewhat involved identity
She received the reporter, and in reply
to his questions touching her husband
she corroborated the statements pub
lished in the Herald'S London letter
She said:
"To me he was always known as
William Thomson. Under that name
he married me, and by it he was known
to all the acquaintances he made on the
Continent. He seemed averse to speak
ing much of his early life. but he CAV,
me to understand that be wa1 born IL
Brooklyn, and that his people lived in
Petersburg, Virginia. His father, he
said, was English, his mother Scotch,
and of her have frequently heard him
speak in terms of the greatest affection
and reverence. Once, however, he told
me that his name was Alexander, and
that he was led to conceal it from his
being engaged in blockade-running at
the time of the war. He always spoke
of the sea and of military life As if he
had been conversant with them, but |
fancy his knowledge of both was some
what superficial. OF his means and re-
sources | knew little. He was never
engaged in any business to my knowl-
edge, but | am led to believe that he
had passion for speculation. At one
time | remember his showing me S75,-
600 in bonds, but that was the only in
stance of his giving me an inkling of the
resources he commanded.
THOMAS's HABITS AND DISPOSITION.
Speaking of Thomas's habits and dis
position his wife said:
''He was essentially a man of quiet
disposition. Most of his time was spent
at home, and he seemed to delight in
nothing so much as chatting and play
ing with his children. He was very
proud, made few acquaintances, and
although jOvial in company he always
preserved a strict decorum and reserve
He was no drinker, nor did he smoke
much, and l never remember having
seen signs of intoXication upon him."
From the subsequent conversation the
reporter was led to believe that
ThOmas's actions and hkings during the
ten years of his married life in many in
stances savored of insanity. His pas
siOns for perusing sensational stories of
murder and havoc, his morbid appetite
for tales of blood, and the unaccounta-
BILE longing for scenes of carnage, which
prompted him to look for war details
with anxiety, and to visit battle-fields
from whose horrors the bravest might
shrink, all seemed to indicate that
Thomas was essentially a monomaniac.
His wife states that during the Franco
PFussian war he conceived a most bitter
and unaccountable hatred for the Ger
mans. At times he would utter the
widest denunciations of them, and,
when excited, would make the maddest
threats, and express toward them the
deepest deteStation.
SHE MEETS THE MYSTERIOUS MAN.
Mrs. Thomas gave the following story
Of her life from the time of meeting her
husband: During the summer of 1865
Mrs. Thomas, then young girl, was
stopping at a little country village in
Illinois. 1t is quiet, sequestered spot,
shut off from the world by great tracts
of woodland and ranges of hills which,
from the advantages they offered sports
men, drew together quite a number of
foreign pleasure-seekers. The popula-
ton of the place is made up principally
of French and Germans, and only an
occasional American ever sojourned at
it very long. During herresidence here
there came to the house at which she
was boarding an Englishman suffering
from rheumatism. lie was tall, broad
shOuldered, with a ruddy complexion
and a profusion of light-brown hair.
This man was Thomas. Why he came
there he did not divulge, but limited to
the young girl, into whose company he
was necessarily thrown, that he had
been blockade runner and was now
seeking concealment in this out-of-the-
way place. Their acquaintance ripened,
and in the autumn of the year she be-
came his wife. They first took up their
abode in st. Louis and lived there for
while, Thomas devoting himself entire
ly TO his bride and forming no associa-
tons outside his hotel. All this time
he talked necessarily about his adven-
lures in the war, often express
ing a fear that pursuers, whom
he dreaded, would get upon his
track. At night, too, his sleep was
troubled, and he frequently started up,
that the dagger of an assas-
sin had been at his throat. One night
in the middle of winter, while all the
residents of the hotel were asleep, there
came a knock at the door, which Thom-
as rose from his bed to answer. In a
he came back, ,hurriedly dressed
and without any explanation,
departed. Days passed away, and Mrs.
Thomas neither saw nor heard any
thing of her absent husband, until the
thought that he had deserted her began
to dawn upon her. She waited patiently,
however, and one day he came back as
rs he had departed, and told
her that he had narrowly escaped with
his life, and that she must prepare to
leave st. Louis at once. That afternoon
they took the train for New York and
day and night in the most Sc
we're weather until they reached it. So
intense had been the cold and so ex-
haustive the excitement of the trip that
Mrs. Thomas had to be conveyed to her
hotel in an almost numb condition, and
had to have restOratives applied imme-
diately on her arrival. But no delay
would be suffered. The steamer Her
mann, of the Bremen Line, was to sail
in couple of days, and on her they
left for Europe on the 18th of January,
1866. After a twelve days. passage
they reached Bremen, and from it pro-
ceeded to Dresden, where they
resided several months. Once in
Europe, the fear of some impending
danger seemed to leave Thomas, and
he became the bluff, iovial fellow which
the acquaintances he made there have
since described him to be. Most of his
time was spent at home, and he de-