Morning journal and courier., 1881-04-15
Friday Morning, April 15, 1881.
CRIME IN MAssACHUsETTs.

Friday Morning, April 15, 1881. CRIME IN MASSACHUSETTS,. Strange and shocking crimes are becoming rather alarmingly frequent in New Eng land, especially in Massachusetts and Con- necticuf. Two notable crimes have occurred in the former State this week. One was in
 the hill town of Pelham, in Hampshire county, only four miles from Amherst Col lege. husband who did not live with his wife went to dance at which she was pres
 ent, and accompanied by young man whose attentions to her are said to have led to the separation. A quarrel arose between the
 two men, and the husband, who seems not to have been the aggresser, nor to have had
 any weapon, was shot dead by his rival, who made no attempt to escape, but surren-
 dered himself to the sheriff of the county.
 Both the parties to this fatal afray were of
 respectable percentage, and had such oppor- tunities of education and training as the sons
 of hard working farmers in the smaller Mas
 sachusetts towns have. The murdered man
 is said to have been generally well behaved
 and respected.
 The her crime was of an exceedingly
 startling and painful nature Two twin
 brothers, Arthur and Luther Foster, sons of
 a worthy farmer of North Andover, began
 some years ago the struggle for better edu-
 cation than their father could give them.
 They lived with their father and helped him
 upon his farm, and such spare time as they
 had at their disposal was occupied in work
 for the neighbo1s. They carefully saved
 their earnings and two years ago they began
 to attend Phillips Academy at Andover, pay
 ing their tuition from their savings. Among those for whom Arthur had worked was a
 wealthy bachelor of North Andover named
 Wilson. A fortnight ago MT. Wilson was awakened by the noise of footsteps on the lower floor of his house, which suddenly ceased, but when he arose in the m orning he found evidence that some one had burglar iously entered the house during the night. Determined to protect himself and his prop erty he adopted the plan of keeping loaded rife at the head of his bed. Last Tuesday night he was again awakened by an attempt to force his door. He seized his rifle and sat up in bed to await further developments T 6hTlu& LuhG II u0 6uOU1u dtGdCh buc UuTS- lars his life would pay the penalty of his rashness, he remained in this position until four o'clock-three of the longest hours of his life, he says-when the intruders burst in the door. They were the two Foster broth CTS. As they were about to bound into his room MT. Wilson fired and fatally wounded Arthur, who died in few minutes behind a stone wall about 125 feet from the house, where he had been carried by his brother. The weapons left behind by the boys in their flight indicate that they were prepared to commit murder as well as burglary. It is stated that the conduct of both the boys, in and out of their class, had seemed to be ir- and one account says that Ar thur, who was killed, was intending to be preacher of the gospel.
 The Massachusetts papers are naturally moved to moralizing. by theee~ crimes. The Springfield Ree,tt5lican declares that New England is becoming a-great criminal curiosi- ty shop and says: Here is a good study for experts in sociology. These fellows were 21 years old (twins-did that have anything to do with the affair ? reared in a respected
 
 yer Theological Seminary, and were pursuing the higher education in 8 Christian school famed for it's thoroughness. They could no 1oubt have got help from some of the many funds devoted to such objects, and yet they stole. What does it all mean :? The solution of few problems like this would be worth more to the world than all its divinity schools and theological libraries" The Worcester Spy says: ''We are accustomed to think of the dangerous element in our population as largely composed of persons of foreign birth or descent, and the statistics of crime tend to confirm that opinion; but of these atest and worst crimes Massachusetts must bear the whole responsibility. Those who had part in them are her sons, not by adoption, but born in the family. All the influences of heredity, of education and able of such deeds are hers. The other cir 1 eumstance is that rum seems not to have had anything to do with either, at least l directly. The dance at which the Pelham l murderer and his victim were guests was, in l 1eed in cider mill, but the associations of 1 the place are not, so far as appears, in any 1 way connected with the act. The men were both sober, and neither was habitually 1runkard. The Andoyer young men may 1 possibly have entered in secret upon evil courses, but their indulgence, if they did in aulge, cannot have been carried far enough to demoralize them deeply without attracting public observation. The question recurs, why is it that such criminals arise among the yeomanry of Massachusetts, a class of people noted for their steady virtues :? Are the moral influences that surround them weaker, ,or are the temptations to evil strongers or are these cases not evidence of moral de- terioration, but only casual instances, whose close coincidence in time has no special sig nifcance?''