Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-29
ESPECIAL rrLroRAn 70 rar DrsrArcn.i

ESPECIAL TELEeRAh TO THE DTsPArcH.I
BRooKLYN, N. Y, December 28.-Ths
family of Louis Brooks, Of 113 Union
avenue, consisted, until this afternoon, Of
himself, his wife Hannah, their two sons,
and one daughter. All were Germans,
and had come over here when
and elder son married some time ago.
Frank, the other boy, was q on FRIDAY. He
stayed at home q great deal and devoted
himself to his mother and to music He
played the mandolin, the xylophone, the ac-
cor5eon and the violin.
The father and both sons were BARRIERS,
and among them they had shops. One Of
these was on the first floor Of the Union
Avenue House, near Grand street. The
family lived in the rooms in the rear, ana,
while they were not rich, they were in very
comfortable circumstances. Frank, with
the help of Ernst Leiddeck, conducted the
shop at the home, while his father and
brother conducted the others in streets near
by in the Eastern district.
A FAITHFUL SON.
The mother of the family was 81 wears
old. Last Tuesday night she was taken sick
with Inflammation of the left lung. Frank
nursed her, and from the time she went to
bed he was up all the while. he did not
sleep Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and
Friday night. She was not seriously
i'll, but Frank thought she was and
be became greatly worried about
her. To-day noon she grew nell
ancholy, and calling her daughter Emma
and Frank to her bedside, she told them she
thought she should die. That upset Frank
and made him more nervous than ever. He
could not bear to listen to her, and left the
room and went out to the shop. Mrs Brooks
Kept on talking Of death and told Emma
what disposition she wanted made of her
property.
The daughter listened patiently and
soothed her mother as best she could and
then went to the kitchen. About 3 o'clock
she began to prepare an early supper. At
$50 o'clock Frank, who had been walking
around in distracted manner. left the shop
and was gone about ten minutes. After be
had returned his sister got ready to 90 out
for awhile.
HAS A PREsENTTMENT.
The mother asked Emma not to be gone
long, for she said she might die soon, and she
did not Eanther to be away. Emma promised
to be back soon. That was at 4 o'clock.
After she had been gone q few minutes,
= A0uh WCub O0t A4C " d oloGub aUouB
Is minutes. When he returned he walked
up and down the shop, with his head hang
ing down on his breast. He seemed in
tensely nervous, and Mr.. Leiddeck says he
wondered what was the trouble.
About 4:30 o'clock Frank went to his
mothers room. A moment later Leiddeck
heard two pistol shots. He rushed into the
bedroom and saw Frank lying on the floor,
the blood gushing from wound on the
right side Of his head, and pistol on the
floor by him. Mrs. Brooks was in bed.
There was wound over her right ear and
she was dead.
Leiddeck shrieked and ran to store on
the corner and got man to go back with
him. When they returned, Frank was in
a chair in the shop, but unconscious. An
ambulance was summoned, and he was
taken to St. GATHERINGS Hospital. The
surgeons said he could not recover.
WHY HE DID IT.
The bullet had taken an upward course,
and was lodged near the upper part Of the
skull. They made no attempt to remove il.
Coroner Lindsay tried to get him to talk,
but all he could say was that he had shot
his mother because she was IN such pain.
The daughter kept her promise and hur.
ried back, but only to find her mother dead,
just as the mother had said she feared she
would be. The daughter swooned. "Oh,
why did this hapDenP' she exclaimed
afterward. mo one loved my mother
more than Frank. He had cared
for her night and day, and his worriment
must have made him crazy. All, he wor-
shipped the very ground she walked on, and
it must have been because he thought her in
agony that be did this"
The father and elder son had reached the
house in the meantime, and were almost
insane when they saw what had been done.
Both said that Frank had never owned q
pistol; that, in fact, he had never used one,
aud that he must have bought the weapon
used to-day on one Of the two trips he made
rom the shop during the afternoon.
SIGNS OF HER SUFFERING.
The face of the dead woman was some-
What marked with lines of suffering, but
otherwise was placid. Death had evidently
;ome to her instantly, and perhaps she had
lot seen the weapon with which she was
Killed.
Leiddeck, who was the only other person
n the place at the time, says be heard no
ounds before the pistol reports, and be
kinks Frank said nothing to his
mother before he fred at her.
The police did not detain Leiddeek
IS q witness. It has not been
earned yet where young Brooks bought the
'istol. There were no papers found to show
hat be contemplated the deed, and from
THAT little he says there is no evidence that
Ie appreciates what be did.