The Portland daily press., 1895-03-20
HARD CIDER
Responsible for a Most Brutal llur-
der at Carmel.
FRANK THOMPSON BEAT HIS
Il BROTHERS BRAINS OUT.

FRANK THOMPSON BEAT HIS
| Il BROTHERS BRAINS OUT.
| The Formers Wife Interfered in Quarrel
and the Murdered sIan Attacked Her
The husbands Weapon was Cord
Wood Stick--An Interview with the
Prisoner at Bangor Jail.
/ @ is Special TO the PRESS.)
Bangor. March is.-A horrible murder
| that will doubtless be considered
| by many to have been partially justified
at least. is revealed in the fastest crime in,
Penobscot county in the town of North
Carmel. About five miles from the railway
station AT Carmel, although only ten miles
from this city. lived two brothers. known
| as the 'Thompson boys,'' well-to-do farm
ers, and respected by oi,izsns of the town
in which they lived. The elder was Edward
H., man torty1fve years old. and the
! younger was ChaIles franklin Thompson, :,
| ten years his junior, and commonly called
| Frank. Frank was married and with his
wife and three children lived on tile farm
with the. elder brother. To the townspeoI le
they had the Reputation of being quite
peacsable andsindustrious men. but TO heir.
near neighbors u was known that there
were many family qusrrels.and some Of
them most bifter ones. Edward seemed to
be tho most quarreisome of the two. He was
very fond OF hard cider. and woul make "a
large lot in the fall and put it away and
would not touch it untilIt had become as
hard as vinegar. Then it was his favorite
beverage, ,and for week ks at time it is said ,
l that he would beSliterally soaked in this
liquor. The abnormal appetite for this bsy-
erage had tie tendency to stimulate HIS
qnarrelsome disposition. 1t IS said that at
times it was almost impossible for the other
occupants OF the farm to get along with
him at aif. hut thai curious fact remains
that to outsiders he was usually very pleas-
ant. The quarrel that doubtless led up to
the tragedy commenc week ago. Rogers
hay press WAS in the neighborhood doing
work for the farmers,and Edward said that
1 he thought they ought TO have ther hay
pressed. F-ank thought it would be good
| thing also and week ago after doing a lot
Of work foi the nsiahbors the press came
| 10 the Thompson place and commenced to
work. The brothers lease wnat is known as
| the Waite place and the pressers were put
at " ork there. Edward WAS fishing at
| Amherst when the press came to the farm
but returned in the afternoon and COM
mcneed to find fsult with having the press
/ there, althoughit was brought there at his
| own suggestion. He found lot, Of fault
/ from day to day. aha made life miserable
| for bis broth her Edward was full OF cider
all the time and was willing TO pick a
quarrel witL any one that came in his way.
and tbs whole week was one continuous
1 quarrel that culminated in the murder Of
yesterday.
| The first intimation of the affair that was
I had by any of the neighbors was obtained
| by Mr.. John Storcr, the next door neigh
bor. II was at about $50, local tine, and
he had just come from his barn after milk
ing the COWS, shen he heard a loud noise
up the road and thought there must be q
fire. He asked his wife. and she also
| thought that there must be fire in the
neighborhood. The noise continued and he
| ran out of the house. He had gone but
a short distance up the road when he met
Mrs. Thompson running towards home, and
screaming at the top OF her voice. She
| said, ".or Gods sake John. 60 mp to the
house as quick as you cRn.h Storer went to
the house and found the murderer in the
| Kitchen. He asked him what he had done
and he told him thas he guessed he had
killed his brother Ed. Mr.. Storers went into
the sitting room and saw Edward stretched
out. He knew that il would be of no use
| to speak to him. as he was hard of hearing,
and went out TO get lamp to see what was
/ the matter. When he returned he was hoT-
rified to see Ed. weltering in his blood. He
| touched him and he gave a convulsiye
shudder. and that was all. Mr.. StoIer said
that he knew that something ought to be
done. and he went and notified Selec tman
Haskell, and later constable Simpson took
charge of Thompson, who made no attempt
to escape. He was brought to Bangor on
the early morning train. f.
4 The PRESS reporter saw Charles f..
Thompson, the prisoner. in his cell at the
police atation early this morning. The
prisoner was sitting on the bench in the
cell, and upon being introduced. Tnomp-
son arose and slowly advanced to the
grated door. s
II don't know as I ought to say anything
about this to the papers, he said. But
when told that he better tell his story and
have it correct. he concluded to relate the
! circumstances. u Viz
The prisoner is forty-one Years OF age and
has always lived in Carmel. being engaged
in farming. He looks little older than he
is nut has rather frank, open and kindly
face, and though hesma infested no signs OF
grief, it was plain to be seen that hefelt
the enormity of the stuation, and at times
tremtled as though dazed from RETROSPECT
tion. Hf is q -;
Thompson said the affair occurred in this
way His brother. Edward, yesterday after
noon, was working in the cellar,and he got
to drinking some of the hard cider stored
| there. '.The cider was pretty old. and he
soon got drunk,and then he came up stairs
where my wife and children were land COM
menced 10 abuse them. partic ulsrly my wife
He tore wildly about the room and used
lots of rough language.
After staying short time he went out,
but soon came back. The first time no en-.
tered the room where my wife was, was at
| work in the barn, but when he came bac k