diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/66056-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/66056-0.txt | 8141 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 8141 deletions
diff --git a/old/66056-0.txt b/old/66056-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 09cef97..0000000 --- a/old/66056-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8141 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Great Harry Thaw Case, by Benjamin H. -Atwell - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Great Harry Thaw Case - Or, A Woman's Sacrifice - -Author: Benjamin H. Atwell - -Release Date: August 13, 2021 [eBook #66056] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at - http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - available at The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREAT HARRY THAW CASE *** - - - - - Other Juries Compared With That in the Thaw Trial. - - - _Trial._ _Jury was out_ _Verdict._ - - Thaw 47 hours 8 minutes Disagreement. - William J. Koerner 59 hours 10 minutes First degree. - Nan Patterson (first) Mistrial. - Nan Patterson (second) 24 hours Disagreement. - Nan Patterson (third) 11 hours 35 minutes Disagreement. - Roland B. Molineux (first) 8 hours First degree. - Roland B. Molineux (second) 25 minutes Not guilty. - Albert T. Patrick 2 hours First degree. - Guldensuppe case 3 hours First degree. - Boscchieter case 4 hours Second degree - Carlisle W. Harris 1 hour 10 minutes First degree. - Dr. Buchanan 28 hours First degree. - Dr. S. J. Kennedy (first) 3 hours 13 minutes First degree. - Dr. S. J. Kennedy (second) 6 hours 35 minutes Disagreement. - Dr. S. J. Kennedy (third) 22 hours 5 minutes Disagreement. - Burton C. Webster (first) 19 hours Disagreement. - Burton C. Webster (second) 4 hours Manslaughter. - David Hannigan 6 hours 20 minutes Not guilty. - -[Illustration: MADISON SQUARE GARDEN - -The Scene of the Thaw-White Tragedy.] - -[Illustration: THE TOMBS PRISON - -Window in Circle Marks Thaw’s Cell.] - - - - - THE GREAT - - HARRY THAW CASE - - OR - - A Woman’s Sacrifice - - - BY - BENJ. H. ATWELL - - - A graphic and truthful narrative of the most sensational - case in modern jurisprudence. A thrilling account of - a young girl’s struggles in her battle for fame and - fortune, and the unconquered love of the man - who has baffled the world’s greatest alienists; - with portraits of many leading characters, - famous society leaders and noted - actresses who have made this case - the talk of America and Europe - - - ILLUSTRATED - - - CHICAGO - LAIRD & LEE, PUBLISHERS - - - - - Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1907, - By WILLIAM H. LEE, - in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at - Washington, D. C. - - - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - -Chronology of the Case, 6 - -CHAPTER - - I. Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, the Woman in the Case, 11 - - II. Harry Thaw’s Courtship and Marriage, 19 - - III. The Story that Startled the World, 28 - - IV. Stanford White, Creator and Destroyer, 41 - - V. Greatest Legal Battle of the Age Opens, 53 - - VI. “I swear Harry K. Thaw was Insane,” 68 - - VII. A Human Sacrifice on the Altar of Love, 78 - - VIII. Evelyn Reveals White as a Fearful Monster, 87 - - IX. Intrigue like those in Days of Nero, 102 - - X. White on Verge of Arrest when Shot, 120 - - XI. Thaw’s Will Disclosed Fear of Assassination, 128 - - XII. The Hidden Witness to the Proposal, 142 - - XIII. Lived on Bounty of Stanford White, 158 - - XIV. Thaw’s Mother on the Stand, 164 - - XV. Scathing Denunciation by Jerome, 182 - - XVI. Shocking Disclosures in Famous Affidavit, 193 - - XVII. Jerome Calls Thaw Madman, 201 - -XVIII. Lunacy Commission is Appointed, 213 - - XIX. Commission Finds Thaw Sane, 220 - - XX. Delmas, “The Napoleon of the Bar”, 223 - - XXI. Delmas’ Speech Moves Jurors, 228 - - XXII. “The Unwritten Law”--The Defense Ends, 244 - -XXIII. “Thou Shall Not Kill,” Quotes Jerome, 262 - - XXIV. The Judge’s Charge to the Jury--Thaw in Collapse, 278 - - XXV. Deliberations of the Jury, 285 - - XXVI. Ending of the Trial--Jury Disagrees, 293 - - - - -PREFACE. - - -A great trial has come to a close. It has attracted the attention of the -entire civilized world for three widely separated and distinctly defined -reasons--the unusual degree of heart interest underlying the tragedy -that brought it about; the startling and sensational disclosures of life -in the great metropolis, and the legal precedents established, -particularly in relation to the universal, unwritten law. - -Realizing that this remarkable case is destined to be more than a -passing sensation of the hour or the year; that it will exercise a wide -influence on the thought and lives of uncounted thousands, it has seemed -meet that a carefully prepared, clean and accurate record should be -given the world in permanent form. - -This, because its eloquent sermon cost too great a price to be lost, and -its awful warning against a vicious life is of too great value to the -world to trust it to fitful memory. - -Men standing on the brink of the precipice hewn by unbridled passion, -may read in the terrible fate that overtook Stanford White at the hands -of an avenging husband, an injunction against the worst in their nature -and reflect before it is too late. - -Mothers, tempted by the pressing, material needs of the day to permit -tender daughters to aid in the family support by entering occupations, -which, while not vicious, are beset by pitfalls, may think twice before -reaching a decision after contemplating the sufferings and humiliations -suffered by Evelyn Nesbit. - -Young women in the exuberance of youth, hungering for the empty bubble -known as a career, may recall the pathetic picture presented by the same -girl when on the witness stand as Mrs. Thaw, and recoil from thought of -a butterfly life after viewing that crushed, unhappy figure. - -Even more exalted personages may find profit in taking inventory of the -Thaw case. Prosecuting attorneys are found in every county in this broad -land. Let them observe the attitude of District Attorney Jerome in this -case and search out their minds to determine if they are ever guilty of -persecution in the name of prosecution, or inflict unnecessary torture -on the innocent, to vindicate an immaterial theory, of interest only to -the occupants of the grandstand. - -Modern times reveal no parallel to the Thaw case in its various phases. -Shakespeare’s wonderful creations of fancy contain no more thrilling -features nor more humanizing passages in their philosophic application -than have been disclosed by this life tragedy of love, hate, villainy, -perfidy and outraged innocence. - -All the emotions known to the human heart enter into it, ranging from -boundless, mercenary cupidity and indescribable cruelty to self -sacrificing love that has found no test too severe. - -Preachments covering the scope of every sermon life’s experiences -produce abound in its every development in such blunt, powerful form -that he who runs may read and he who reads may bring them home to -himself. - -Precedents in medical jurisprudence have been established, medical and -legal reputations made and lost. - -To the student of human nature, then, this volume will carry a message. -Also, to the moralist and the teacher, the physician and the lawyer. Nor -will this list exhaust the field of those who may find something of -interest and benefit within its pages, for the field is as broad as -mankind. - -If it is received in the spirit in which it is given to the public, free -from any disposition to pander to mere morbid curiosity or to exploit -that which is reprehensible in moral makeup, it shall have accomplished -the purpose of - - THE AUTHOR. - -[Illustration: EVELYN NESBIT AS “AN AMERICAN BEAUTY” when she was 18 -years old.] - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, the “Woman in the Case.” - - FAMED FOR BEAUTY EVEN AS A LITTLE CHILD--BORN IN LITTLE - PENNSYLVANIA TOWN--WHEN ONLY 13 YEARS OLD SHE BEGAN AS AN ARTIST’S - MODEL--SOUGHT OUT BY FAMOUS PAINTERS--ENGAGED AS A CHORUS GIRL - BECAUSE OF HER BEAUTY--LURED FROM INNOCENT CHILDHOOD BY STANFORD - WHITE, MILLIONAIRE ARCHITECT--FORMED THE ACQUAINTANCE OF HARRY - THAW, RICH YOUNG PITTSBURGH MAN--SENT AWAY TO SCHOOL BY - WHITE--SNUBBED BY FELLOW STUDENTS--FORCED TO QUIT SCHOOL. - - -Evelyn Nesbit, later to be known as “the most beautiful artists’ model -in the world,” was born in Tarentum, Pa., a little village near -Pittsburg, in 1884. Even as a baby she was surpassingly pretty, and her -face, like that of a dark-haired cherub, attracted hundreds of visitors -to her parents’ humble home, a little two story frame cottage worth less -than $2,000. - -Evelyn’s life was like that of most young girls in country towns. She -went to Sunday school regularly, and at the age of five made her first -public appearance in a Sunday school entertainment. - -The family moved to Pittsburg, and Evelyn was still a schoolgirl when -the death of her father, Winfield Scott Nesbit, a struggling lawyer, -left her mother and herself almost destitute. Incumbrances on the -little property left by her father shut off almost every source of -income. The schoolgirl had to face a more serious problem than usually -falls to the lot of a girl in short skirts. - -When Evelyn was only thirteen years old, a Mrs. Darragh, a portrait -painter and miniature artist of Philadelphia, discovered her rare beauty -and painted her head. Later Phillips, a photographer of Philadelphia, -asked the Pittsburg child to sit for several photographic studies. The -pictures were printed in an art magazine and attracted attention. Before -her father had been dead long Evelyn Nesbit found that she was being -sought by such artists as Carroll Beckwith, F. S. Church, Carl Blenner, -and J. Wells Champney. - -Demand for the privilege of photographing her beautiful face or -portraying it on canvas became so great that the money earned by the -little girl by posing became the mainstay of the family. With her mother -she moved to New York, took rooms in a low-priced boarding house, and -began frequenting studios of famous artists. Her work was in constant -demand. - -It was while she was posing that she met the man whose acts toward her -resulted in his killing by Harry Kendall Thaw. It was when her mother, -modest, yet proud of her wonderfully beautiful little daughter just -budding into girlhood, took her to a photographer’s that Evelyn Nesbit -flashed into public view as a famous beauty. The pictures were so -remarkable, so perfect in feature, so graceful in every outline that the -artist exhibited them in his studio. - -Little wonder it was that every one who passed the show case stopped -spell-bound by the youthful beauty of the subject; little wonder that -Charles Dana Gibson, then in the zenith of his success, with his studies -of the American girl, looked upon Evelyn’s photographs in rapture and -wished immediately to meet the original and arrange to have her pose for -him. - -One day as the little model was about to leave the studio she was met by -a man about to enter the door. - -“By jove! Gibson, who is this little vision of the empyrean blue? Tell -me. I must know the little sprite, whether she is of this earth or just -a fairy from out of wonderland,” the man added, lightly, as he held the -girl a shy and pretty captive at the door. - -The usual unconventional studio introduction followed. The man who -gasped in admiration of the exquisite flower-like beauty of the young -girl was Stanford White, the renowned architect; the girl was Florence -Evelyn Nesbit, artist’s model. - -The man of the world saw in the innocent young thing an easy victim to -his wiles, and opportunities were made for him to meet the girl, whom he -planned to make his puppet, his plaything, his slave. - -His efforts were not long in being crowned by success. The pretty -trinkets which the girl loved so well were hers with the first -expression of her desire; she was flattered when she realized from whom -she was receiving adulation, the subtle, crafty methods of the -connoisseur of beauty, of art, the epicure in all his fleshly wants, the -polished manner, the refined taste that were his by birth, all added a -charm new and irresistible to the ingenuous, luxury-loving little model -with the eyes of a Madonna and the smile of a siren. - -Soon the beautiful, innocent Evelyn Nesbit was ensconced in a high class -apartment house and Stanford White, who paid the bills, became a -constant visitor to the magnificently appointed suite. - -There she lived in ease and the artist-architect brought his men friends -to see this girl, and boasted that she was his “by right of discovery.” -She was taken to the restaurants frequented by the men and women about -town. Evelyn Nesbit became the toast of the companions of White. - -Finally a stage career was mapped out for her. White managed it, and -Evelyn Nesbit’s fame spread as she flaunted her lithe form and graceful -beauty in “Florodora” and “The Wild Rose.” - -It was at this time that Harry Thaw made her acquaintance. The late -hours and the endless, restless round of pleasure had told upon the -fragile girl and she fell ill. - -A European trip was planned for her and Stanford White was one of the -party. In a few weeks they returned to New York, but Evelyn Nesbit could -never dance again. Instead she was sent to a boarding school where White -hoped that she would regain her health sufficiently to reappear upon -the stage and, incidentally, learn better how to spell and write. - -At this time Evelyn Nesbit was a mere slip of a girl, just sixteen, with -a wealth of brown hair and great brown eyes. It was in Mrs. Henry C. De -Mille’s school that White chose to have his “ward” educated, at -“Pimlico,” N. J. Stanford White’s checks were forwarded with great -regularity and the girl, known in the school to be the “ward” of the -great and prosperous architect, became a favorite among the girls--girls -of the most exclusive of families. - -It began soon to be whispered that Evelyn Nesbit was a soubrette and -exceptions were taken to the visits of Stanford White and of Harry Thaw -and other men of their types. - -One day Stanford White went to the school in a big touring car and -invited some of the pupils for a ride. During that ride his conversation -was of such a nature that three of the girls insisted upon being -permitted to alight and they returned to the school on foot. - -This caused such an uproar in the school that Evelyn was asked to leave, -but she was prevented from going by a sudden illness. During this -illness, Harry Thaw, who had made her acquaintance in New York while she -was on the stage, was in constant attendance upon her and when the girl -was finally forced to leave, Thaw was there to defray all her expenses. - -Stanford White meanwhile had deserted the beautiful girl and refused to -pay her tuition, which amounted to $3,000. He declared he was Evelyn’s -“guardian” by courtesy only. His failure to keep his word to defray the -girl’s expenses was a severe blow to Mrs. De Mille, whose school had -become so depleted through the notoriety that he had brought upon it -that it was forced to disband. - -Meanwhile Thaw became desperately in love with the girl and took her -back to her mother and told her of his love and begged her to take -Evelyn to Europe as his guest. It was in Pittsburg sometime later that -he married the girl who had been spurned and repudiated and left -friendless by the man who claimed her “by right of discovery.” - -Evelyn’s stage career was brief but brilliant. While an actress in -musical comedies she was pronounced by all “The most beautiful woman -behind the footlights,” but her natural beauty was destined to become -fatal--fatal to Stanford White--fatal to her own good name--fatal to her -husband’s hope of happiness. - -[Illustration: “The most beautiful woman behind the footlights.” - -PICTURE OF EVELYN NESBIT - -taken just before her marriage, and considered her best likeness.] - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -Harry Thaw’s Sensational Courtship and Marriage. - - YOUNG MILLIONAIRE’S ROMANCE STARTLED THE WORLD--MET EVELYN NESBIT - AFTER A PLAY WHEN SHE WAS ONLY 17 YEARS OLD--FRIENDSHIP RIPENED - INTO LOVE--THE YOUTH’S STRANGE CAREER--WENT TO EUROPE WITH THE - FOOTLIGHT AND STUDIO BEAUTY--REPORT OF MARRIAGE ABROAD SHOCKED - RELATIVES--DENIED BY BOTH THE SUPPOSED BRIDE AND GROOM--RETURNED TO - NEW YORK--EJECTED FROM FOUR HOTELS--HAD WEDDING CEREMONY PERFORMED - IN PITTSBURG--MOTHER OF THAW AT FIRST REFUSED TO ACCEPT EVELYN AS - DAUGHTER--OFFERED $250,000 TO GIVE UP HARRY. - - -Harry Kendall Thaw’s winning of Florence Evelyn Nesbit stands out as a -thrilling chapter in the great book of love. The biography of each of -the parties was studded with the bizarre. Fifty thousand dollar dinners, -ejectments from hotels, diamonds and grand pianos thrown about as -carelessly as if they were trinkets, family opposition, and remarkably -romantic love were some of the ingredients. - -Harry Thaw’s eyes first fell upon Evelyn Nesbit when she was only -seventeen years old. She had carried her beauty from Pittsburg to the -studios of New York. Then the stage called her, and her brunette -pulchritude charmed the scion of one of Pittsburg’s wealthiest families. -Somebody presented her to Thaw at a gay party of young and beautiful -stage girls who were having a costly supper after the play at an -exclusive restaurant. All this time Evelyn was supposed to be under the -eye of her mother, who, a few years previously, had doffed her widow’s -weeds and married Charles J. Holman, a Pittsburg broker. Mrs. Holman -told her friends she keenly realized the perils that beset the feet of -beautiful young girls, but her chaperonage did not save her own -daughter. - -Thaw loved the daughter, he said, as soon as he saw her. His -appreciation of feminine loveliness had always been one of his strongest -qualities. Only three years before he met Miss Nesbit he had given a -$50,000 dinner in Paris to twenty-five of the most beautiful women that -he could get together. Cleo de Merode, at whose feet the King of the -Belgians had laid royal tribute, Anna Robinson of this country and other -famous beauties were at that banquet. Sousa’s band received a check for -$1,500 for furnishing the music. This dinner and many of Thaw’s other -enjoyments were made possible by the fact that when his father died he -left a fortune of $40,000,000. This father was William Thaw and he had -been prominent in Pennsylvania railroad and steel affairs. His widow and -the seven children inherited the fortune. - -Harry Thaw’s penchant for economy was pretty - -[Illustration: HARRY K. THAW - -At the time of his marriage.] - -well exemplified by the will under which his annual income was to be -$2,500, because, as his father said, he would spend as much as he got -anyway. His mother, though, let him have annually sums that were never -under $40,000. - -With his money he set out to dazzle the little Miss Nesbit, who back -home had often trudged by the magnificent Thaw mansion and possibly had -wondered in her simple impecunious way as to the manner of life that can -be lived by a family that has $40,000,000 to dispose of. - -It didn’t take Harry Thaw long to show her how some of that money might -be spent. To her apartments in the Audubon in New York, an apartment -building beloved of the chorus girl, he caused to be sent an exquisite -grand piano. Miss Nesbit’s mother caused it to be carted away. So also -with many of the jewels which Thaw sent up. - -While Thaw’s wooing was in progress the name of his family loomed large -in the public prints because of the marriage of Harry Thaw’s sister -Alice to the Earl of Yarmouth. On the very day of the wedding, the earl -halted the ceremony by announcing that unless satisfactory financial -arrangements were made at once there would be no marriage. The money was -paid, although Harry Thaw told reporters that if he had been there we -would have kicked the Earl down stairs. A little later, however, his -sister Alice, Countess of Yarmouth, repaid the harsh blow at the -husband by publicly snubbing Evelyn Nesbit at an English race track. - -About the time of this marriage Evelyn Nesbit went to Europe. Harry Thaw -followed her. They went automobiling, and the charming brunette fell -madly in love with the young heir to nearly $40,000,000; he had been in -love with her since the evening they first met. - -Then, all because they were arrested for exceeding the automobile speed -laws in Switzerland, the curtain was raised upon their romance, that all -the world might see. In the police court to which they were taken the -impression that they were husband and wife gained ground. News of the -supposed marriage was telegraphed to London and thence to America. -Thaw’s relatives and rich society friends were shocked. They had -registered and stopped at the Carlton hotel in London as husband and -wife, and the report of their marriage was generally believed. - -When they returned to New York they had a stormy experience. On their -arrival they discovered that Mrs. William Thaw, mother of Harry, had -announced that under no conditions would she accept Evelyn Nesbit for a -daughter-in-law, and that if her son had really married the beautiful -young model she would promptly disown him. - -Harry didn’t want to lose his fortune, and it is probable that the girl -didn’t desire to see him impoverished, either. So they faced the -dilemma. Fear of the wrath of the mother forced them to deny that the -union had been consummated, yet at the same time they were together in -New York at the Cumberland hotel, and the proprietor demanded that -either Thaw write “wife” after his name on the register or quit the -hotel. - -Thaw refused to do this, and the couple went to another hotel with the -same result. After they had been ejected from four hostelries they -separated. All this time there had been no public announcement by either -of them that they had been married, as supposed. - -Miss Nesbit, as she still insisted on being called, went to a boarding -house and the young millionaire made efforts to placate his mother. He -was successful, but not until an open rumor had it that Miss Nesbit had -refused an offer of $250,000 in cash to give up Harry and quit the -United States. - -When the mother did agree to the union she acted handsomely, and the -exquisite beauty was quietly married at the home of Rev. William L. -McEwan, pastor of the Third Presbyterian church, Pittsburg, Mrs. Thaw -and the members of both families being present. This was on April 4, -1905. - -The Thaws left Lyndhurst, the magnificent Thaw country mansion near -Pittsburg, and went to New York. They varied their life in the -metropolis by trips to Pittsburg, but did not go to Newport, where -Benjamin Thaw, Harry’s brother, lived. In Pittsburg, Mrs. William Thaw -gave several receptions to the actress-model wife of her son. Pittsburg -society started to squabble over these affairs, but finally attended the -receptions and accepted Evelyn as a member of their exclusive set. - -The charms of the young Mrs. Thaw had disarmed much of the criticism. -Mrs. Holman grew to like her son-in-law, although not long before she -had threatened to apply a rawhide horsewhip to him, while Harry and her -daughter were living together in New York, apparently unmarried. - -The Thaws themselves, when they saw how hard young Mrs. Thaw was trying -to restrict the money-spending habits of her husband, forgave her -completely. They even regretted, some of them said, that they had -offered to buy her off. When that offer was made--it was during the -stormy days in New York,--Miss Nesbit had declared “My heart is not for -sale!” - -The story of the wedding--a remarkably simple affair--is interesting in -that it showed Evelyn Nesbit’s love for simplicity in her private life. -Although fame and fortune were linked in a remarkable union, the wedding -ceremony took place almost in secret. - -The day before the wedding Mr. Thaw went to the Hotel Schenley, and in -the grillroom met some of his old associates. He remarked that in less -than a week he would be a benedict. Steins were raised high and his -companions declared that it should be made his bachelor dinner. Their -host swore them to secrecy, and then the story of the coming nuptials -was divulged to the chosen few. - -Miss Nesbit arrived in Pittsburg with her chaperon, Miss Pierce, and -went to the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Holman, in Oakland. -In the afternoon Harry Thaw went to the residence of Dr. McEwan in South -Negley avenue and arranged for the wedding. - -It was a few minutes after 5 o’clock when three carriages drove to Dr. -McEwan’s residence. From them alighted Mr. Thaw, his mother, Mrs. -William Thaw, his brother, Josiah Copley Thaw, and Fredrick C. Perkins. -Miss Nesbit came on the arm of her stepfather, C. J. Holman, and was -followed by her mother, Mrs. Holman. - -Miss Nesbit wore a traveling costume of dark material, which was almost -hidden in a light three-quarter opera cloak trimmed with rare lace and -ornamented with Persian floral designs. She wore a hat that indicated a -slight lingering toward the winter season, and across the silk entwined -brim was a gorgeous leather of three shades of brown. - -Miss Nesbit did not remove her cloak or hat and the bridegroom laid his -headgear and top coat over the banisters before he walked into the -drawing-room. When the ceremony was concluded the party left the -parsonage. Dinner was served at Lyndhurst, and the bride and bridegroom -hastened to the railway station to leave for their journey East. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -Story of the Killing That Startled the World. - - STANFORD WHITE ASSASSINATED BY CRAZED HUSBAND WHILE ATTENDING THE - PLAY--ON ROOF GARDEN OF MADISON SQUARE--THAW WALKED RAPIDLY TO - TABLE WHILE GIRLS WERE DANCING--AT LAST NOTE OF SONG HE DREW - REVOLVER, LEVELED IT AT WHITE--SAID “YOU HAVE RUINED MY LIFE--YOU - MUST DIE”--FIRED THREE TIMES--TWO SHOTS CAUSED DEATH ALMOST - INSTANTLY--PANIC IN AUDIENCE AND ON STAGE--BEAUTIFUL WIFE EMBRACED - SLAYER--THE ARREST. - - -The killing of Stanford White by Harry Kendall Thaw, on the roof garden -of Madison Square, New York, June 25th, 1906,--just fourteen months -after the marriage--startled the world. Millionaires both--the victim a -famous architect, the slayer even more famous--the love of a beautiful -woman the cause of the crime--is it any wonder the Thaw killing was the -greatest sensation in years? It took place just as the musical show, -“Mamselle Champagne,” was coming to a close. - -There was a big crowd on the roof of the garden; a crowd which pretty -well filled the floor. Many people noticed a slightly built young man -walking backward and forward in front of the stage, among the tables set -here and there in an open space in front of the seats. - -He was plainly nervous and very pale. He kept watching the entrance from -the Twenty-sixth street side. A few people knew it was Harry K. Thaw and -remarked on his peculiar behavior. They thought it queer also that he -wore a long, thin coat. - -At about 11:05 p. m. several persons noticed Stanford White enter the -roof garden and take a seat near the left hand side of the stage, pretty -well up to the front, dropping into a chair at a table four rows from -the stage. - -Young Thaw, who had been watching apparently for White to come in, -jumped at the sight of him and made for the table. - -Few persons saw what happened immediately afterward. In the first place, -the show was nearing its close, the dancers pirouetting and skipping -about the stage and the orchestra jingling and clanging in gay dance -music. - -All about the open enclosure in front of the stage, where the tables -were set, were palms and potted plants, which largely cut off the view -of the table where Mr. White was sitting. - -Some persons were sure that a young woman was at the table when White -lounged in and took a seat. They went so far as to describe her, saying -she was young, slim, dark-haired and dressed all in white, with a big -white hat, from which a filmy veil fell over her shoulders. - -Others who insisted that they observed White when he took a seat there, -said no woman was present. They were positive on that point. - -On reaching White’s table Thaw backed off a step or two, produced a -revolver, aimed it at White and pulled the trigger. The first bullet -entered the right eye, penetrating the brain. Thaw shot twice more, -rapidly. The other bullets both struck White’s body, one in the right -side of the upper lip and the other in the right arm. - -White hardly moved from his position at the table. His body sagged a -little to the left, his arm flattened out on the table top and his head -sank heavily on the arm. - -Above the swing and thrumming of the orchestra and the gay chorus of the -dancers the three shots sounded clearly, startling everybody, causing -the men to jump to their feet and rush toward the left side of the -stage. - -Two women nearby, seeing what had happened and the blood flowing from -the man’s wounds, screamed. Two of the girls on the stage fled screaming -into the wings. - -“Get back into your line,” roared the stage manager so that all heard -him. - -One of the girls started back, but she again fled to the wings, while -two of the remaining four, seeing the cause of the trouble, fell over in -a faint. - -The music and the dancing kept going a while feebly; then it died away. -The musicians jumped from - -[Illustration: MAZIE FOLLETTE - -Actress named in the case.] - -the pit and joined the crowd. The frightened chorus girls ran back on -the stage. - -The employes of the roof garden thought for a time that the shots came -from the stage. Manager Lawrence had been intending to introduce some -revolver shooting in the duel scene where the line occurs, “I challenge -you, I challenge you to a du-u-el,” and the stage hands and other -hangers on at the garden thought the innovation had been put on a night -or two ahead of schedule. - -They quickly found out their mistake, and had their hands full in a -minute or two handling the people, who were pushing right and left, the -women screaming to be let out. - -During all the confusion and excitement nobody made any effort to stop -young Thaw. He looked at White’s body, and then, still holding his -revolver, walked leisurely to a clump of potted plants and back toward -the elevator. Fireman Brudi saw a part of what had happened, saw Thaw -shoot White, and knew who the young man was that was walking away with -the revolver. - -Brudi went up to him and caught him by the shoulder. Thaw smiled at him -and made no resistance when Brudi told him he would have to wait until -the police came. He was very pale, but otherwise cool and collected. - -Brudi held Thaw lightly, while the crowd gathered around. It was a wait -of several minutes before Policeman Debes of the Tenderloin station, -appeared and took charge of Thaw. Debes telephoned to his station house -for the reserves to handle the crowd and the desk sergeant sent ten -policemen. Debes was waiting for the elevator to take Thaw to the police -station. - -Just before the elevator started, a slender, dark, pretty young woman, -the same one with whom Thaw had been sitting before he sauntered away on -his errand of death, came running into the car. She threw her arms -around the prisoner and kissed him. - -“Oh, Harry,” she cried. “Why did you do it, Harry?” - -“It’s all right, dear wife,” he answered, kissing her. “He ruined you, -and I fixed him. It’s all right.” - -All this time the audience was terror stricken. - -“Sing, you girls. Sing. For God’s sake keep on,” shouted the manager. - -The girls sang. They danced as the silent form lay prostrate. Their -faces were white. But they were on the stage and they quelled their -emotion. - -A man who sat at a table behind Mr. and Mrs. Thaw, told the following -story of the tragedy: - -“I noticed Harry Thaw and his wife when they came in. Thaw seemed to -have been drinking and was very restless. He got up from the table -several times and, leaving his wife, walked back toward the elevators. -They were sitting at the Twenty-sixth street side of the house. - -“At 10:30 Stanford White came in and took a seat at a table about five -tables in front of the Thaws. He talked a while to Harry Stevens and -then sat alone watching the show and resting his head on his right hand. - -“As he walked down the aisle, Harry Thaw noticed him and got up from his -seat. While White was talking to Stevens, Thaw walked over and stood -behind some artificial shrubbery just a few feet away from them. - -“When Stevens left, Thaw walked deliberately down the aisle and stood -for a minute behind White. He pulled a revolver from his pocket and -fired three shots. I think the first missed, but the other two took -effect, and White rolled to the floor, upsetting the chair.” - -With Thaw safely lodged in a police station cell, one of the greatest -trials of a century faced the public. The inexorable hand of the law -began its work the next day after the arrest, when Thaw was taken from -his cell in the Tenderloin police station, photographed and measured by -the Bertillon system, like a burglar or holdup man, arraigned in police -court and held without bail. Perfectly calm, Thaw went through the -hurried formalities in court, absolutely refusing to make any extended -statement regarding the tragedy. - -The policeman who arrested Thaw, gave this account of the shooting in -the police court hearing. - -“I found the people almost crazy, trying to get out of the place. I -jumped into the mob and saw a woman lying down. She had fainted, and -then I saw White. - -“I said to Thaw: ‘Did you do it?’ and he replied: ‘Yes, I did it. That -man ruined my life or wife.’ I don’t know which he said, but it sounded -like that. Then he went on saying: ‘That man ruined my home. I guess he -won’t ruin any more homes. Is he dead?’ I told him he was, and he said -he was glad of it, and he was glad he ‘made a good job of it.’ - -“When I arrested Thaw, a woman, who Manager Lawrence told me was Mrs. -Thaw, rushed up to Thaw and kissed him, and said: ‘I did not think you’d -do it in that way!’ ‘It’s all right, it’s all right,’ Thaw told her. -Then she whispered something into his ear. I don’t know what she said to -him.” - -“Down in the hall and in the street a lot of women gathered about us and -shook hands with Thaw and sympathized with him. ‘Why did you do it? Why -did you do it? they kept asking.’” - -A statement credited to Thaw immediately after the arrest is this: - -“We were all at a party in Martin’s. You can find out the names of the -others there, but I was sitting some distance from my wife. Suddenly I -saw her grow pale and begin to shiver, and I thought she was ill. - -“I made a motion to inquire what was the matter and she called a waiter -and wrote a note which she sent around the table to me. - -“The note said ‘The dirty blackguard is here.’ Then I turned and saw -that fat scoundrel sitting there, big and healthy, and then I saw her -and how she was.” - -“Did White make any motion to attack you?” was asked of Thaw. - -“What?” said Thaw. - -The question was repeated. - -Thaw nodded his head in the affirmative. - -From his pocket when he was searched there was taken a leather revolver -shield such as policemen carry their weapons in. He had $168 in cash and -several blank checks, besides a gold cigarette case. - -Thaw did not display the least anxiety about his own welfare nor about -the effects of his shots. He never asked a question about White. He did -not ask any questions of the police at all. He seemed as unconcerned as -if bailing out a chauffeur instead of facing an accusation of killing a -man. - -As he talked with a reporter he reverted again and again to his wife’s -attack of shivering when she saw White in Martin’s. - -“That poor, delicate little thing, all nervous and shaking like a reed,” -he said, half to himself. “And there he was, the big healthy scoundrel. -God!” - -While the coroner’s proceedings were in progress in the city next day, -the final scene of the tragedy as affecting White was carried out on -Long Island. At St. James’ the funeral of the dead architect was held. - -Friends and relatives of White left for the little town early to attend -the ceremony. By the time they returned the grand jury had indicted the -man who brought White’s career to a close and the coroner’s jury had -held him, completing the legal formalities preceding the trial itself. - -Thaw was restless in his cell in the Tombs from the time he entered it -until he was arraigned. His wife visited him every time the rules of the -prison allowed, and remained at his side as long as possible each time. -His mother, an aged, feeble woman, also went to New York to comfort her -offspring in his hour of trouble, and the Countess of Yarmouth, his -sister, was among the visitors. Other visitors--unwelcome ones--were the -alienists whom the state and the defense sent to examine the young man. -Thaw fought the insanity plea vigorously, and at times almost fought the -experts. Finally, however, he allowed the examinations into his mental -condition. - -[Illustration: STANFORD WHITE] - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -Stanford White, Creator and Destroyer. - - LIFE OF HARRY K. THAW’S VICTIM--HIS DEATH REFLECTED HIS STRANGE - LIFE--A MENTAL GIANT WHO TURNED FROM LOFTY ENTERPRISES TO VICIOUS - REVELS--BUILT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN--THE STUDIO IN THE - TOWER--MIGHTY WORKS THAT SURVIVE WHITE AS MONUMENTS TO HIS - GENIUS--THE TRAGIC “GIRL IN THE PIE” AFFAIR--WHITE’S HOME - EXISTENCE--HIS END. - - -Stanford White’s death was no more remarkable than the strange life he -led. Few expressed surprise that the end came as it did. On the other -hand, those who knew him best asserted they would have experienced a -sensation little short of amazement had White departed this life as most -men, surrounded by members of his family and enjoying the ministrations -of physician, nurse and spiritual advisor. - -Some saw in the pyrotechnic, picturesque, sensational climax of his -existence, the fulfillment of a prophesy oft reiterated by his closest -acquaintances. - -The unusual, the unexpected ruled the existence of this man of wonderful -brain and creative genius. A giant in mental force and power, he could -turn lightly from some vast enterprise to a revel passing all belief, -having as its only purpose the snaring of some young girl--as Evelyn -Nesbit was enmeshed. And he could turn quite as lightly from the -anguished cry of his victim and forget her in the multiplicity of -details surrounding his huge undertakings. - -What a mind was this--at once an engine of creation and destruction, -accepting the consequences in each instance as a matter of course. In -view of the peculiarities of the man, it cannot be counted strange that -he fell before the hand of the avenger in the temple he had builded to -mirth, for the famed Madison Square Garden was a creation of his mind. - -In the tower he had raised above it, overlooking the great Metropolis -with all its joys, sorrows, struggles, its mighty forces that work for -good and its uncounted army battling for sin, Stanford White had fitted -out a den of Oriental magnificence wherein he could accomplish his -purposes, far removed from the world at large. - -It was here his wildest orgies were held. It was from the tower-chamber -his young victims went forth to lives of bitterness and shame, and -within the shadow of that tower White was whirled to eternity without a -moment’s respite to atone for his sins or prepare for an accounting -before the final tribunal where truth and not pretense avails. Whatever -his offenses, his punishment was heavy, indeed. - -Great as an architect, a lover of beauty in his work and in his play, a -charming companion, a man of kindliness, possessed of many talents, a -lover of all the pleasant things of life, but not bound by scruples or -the dictates of morality--such was White. Within two days after his -death, New York rang with stories of strange debauches in which White -had played the part of host or one of the hosts. Anthony Comstock -declared that he had tried to obtain evidence which would suffice to -bring action against White for various alleged excesses. When White fell -to the floor of Madison Square Roof Garden, in short, his personal -reputation fell with him. - -As an architect, he was admittedly a genius, and he left an impress upon -the architecture of this country which will remain. He transformed the -old, unsightly Harlem Railroad freight station into Madison Square -Garden--one of the most beautiful edifices in New York. He aided in the -designing of Trinity Church in Boston. - -Among his famous works in New York were the Hall of Fame at New York -University, the Washington arch, the Century, University and -Metropolitan clubs, the William C. Whitney residence and the pedestal of -the Farragut monument in Madison Square. - -He was the son of Richard Grant White, the novelist and journalist, and -was born in 1853. After being graduated from New York University he went -to Europe to study architecture. He returned in 1881 and entered into -partnership with Charles F. McKim and William R. Meade. The firm of -McKim, Meade & White, largely through the genius of White, became one of -the most prominent in the profession. - -Mr. White was essentially a clubman, being a member of the -Knickerbocker, Union, University, Automobile, Metropolitan, Players’, -Lambs’ and New York Yacht clubs. He was a follower of the stage, a -devout first-nighter, and had an extensive acquaintance among theatrical -people. - -White’s studio apartment in Madison Square tower was one of the most -noted centers of revelry in the city. He used his studio in a -professional way to paint in water colors and to work out architectural -designs in matters that were separate from the firm work of McKim, Meade -& White, but the chief use of the rooms was as a meeting place for -gatherings of theatrical and other folk to whom night life was -attractive. - -The rooms were decorated with things that White had gathered in his -frequent trips to Europe. The draperies and rugs, the furniture and -adornments were of the florid style of three centuries ago that -prevailed in Italy and France. His tastes ran to decoration quite as -much as to architecture, and his apartments in the tower revealed the -artistic side of the man more than any of his purely professional -achievements. - -His acquaintance among stage folk ran not so much to those who were -regarded as the leaders in their - -[Illustration: HATTIE FORSYTHE - -Chorus girl, once a friend of Mrs. Thaw.] - -profession as to those who were willing to “make a night of it.” And it -was from these “all nighters” that Mr. White drew the material for the -“studio parties” that at one time brought notoriety to the Madison -Square Garden tower. - -In the field of decoration, White had established a place for himself -unlike that of any architect. He was accustomed to make trips to Europe -to secure collections of various kinds. He would get materials for a -Francis I. room or a Louis XVI. room, bring them home, and store them to -be sold later to some rich man who was looking for fads in household -decorations. Sometimes he would collect windows and doors. At other -times he would scour France and Italy for hangings and draperies. - -After the tragedy there was great diversity of opinion in the -architectural world as to White’s standing as an architect. Some of the -architects did not hesitate to say that he was the greatest in the -profession in his country since H. H. Richardson. Others asserted that -he shone largely by the reflected light of his partners, McKim and Mead. -It is certain that no architect was called upon oftener to serve on -juries to pass upon the merits of designs for the great buildings of the -country than White. - -Those who decried his abilities said that much of the work ascribed to -White was really the work of McKim or Mead. Their tastes ran to the -severely classic designs and to what is known as the field of pure -architecture. It was declared that White, a disciple of the French and -Italian schools, could not have designed many of the buildings for which -he got credit as a member of the firm of McKim, Mead & White. One -architect said: - -“The Boston Public library, the Columbia university buildings, the -Villard house, the agricultural building at the Chicago World’s Fair, -and other creations of the McKim firm were not and could not have been -designed by White. All through them runs the genius of Mr. McKim. White -ran to the lighter style of architecture, the florid, the modern, and -not to the Grecian or the severe and monumental style of purely classic -architecture. - -“His mood was that of gayety and it expressed itself in his designs. The -bases of St. Gaudens statues lent themselves to his mood, and some of -his best work was done in connection with them. He was essentially an -artist rather than an architect, and his influence in his firm was along -the lines of the artistic rather than along the strict standards of -architectural expression.” - -There were current also numerous stories regarding White’s private life -that were not of the creditable kind. It is not too much to say that he -was frequently under suspicion, but there was always something Lacking -in a legal way so that no open scandal attached to his name, although -evil reports were frequent. No action was taken by the investigators, -however, because of lack of tangible evidence. - -One incident that contributed much to White’s bad reputation and which -illustrates forcibly his view of a “good time” was the “Girl-in-a-Pie” -affair, which was later to come out in evidence at the trial. - -The famed “Girl-in-the-Pie” dinner was given to several artists and men -about town, with several notorious “fashionable” women in attendance. -The spread cost $350 a plate. - -At the approach of dawn, four negroes entered, bearing a huge pie, which -they placed on the table. A faint stir was observed beneath the crust -just as the orchestra struck up the air of the nursery jingle: - - “Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye, - Four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.” - -The pie was burst asunder, and from inside there emerged the beautiful -figure of a young girl, clad in black gauze draperies. She turned her -pretty childish face upon the astonished guests, and poised as a bird -about to fly, while two dozen golden canaries, released by her hand, -flew about the room. - -Then, when the tableau was complete, a man forced his way to the side of -the table and with a smile assisted the child to the floor. The man was -Stanford White. - -The young girl, a model, then 15 years old, lived with her mother, but -on the night of the banquet she disappeared, and remained in hiding for -two years. Efforts of the police to find her were unsuccessful. - -At last she returned, to tell a story of revolting mistreatment and -desertion by the man who met his death at the hands of Harry Thaw. - -“When I was lifted from the pie to a seat at the table I found myself -queen of the revel,” she said. “It was dazzling at first,” she said, -“but in the end it became a sad queendom. - -“Mr. White was kind for a time, but when he went to Europe he instructed -his clerks to get rid of me with as little trouble as possible. I never -saw him again.” - -Turned into the street to live as she might, this girl, not yet 18, -finally married, but her husband, when he learned of her part in the -“pie” banquet, brooded over the affair, and deserted his girl wife -without attempting to avenge her wrongs. She died soon afterward. - -Stanford White was as respectful to women of the stage who demanded -respect as he was to his wife’s friends. - -He was one of a group of men, old and young, who are oftenest seen in -and near theaters where frothy nonsense charmingly unclad is enacted and -in restaurants where musical comediennes tempt their dainty appetites -with broiled lobster. - -He knew many theatrical managers, and some of them often invited him -behind the scenes--but not to inspect the architecture. - -Stanford White was indefatigable in his pursuit of beauty in his work -and in his play. He was generous and considerate. He would hide a $100 -bill in a bouquet he ordered handed over the footlights; he would visit -a poor, sick chorus girl when she thought herself friendless in a -hospital. - -Once in a while, Mr. White gave entertainments in the tower, at which -the women and men of society were his guests. But there were other -entertainments on which Venus, not Diana, should have looked down. At -them, if a girl danced on the table she did not scratch the mahogany. -Stanford White vastly admired adolescence. His death was a tragedy and -is a warning. His last night was typical of his method of life. - -He dined with his son; he went to his club. From his nearest kin and his -honorable friends he turned to the structure his genius had raised, -where was hid his “studio.” The lights and music of the roof garden -enticed him. And in the presence of the woman who vows he ruined her -life he perished by her husband’s hand. And the last jangle that sounded -to him was a comedy song: “I could love a million girls.” - -Madison Square garden, which he created and where he met his death, was -known as his “pleasure house.” - -What an awful warning, to the would-be-young-man-about-town! With all -his subtle experience, with his fawning servants and paid detectives, -even Stanford White with his millions could not avert the hand of -vengeance. “Be sure your sin will find you out.” Sooner or later a -settlement must be made. Lucky is he whose balance is on the right side -of the ledger. - -[Illustration: THE BIRTHPLACE OF EVELYN NESBIT THAW AT TARENTUM, PA.] - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -Greatest Legal Battle of Age Opens. - - OPPOSING COUNSEL HESITATE TO SHOW THEIR HANDS IN DESPERATE GAME OF - LIFE OR DEATH--ATTORNEY GARVAN’S BRIEF OPENING ARGUMENT FOR - PROSECUTION FOLLOWED BY PRESENTATION OF STATE’S CASE IN LESS THAN - TWO HOURS--VICTIM’S SON CALLED TO STAND--FATAL BULLETS GRUESOME - EXHIBIT--STORY OF THE ROOF GARDEN TRAGEDY TOLD--DEFENSE OPENED WITH - PLEA THAT THAW BELIEVED HE WAS ACTING UPON THE COMMAND OF - PROVIDENCE WHEN HE SLEW WHITE--ALL IN READINESS FOR GREATEST - SACRIFICE OF MODERN TIMES. - - -Thousands throughout New York, and in fact the entire world, breathed in -anxious suspense when, with jury complete and all the machinery of legal -battle in readiness the great trial opened. Following delays in securing -the jury--the excusing of several jurors after their acceptance by both -prosecution and defense--the opening came as a surprise. - -The day will long be remembered because of the multiplicity of surprises -it brought forth. Brevity of argument by counsel for state and defense -was not the least of these. The opposing lawyers felt they were entering -upon a stupendous game with life and death the stakes, and youth, -beauty, love, hate, treachery and millions factors in the play. - -Neither cared to show his hand and disclose the cards he held. It was -Monday, February 4, 1907--a fateful day, coming after seven months and -ten days’ imprisonment for Thaw in the Tombs. - -The prosecution made a most remarkable record when it presented its -opening statement in ten minutes and followed it with less than two -hours of testimony, closing in time for the noon recess. The defense -announced it would open its case with a statement by Attorney J. B. -Gleason. - -The purpose of the prosecution was readily apparent--throwing upon the -defense the burden of disclosing its case, reserving the while the -state’s hardest fire for rebuttal later when Thaw’s lawyers had -exhausted themselves and their material. - -Opening shots of the legal battle royal were fired by Assistant District -Attorney Garvan, of counsel for the state. - -He congratulated the jurors on their body having been completed and then -outlined the purpose of the law, which was not seeking for vengeance, -but to uphold the security of the state, he said. He urged the -importance of the case and a strict observance of the law in order that -a verdict, fair to all, might be reached. - -It was the claim of the people, he said, that on the night of June 25, -1906, the defendant “shot and killed with premeditation and intent to -kill” one Stanford White. He then briefly outlined the movements of - -[Illustration: ASST. DISTRICT ATTORNEY GARVAN - -Sketched in court.] - -White, beginning with the Saturday preceding the tragedy and ending with -the actual scene of the shooting on the Madison Square Roof garden. - -“The purpose of punishment of crime is an example to the community,” -thundered the prosecutor. - -“The defendant is charged with the murder of Stanford White with -premeditation on June 25, 1906. Mr. White was an architect, a member of -the firm of McKim, Meade & White. On the Sunday before his death he went -to his home on Long Island with his family. He returned to the city on -Monday with his son and his son’s friend named King. They went to the -Cafe Martin for dinner. - -“Mr. White had previously purchased tickets to a theater. After dinner -Mr. White drove his son and his son’s friend to the theater and then -went himself to the Madison Square Roof garden, where a new play, -‘Mam’zelle Champagne,’ was to be produced. - -“Stanford White went to the Madison Square Roof garden and sat alone at -one of the small tables there, watching the first production of this -play called ‘Mam’zelle Champagne.’ - -“The defendant was there with his wife and two friends, Truxton Beale -and Thomas McCaleb. The defendant walked constantly about the place. - -“In the middle of the second act the defendant’s party started to leave -the roof. The defendant let his party go ahead and he lagged behind. -Passing the table where Stanford White was sitting, this defendant -wheeled suddenly, faced Mr. White, and deliberately shot him through the -brain, the bullet entering the eye. - -“Mr. White was dead. - -“The defendant did not know this. He feared he had not completed his -work, and he fired again, the bullet penetrating White’s cheek. Still, -to make sure, he fired a third time. - -“Mr. White, or rather the body of Mr. White, tumbled to the floor. - -“The defendant turned, and facing the audience, held his revolver aloft -with the barrel upside down to indicate that he had completed what he -intended to do. The big audience understood. There was no panic.” - -Mr. Garvan concluded by giving the details of Thaw’s arrest and -indictment by the prosecution. He spoke always in a conversational tone. -Thaw sat throughout with head downcast and face flushed. - -Calm and as cold and easy of manner as though rehearsing a scene in some -drama instead of a great tragedy of life, District Attorney Jerome -requested the exclusion of all other witnesses and placed his first -witness on the stand. - -As Evelyn Thaw passed her husband in leaving she took his hand and held -it for a moment, and, as she turned away, tears trickled down her -cheeks. - -Harry Thaw was visibly nervous and drummed on the table with his -fingers. - -[Illustration: - -DISTRICT ATTORNEY JEROME -in opening address. -] - -Lawrence White, the son of the dead architect, was the first witness. -Thaw again fastened his eyes on the table before him and did not once -look at the witness. - -Young White said he was 19 years old and a student at Harvard -university. His mother, he said, was then living at Cambridge, Mass. - -White was on the stand only a few minutes. He told of accompanying his -father to the Cafe Martin for dinner, and said that when he left him to -go with his chum, a boy named King, to the New York roof garden, it was -the last time he saw his father alive. - -Myer Cohen, a song writer and manager of the house which published the -music of “Mam’zelle Champagne,” was called after an elevator man had -detailed Thaw’s conversation when arrested. - -Mr. Cohen was on the Madison Square Roof garden the night of the -tragedy. He saw Thaw there for the first time during the initial act of -the musical comedy. Cohen described on a diagram the position of the -table at which White sat. - -When asked by Mr. Garvan to indicate Thaw’s manner of approaching the -architect that evening, the witness left the stand, and, walking up and -down before the jury box, he illustrated the slow pace which he declared -characterized Thaw’s deliberation in approaching his victim. - -“He walked up to Mr. White’s table like this,” said the witness, -indicating. “He made a slight detour, and coming up to Mr. White from -behind suddenly faced him and fired three times.” - -Henry S. Plaese, superintendent of the publishing company that owned the -rights of “Mam’zelle Champagne,” was the next witness. He saw the -defendant the night of the killing in the rear of the roof garden, -opposite the center aisle. Mr. Plaese was standing with Mr. Cohen, the -previous witness. Thaw stood before them for six or seven minutes, -looking to the right and left. - -After the first act he next saw Thaw just previous to the shooting. -White was seated, facing the stage, his head leaning on his right hand. -There was no conversation when Thaw approached White, and the former -immediately began firing. - -Thaw then retreated toward the rear of the garden, with his right hand -elevated, “the barrel of the pistol being pointed upward.” - -The weapon with which White was killed was brought into the case during -the testimony of Paul Brudi, the fireman who disarmed Thaw after the -fatal shots were fired. Brudi, who appeared on the stand in uniform, -identified the pistol when it was shown to him, and said that after -taking it from the prisoner he turned it over to the police. - -“I remember hearing only two shots,” said Brudi in relating the events -of the evening of the tragedy, “when I rushed up and grabbed the -prisoner, who had his arms uplifted.” - -“Did you hear the defendant say anything after the shooting?” asked -Assistant District Attorney Garvan. - -“Yes,” the witness replied, “he said ‘He ruined my wife.’” - -“Did he say anything else?” - -“No.” - -“Did you hear any one say anything to him?” - -“His wife.” - -“What did she say?” - -“Look at the fix you are in.” - -“Did he reply?” - -“I did not hear him say anything else.” - -Edward H. Convey, foreman of laborers at Madison Square garden, was -called to further identify the pistol Brudi took from Thaw, and which -Convey helped in turning over to the police. He was not cross-examined. - -Policeman A. L. Debes, who arrested Thaw, was called. He identified the -pistol, the bullets, and empty shells introduced as exhibit. - -“Did you have any conversation with Thaw?” asked Mr. Garvan. - -“I did,” he replied. - -“I asked the prisoner if he had shot Stanford White, and he said, ‘I -did.’ I then asked him why he shot him and he said, ‘Because he ruined -my wife--or life.’” - -“You could not distinguish whether he said wife or life?” was asked. - -“No. Thaw then asked where we were going and I replied, ‘To the station -house,’ and he said ‘All right.’ After this I turned him over to another -officer and went up stairs to get witnesses.” - -Coroner’s Physician Timothy Lehane, who performed the autopsy on -Stanford White’s body, described the wounds made by three pistol shots. - -The first bullet, he said, entered the right eye, passing downward and -entering the brain; the second entered on the right side of the upper -lip, and the third wound was on the right arm, the bullet ranging -downward and passing out six inches from the point of entrance, making -what is commonly called a flesh wound. - -The witness then identified the various bullets and Mr. Garvan asked -that they be formally received as evidence. The exhibits were passed -across to the table of counsel for the defense. Thaw’s eyes wandered -about from right to left, but not even a fleeting glance was thrown in -the direction where the deadly bullets were being left. - -Dr. Lehane declared cerebral hemorrhage, caused by the bullet wounds, -produced death. - -Dr. Sylvester Pechner, who was with a party on the Madison Square Roof -garden the night of the tragedy, next was introduced as a witness for -the prosecution. Dr. Pechner examined White soon after he fell and -pronounced him dead. The architect’s death must have been instantaneous, -the witness declared. - -Dr. Pechner said that when his attention was attracted by the firing of -the pistol, he saw Thaw standing over White. - -He then saw the defendant “break his gun” and pull out the empty shells, -and hold it aloft. Just after this Fireman Brudi took the man in charge. - -Policeman Debes was recalled and Mr. Garvan asked him: “Did you hear any -remark credited to the defendant’s wife that night?” - -“Yes.” - -“Where was it?” - -“On the ground floor of the Twenty-sixth street entrance.” - -“What did she say?” - -“‘Harry, why did you do it?’ and he replied, ‘It will be all right.’” - -This ended the state’s case--all the evidence depended upon to send the -young millionaire to the electric chair having been presented in that -brief session. The defense opened a little more than an hour later after -a brief recess for luncheon. - -“Harry Thaw believed he was acting upon the command of Providence when -he killed Stanford White,” thundered Attorney Gleason in opening the -case of the defense. - -Thaw’s insanity at the time of the killing, Mr. Gleason said, was due to -heredity and stress of circumstances. It would also be shown, he said, -that the defendant had suffered from temporary or emotional insanity for -years. - -“You must disabuse your minds, gentlemen of the jury,” he began, “of any -idea or impression that the defense in this case will rely upon anything -but the constitution and the laws of the imperial state of New York. -Upon these laws alone we will rely. - -“You must dismiss all idea that we are to import into this case any -so-called higher or unwritten law. We will rely upon all the defenses -that the law allows. - -“One of the defenses allowed by law is that of insanity.” - -Mr. Gleason declared further that it would be shown that Thaw acted in -self-defense and without malice, believing threats had been made against -him by Stanford White. Mr. Gleason said that Thaw did not know the -nature or quality of his act at the time he committed it. - -The defendant killed Stanford White, he said. He believed that it was an -act of Providence and that he was guided in that act by Providence. - -“The defendant killed White, and he did not know that act was wrong. He -was suffering from a mental unsoundness proceeded from a disease so that -he did not know what he was doing. We will show that there was a mental -unsoundness in his family. - -“There will be witnesses produced here on both sides, but you are the -ones who will judge of the fact of whether the defendant was insane or -not when he killed Stanford White. - -“It lies with you and you alone to decide whether or not Thaw was sane -when he killed Stanford White. You must apply to yourselves the test of -your ability to decide truly and wisely. - -“It is for you to reach out with that human spirit which says to any -man, no matter how degraded, ‘look up and be of good cheer. I, too, am a -man, and would have done the same thing had I been placed in your -position.’ - -“When you have heard all the testimony in this case and come to judge -this defendant, I am sure you will be of the opinion that the -defendant’s act was due to insanity and not one of crime.” - -Mr. Gleason’s address required less than an hour. At its conclusion the -way was clear for the greatest defense of modern times and the sacrifice -of Evelyn Thaw--a feature without a parallel in modern jurisprudence. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -“I Swear Harry K. Thaw Was Insane.” - - DEFENSE BEGINS TERRIFIC FIGHT TO PROVE YOUNG MILLIONAIRE WAS CRAZED - BY WHITE’S ACTS--DR. WILEY, THAW’S FAMILY PHYSICIAN, DECLARES HARRY - DID NOT REALIZE WHAT HE WAS DOING--THEATER EMPLOYE PROVED IMPORTANT - POINT THAT WHITE HAD THREATENED YOUNG THAW--ANOTHER PHYSICIAN - ASSERTED THE SLAYER, WHILE YOUNG, HAD ST. VITUS DANCE, A DREAD - MALADY THAT MIGHT HAVE AFFECTED HIS BRAIN--EVELYN PALE AND - WORRIED--PRISONER RAGING IN HIS CELL--THE CRISIS AHEAD. - - -Experts on the subject of insanity--famous physicians whose testimony -cost from $100 to $500 a day each, and whose services required an -expenditure of more than a half million dollars--were the central -figures in the early part of this celebrated trial. The defense began by -forging the links in the chain of circumstances which, it was asserted, -had disordered the brain of Harry Thaw and caused him to kill White. - -The first witness for the defense was Dr. C. C. Wiley of Pittsburg, the -Thaws’ family physician, who was connected with the Dixmont Insane -Asylum. During Dr. Wiley’s examination, the young prisoner sat with -paper and pencil, taking notes and consulting - -[Illustration: DELPHIN M. DELMAS - -Thaw’s chief lawyer.] - -constantly with his counsel. He was pale and nervous, and shuddered at -the slightest unusual noise in the court room. Jerome went at the -witness pitilessly, asked him trick questions, and endeavored a hundred -times to trap him into an admission that Thaw might not have been insane -at the time he killed White. - -Jerome failed. When the day had closed the evidence as to insanity -remained unshaken, but the witness was exhausted and so confused that he -often took refuge in the answer “I don’t know,” or “I cannot recall.” - -Mr. Gleason, attorney for Thaw, asked the expert a hypothetical question -the answer to which immeasurably strengthened the plea that Thaw was -insane. It was: - -“Assuming that any man was proved to you, as an expert, to have attended -a roof garden the day of June 25, 1906, the occasion of the opening of a -theatrical entertainment which was largely attended, and that on walking -out from the theater, with his wife near him, and apparently in a quiet -and orderly manner; that that man should turn aside and fire three shots -from a revolver into a man who was sitting at the table and to whom he -did not speak; that this man then held the pistol above his head and -walked quietly toward an elevator; that he gave up the pistol without -resistance and did not make any attempt to escape, and that he said, ‘He -ruined my wife,’ and that immediately thereafter he said to his wife, ‘I -have probably saved your life,’ I ask you, sir, upon your judgment as -an expert, whether you are able to give an opinion touching on the -sanity of the man who made that answer?” - -“I can,” said Dr. Wiley. - -“Will you express that opinion?” - -“I believe that that man -- --” - -District Attorney Jerome objected. - -“You must not state a belief,” said Mr. Jerome, “that is not evidence. -You must give an opinion.” - -“My opinion,” said Dr. Wiley, “is that the man who committed the act -described was suffering from insanity.” - -Other striking assertions from Dr. Wiley’s testimony were: - -“The act of Harry K. Thaw was that of an insane man. - -“The remark Thaw made to his wife after the tragedy, ‘I have probably -saved your life,’ is an indication of an insane delusion. - -“I have examined 800 people as to their sanity, and should know the -prisoner’s condition. - -“When I examined Harry in the Tombs prison after the murder his actions -were irrational.” - -Dr. Wiley was on the stand for the defense all the first day, and at the -opening of the second day a sensation came when Mr. Delmas took the helm -of the defense, and called Benjamin Bowman as the second witness. Jerome -had refused to allow Bowman to - -[Illustration: COUNTESS OF YARMOUTH - -Harry Thaw’s sister.] - -testify for the state. Bowman in 1903 was a doorkeeper at the Madison -Square Garden Theater. - -“I knew Stanford White and Harry Thaw,” Bowman swore. “A few nights -after Christmas, 1903, Stanford White came up to me after the show and -wanted to know if Miss Nesbit had gone home. I told him she had. He -replied: ‘You are a liar.’ I told him to go back on the stage and see -for himself. - -“When he returned, and as he passed me he pulled a pistol from his -pocket and muttered: “I’ll find and kill that-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- before -daylight.’” - -“Did you tell Harry Thaw of this threat against his life?” asked Delmas. - -“Yes, I met him on Fifth avenue and told him I wanted to speak with him -regarding Miss Nesbit. I then told him of the incident at the theater -and of White’s threat.” - -“What was Mr. White’s condition when he made the threat?” - -“He was black in the face with anger.” - -This ended the direct examination of Bowman, and Justice Fitzgerald -said: - -“If there are any persons in the courtroom whose sense of propriety -would be offended by the testimony of this witness the court will give -them an opportunity now to withdraw.” - -“We must ask the court to bear with us in bringing out this testimony,” -explained Delmas, “but it is essential.” - -“It is perfectly right and proper,” Justice Fitzgerald quickly assured -the lawyer. “There are ladies here, however, and I think they should be -given the opportunity to withdraw if they so desire.” - -The Countess of Yarmouth and Mrs. George L. Carnegie quickly left the -courtroom. - -Mrs. Evelyn Nesbit Thaw and May McKenzie arrived at the courthouse some -time after the session had begun. - -In cross-examination by Mr. Jerome the witness clung to his story. He -added that “The Girl From Dixie” was playing at the Roof Garden Theater -at the time, and that White and Thaw even then were rivals for Miss -Nesbit’s affections. - -The next witness was Martin Green, a newspaper man, who saw Thaw just -after the shooting. He was asked as to Thaw’s manner after he committed -the murder. - -“He held the pistol high above his head,” said Mr. Green, “He was very -pale, his eyes seemed about to pop out of his head, and his hair was -hanging well down on his forehead.” - -Dr. John Franklin Bingaman of Pittsburg, one of the Thaw alienists, -testified he had known Harry Thaw for thirty years. He attended him when -he was two or three years old. Thaw had children’s diseases and St. -Vitus’ dance. - -Dr. Bingaman said that Thaw’s condition might be called a neurotic -temperament. - -Mr. Jerome asked only two questions in cross-examination. In response to -them Dr. Bingaman said Thaw had the St. Vitus’ dance when he was six or -seven years old. - -At the end of this day’s hearing Harry Thaw was in a frenzy. In his cell -he denounced his lawyers for their determination to make insanity the -defense. Adding to his troubles was the fact that his beautiful young -wife was to go on the stand next day and bare her tragic life to the -public gaze. - -Mrs. Thaw dreaded the ordeal. She was barred from the court-room during -the latter part of the early testimony, but extra editions of the -newspapers were brought to her hourly, and she read the testimony she -was not allowed to hear. She was ghastly pale, and at times appeared -about to collapse. - -Next day brought the crisis in the most sensational trial of the -twentieth century, with the fair, slender Evelyn--the leader in the -battle to save her husband’s life. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -A Human Sacrifice on the Altar of Love. - - EVELYN NESBIT THAW BEGINS STORY OF TRAGIC FATE AT HANDS OF STANFORD - WHITE--TELLS OF SHOOTING--“I WILL BE BRAVE,” HER WORDS TO - HUSBAND--COLLAPSES ON STAND--RELATES HOW HER BETRAYAL DELAYED HER - MARRIAGE--THAW’S GREAT LOVE REVEALED--“I HAVE PROBABLY SAVED YOUR - LIFE”--WEPT WHEN SHE DISCLOSED TO HARRY THE VILLAINY OF - WHITE--BLUSHES CRIMSON ON THE STAND--ALMOST FAINTS WHEN ORDERED TO - TELL OF HER DOWNFALL. - - -“I will be brave--I will be very brave, and I know that when I am done, -you will go free. It will be hard, but I must tell all. Good-bye, Harry, -my love, my own, my sweetheart, husband--” - -These were Evelyn Nesbit Thaw’s words before going on the stand. - -Crime, horrible, fiendish, revolting, startling in its details, and -consummated with all the clever brutality that a brilliant mind could -encompass--was laid up against the blighted name of Stanford White by -Evelyn Nesbit on the witness stand February 8, 1907. - -Beauty in distress--beauty that made a powerful impression on judge, -jury and spectators, intensified a hundredfold the dramatic climax of -the trial. Frail, young, her fair name shattered, her love for husband -surpassing that of Thisbe for Pyramus, she laid down her bleeding heart -upon the altar of the soul, and gave herself a living sacrifice to save -her husband from the electric chair. - -In the midst of her story of her shame, the beautiful bride broke down -and cried bitterly. Restoratives were applied, and, fighting with the -life of her loved one as the stake, the piteously fragile and -surpassingly pretty young wife continued with the story of her ruin at -the hands of a modern Nero, for so she painted White. - -Mrs. Thaw was on the stand two hours, and her direct examination had not -been concluded when the luncheon adjournment was taken. As she walked -from the witness chair along the passageway back of the jury box she -felt along the wall with the finger tips of her left hand as if about to -faint. From scarlet her face had paled to the whiteness of a sheet. - -Except when she broke down when going into the details of her experience -with White the girl spoke in a clear, soft voice. On the witness stand -she appeared for the first time in court unveiled, and her beauty was -remarked on all sides. It is of a girlish type, a mass of dark hair -framing a face of daintily molded features. - -“Evelyn Nesbit Thaw,” called the clerk in a tragic voice, as soon as the -trial opened for what was fated to be its greatest day. - -The court room was hushed. Three hundred newspaper workers, flashing -bulletins to every American city, to London, Paris, and isles beyond the -seas, hardly breathed, leaned forward excitedly, and the crisis in the -greatest legal battle ever fought was on! - -The familiar figure in blue, now for the first time without her veil, -appeared from the judge’s chambers. She stood near the jury box as Clerk -Penny administered the oath. - -“I swear,” repeated Mrs. Thaw in an audible voice at the end of the -formal declaration, which was made just a little more impressive than -usual. “I solemnly swear before the ever living God to tell the truth, -the whole truth and nothing but the truth!” - -Mrs. Thaw took her place in the witness chair calmly. She looked -steadily ahead at Mr. Delmas and gave her answers to his first questions -in a clear and firm voice, which was soft in quality. - -Harry Thaw smiled at his wife as she walked to the witness stand, but -she apparently did not see him at the moment. After she was seated, -however, she smiled faintly at the prisoner and blushed crimson. - -In answer to Mr. Delmas’ first question Mrs. Thaw said she was born Dec. -25, 1884. She told of going to the Cafe Martin to dinner the evening of -June 25 with her husband, Thomas McCaleb, and Truxton Beale. - -“While you were at the Cafe Martin did you see Stanford White?” asked -Delmas. - -“Yes,” answered Evelyn. - -“At what time did you see him?” - -“I don’t know; it was some time after we arrived.” - -“Where did you first see him?” - -“Coming in at the Fifth avenue entrance.” - -“How long did you see him?” - -“I don’t know. He passed through and went on to the balcony.” - -“While he was on the balcony could you see him?” - -“No.” - -“Did you see him leave?” - -“Yes. I saw him come in from the balcony and go out of the Fifth avenue -entrance.” - -“While you were in the Cafe Martin, did you call for a pencil?” - -“Yes.” - -“From whom?” - -“I think from Mr. McCaleb. He said he did not have one.” - -Mrs. Thaw said that McCaleb sat on her left, Beale on her right, and -Thaw was facing her. - -“Did you ask again for a pencil?” - -“Yes, I got one from some one, I don’t remember whom.” - -“Did you write a note?” - -“I did.” - -“On what?” - -“A slip of paper. I think Mr. McCaleb gave it to me.” - -“What did you do with it?” - -“I passed it to Mr. Thaw.” - -“What did Mr. Thaw do?” - -“He said to me: ‘Are you all right?’ I said: ‘Yes.’” - -“What was your condition as to being disturbed or affected?” - -Mr. Jerome’s objection to the question was sustained. - -“Was there anything unusual in your manner that was visible to others?” - -Again an objection was sustained. - -“After this how long did you remain?” - -“Only a short time.” - -“Mrs. Thaw, have you that slip of paper now?” - -“I have not.” - -“Have you seen it since?” - -“No.” - -“Did what you wrote refer to Stanford White?” - -Mr. Jerome objected on the ground that the note itself was the best -evidence. - -“After you left the restaurant, you went to Madison Square Roof garden?” -asked Mr. Delmas. - -“Yes.” - -“About what time was it?” - -“About the middle of the first act.” - -Mrs. Thaw said that she sat in a seat beside Mr. Beale and Mr. McCaleb. -Her husband went to the back of the theater, she said. He was away about -fifteen minutes, when he returned and took a seat beside her. - -“How long did he remain at your side?” - -“About half an hour.” - -“What was his manner then?” - -“It seemed to be the same as ever.” - -“Did you talk about anything special then?” - -“No, just general.” - -“Who suggested going away from the garden?” - -“I did.” - -“The play wasn’t interesting to you?” - -“Not a bit,” said the witness. - -“How did you start when you went out?” - -“I think that Mr. McCaleb and I were in the lead and Mr. Thaw and Mr. -Beale followed.” - -“How far had you gone when something happened?” - -“Almost to the elevator. I had turned around to speak to Mr. Thaw.” - -“How far were you from Mr. White then?” - -“About as far as the end of the jury box.” - -“You saw Mr. White sitting there?” - -“I did.” - -“Did you see Mr. Thaw then?” - -“Not until a minute or so afterward. He was directly in front of Mr. -White, standing with his arm up in the air.” - -“Did you hear shots fired?” - -“Yes, immediately after I saw Mr. White I heard the shots.” - -“How many shots?” - -“Three shots.” - -“What did you say?” - -“I said to Mr. McCaleb: ‘I think he has shot him.’” - -“Did Mr. Thaw come over to where you were?” - -“Yes, I asked him what he had done. He leaned over and kissed me and -said: ‘I have probably saved your life.’” - -“What happened then?” - -“I left.” - -“You were taken from there?” - -“Yes, I think with Mr. McCaleb and Mr. Beale.” - -“You left and did not return?” - -“Yes.” - -“You said that you are the wife of the defendant?” - -“Yes.” - -“When were you married?” - -“On April 4, 1905.” - -“Where?” - -“In Pittsburg, at the residence of Dr. McEwen, pastor of the Third -Presbyterian church.” - -“Who were present?” - -“I think Josiah Thaw, Mr. Thaw’s brother,” the witness went on, after a -moment. - -“When had Mr. Thaw proposed for the first time?” - -“In June, 1903, in Paris.” - -“At the time did you refuse him?” - -“I did.” - -“Did you state in explaining your refusal of his proposal that it had -something to do with Stanford White?” - -“Yes.” - -“State what happened.” - -“Mr. Thaw told me that he loved me and wanted to marry me. I stared at -him for a moment and then he said, ‘Don’t you care for me?’ and I said -that I did. Then he asked me what was the matter. I said ‘nothing.’ ‘Why -won’t you marry me?’ he said. He put his hands on my shoulder and asked, -‘Is it because of Stanford White?’ and I said ‘yes.’ Then he told me he -would never love any one else or marry any one else. I started to cry. -He said he wanted me to tell him the whole thing. Then I began to tell -him how I first met Stanford White.” - -At this frail Evelyn collapsed utterly. Falling back in her chair, her -beautiful features ghastly pale, she murmured: - -“I can’t go on! I can’t! I can’t!” - -The court windows were opened, an alienist who was present applied -restoratives, and in a few minutes Mrs. Thaw was able to go on to the -story of her ruin. - - Evelyn Nesbit’s First Public Appearance - - Sweet-voiced Child of 5 Sang Requiem for the Dead in Village - Church, Moving Congregation to Tears. - -Florence Evelyn Nesbit was a particularly interesting child, very quiet, -somewhat shy, and did not easily make friends with anyone, but when one -did gain her confidence she was a loyal friend. She was a very beautiful -child and had a remarkably sweet voice for one so tender in years. - -Her gift was so marked that she made her first public appearance at the -age of 5. It was at a memorial service in the Methodist church of which -her parents were members. It was held in honor of the members who had -died during the year. The church was decorated for the occasion with an -immense bank of evergreens completely screening the pulpit. - -In the midst of a solemn hush in the service came the dulcet voice of a -child singing. It was little Florence Evelyn, hidden behind the -evergreens, and in tones that will never be forgotten by the hearers, -and which were clear and distinct in all parts of the edifice, came the -words of the hymn, “We Are Going Down the Valley One by One.” Before the -song was half finished nearly the entire audience was moved to tears. - -Softly, tremulously, yet distinctly, came the impressive burden of the -song. It was a splendid triumph for the child, and it still lingers in -the hearts of the people who were there, its remembrance helped them in -the midst of her trials to sympathize with and pity her. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -Evelyn Reveals White as a Fearful Monster. - - STAGGERING BLOW TO PROSECUTION--MOB OF WOMEN FIGHTS TO ENTER - COURT--PATHETIC SCENE--HAND OF MAGICIAN SUGGESTED IN DOORS THAT - OPEN WITHOUT HUMAN AID--AT AGE OF 16, BEAUTY FELL INTO CLUTCHES OF - UNSCRUPULOUS MILLIONAIRE--THOUGHT WHITE AN “UGLY MAN”--RED VELVET - SWING IN DEN OF MIRRORS--BEAUTY DRUGGED WITH WINE--MOTHER’S - INFLUENCE REVEALED--PHOTOGRAPHED IN KIMONO--LURED TO WHITE’S - STUDIO. - - -The staggering blow to Jerome was about to be dealt. Tense, nervous, and -thrilled with emotions of pity, the spectators hung on every word of the -pale Evelyn when she resumed her testimony. - -Word of the impending revelations mysteriously got outside the -court-room, although the doors were barred. - -The corridors were filled, and scores of people, many of them women, -tried in every possible way to force themselves by the officers at the -courtroom doors, but after the preceding afternoon’s laxity the bars -were put up again and very few were allowed to pass. - -However, half a score of women managed to succeed. They were attired in -their gayest costumes, in marked contrast with the costume of Mrs. Thaw. - -Evelyn on the stand did not look even her 23 years. She was dressed in a -plain dark blue gown, with a long coat and wore a broad white linen -collar. Her hat was dark and low in the crown, with a broad soft brim, -and trimmed with a small bunch of violets. She wore her hair in a loose -knot low on her neck, tied with a large black ribbon. Her face, which -until she took the stand, was unusually pale, was first flushed, then -ghastly in its pallor. It was marked with delicate eye-brows and long -lashes. Her eyes were large and dark, and appealing, and her dark hair -required frequent brushing back from her eyes. Her slender figure was -tense with excitement, and her voice was usually firm and clear. - -Even while the women were fighting their way into the room, the -questioning was resumed. Mrs. Thaw told of the startling crime of -Stanford White, that blighted her young life, and made her beauty a -mockery. - -Attorney Delmas, ever alert to forestall the mass of objections by -Jerome at every opportunity, cautioned the witness: - -“Be kind enough to remember you are to omit,” said Mr. Delmas, “in -relating the narrative of what you told Mr. Thaw, the name of any other -person save that of Mr. White. Now continue.” - -“A young lady asked my mother several times to - -[Illustration: - -EVELYN NESBIT AS “THE SUNBONNET GIRL” -when 16 years old. -] - -let me go out with her to lunch,” said the fragile beauty, Mrs. Thaw. -“She came again and again to me before I sent her to my mother, finally, -and she said, ‘All right.’ My mother finally consented.” - -“Proceed.” - -“On the day I was to go my mother dressed me and I went with Miss -- --, -the other young lady, in a hansom, hoping we would go to the ballroom, -because I wanted to see it. But we went straight down to Broadway, -through Twenty-fourth street up to a dingy looking door. The young lady -jumped out and asked me to follow her.” - -Mr. Jerome objected to the form of the narrative, and he asked: “Did you -relate all that to Mr. Thaw?” - -“Yes,” said the witness. “He told me to tell him everything.” - -“By the way,” interjected Delmas, “what was the date of that event?” - -“As nearly as I can remember,” with a pucker of forehead, “it was in -August, 1901.” - -“You were then 16 years and some months old?” - -“Well, now I want you to tell of your first meeting with Stanford White -just as you told it to Mr. Thaw on that day,” directed Delmas. - -The show girl said that a chorus girl, Edna Goodrich, asked her to a -luncheon party where she would meet White. She and Edna took a cab and -went to the studio on West Twenty-fourth street. The witness said the -doors seemed to open of themselves. - -“We went upstairs,” said Evelyn, “and there I met a man who was -introduced to me as Stanford White. I thought him an ugly man. There was -a table already set for four. Another gentleman came later. I remember -Mr. White teased me about my hair, which I wore down my back, and my -short skirt, which reached to my shoe tops. After supper we went up two -flights of stairs more, and in the room was a large red velvet swing. -Mr. White put me in the swing and swung me very hard. When we swung very -hard one foot crashed through a large Japanese umbrella which hung from -the ceiling.” - -“Your mother dressed you to go?” - -“Yes.” - -“I must caution you to tell only what you told Mr. Thaw.” - -“I will,” said the witness, and went on; “The dingy door opened, nobody -seeming to open it.” - -“What did you do then?” - -“We went up some steps to another door, which opened to some other -apartment. I stopped and asked the young lady where we were going and -she said: ‘It’s all right.’ A man’s voice called down ‘Hello.’” - -“Who was it?” - -“It was Stanford White,” said the witness clearly. - -“What did you find in the room or studio to which you went?” - -“A table set for four.” - -“This is all what you told Mr. Thaw,” put in Mr. Jerome. - -“It was,” said young Mrs. Thaw, “I told him everything.” - -There was a halt in the testimony here while Mr. Jerome and Mr. Delmas -whispered. - -“How were you dressed?” asked Mr. Delmas. - -“I wore a short dress, with my hair down my back.” - -The witness said they went up into another room, where a big Japanese -umbrella was swinging. - -Mr. Jerome objected to the testimony on the ground that he would have no -opportunity to prove or disprove the facts alleged. Mr. Delmas said the -defense would offer no objection to the district attorney probing the -correctness of the facts. - -Mrs. Thaw then said that afterward she and her companion went for a -drive to the park, then returned to the house with White. She said when -she got home she told her mother everything that happened. - -“Did your mother subsequently receive a letter from Stanford White?” was -asked. - -“She did.” - -“What was in the letter?” - -“It asked my mother to call on Mr. White at 160 Fifth avenue.” - -“Did you tell Mr. Thaw about that?” - -“I did.” - -“When your mother returned did she tell you anything?” - -“She did.” - -“What did your mother tell you?” - -“He asked her to take me to a dentist and have my teeth fixed and for -her to have her own fixed, too. She said: ‘No; that it was a very -strange thing.’ Mr. White told her that he did that for the other -Florodora girls.” - -“When did you next see White?” - -“I saw him in the studio. I got a note from him previously inviting me -to a party and saying a carriage would be waiting for me on the corner. -Before that he had sent me a hat, a feather boa, and a cape. There was -another man and girl with us.” - -Mr. Delmas mentioned the names of the others to Mr. Jerome. - -“Where did you go?” - -“To the studio in Madison Square tower. We had a very nice time there. -Mr. White said I was only to have one glass of champagne, and that I was -to be brought home early. I was brought home early to the door of my -house. I told Mr. Thaw that we had several parties of this kind in the -tower.” - -“Did you see Mr. White again?” - -“Yes, he came to see my mother, told her that I would be all right in -New York, and that he would take care of me.” - -Mrs. Thaw said she met White in September, 1901, in a studio in East -Twenty-second street. The door opened of itself, she said, and the house -looked at first as if no one lived there. She said that she went -upstairs and met Mr. White, a photographer, and another man. - -The witness whispered the name of the man to Mr. Jerome, who wrote it -down. - -“What did you see there?” - -“There was a lot of expensive gowns there.” - -“What happened?” - -“I went into the dressing-room to put on the dress. Mr. White knocked at -the door and asked if I needed any help. I said, ‘No.’” - -Mrs. Thaw related in detail her experience in the photographic studio -and said she posed until she was very tired and that White, who had come -in, ordered food and they had something to eat. The photographer left, -she said, and after they had lunched she went into a dressing room to -remove her kimono and put on her dress. - -“I shut the door while I was inside,” added the witness. “Mr. White came -to the door, knocked and asked me if I wanted any help. I said: ‘No.’” - -The former artist’s model testified that she drank but one glass of -champagne and when she was dressed she got into a carriage and was taken -back to the hotel. - -“The next night,” she continued, “I got a note from Mr. White asking me -to come down to the studio for luncheon after the theater with some of -his friends. A carriage would call for me, and would take me home after -the party, he wrote. I went down to the Twenty-fourth street studio -again and found Mr. White and no one else there. - -“‘What do you think,’ he said to me, ‘the others have turned us down.’ -Then I told him I had better go home, and he told me that I had better -sit down and have some fruit. So I took off my hat and coat. Mr. White -told me he had other floors in the garden, and that I had not seen all -of his place. He would take me around and show me, he said. - -“So he took me up some stairs to the floor above, where there were very -beautiful decorations,” went on Mrs. Thaw. “I played for him, and he -took me into another room. That room was a bedroom. On a small table -stood a bottle of champagne and one glass. Mr. White poured out just one -glass for me, and I paid no attention to it. Mr. White went away, came -back and said: ‘I decorated this room, myself.’ Then he asked me why I -was not drinking my champagne and I said I did not like it; it tasted -bitter. But he persuaded me to drink it and I did. - -“A few moments after I had drank it there began a pounding and thumping -in my ears and the room got all black.” - -Mrs. Thaw was almost in tears at this statement. - -“When I came to myself I was greatly frightened and I started to scream. -Mr. White came and - -[Illustration: EVELYN NESBIT - -Picture taken in Stanford White’s studio.] - -tried to quiet me. As I sat up I saw mirrors all over. I began to scream -again, and Mr. White asked me to keep quiet, saying that it was all -over. - -“When he threw the kimono over me he left the room. I screamed harder -than ever. I don’t remember much of anything after that. - -“He took me home and I sat up all night crying.” - -Regard for the morals of the young prevents the publication of the awful -details disclosed at this point in the evidence. The yellowest of yellow -journals omitted the hideous details flashed over the wires, and with -all the shocking evidence published, the public has no conception of -awful facts revealed by this pitiful tragedy. - -“What did he say afterward?” - -“He made me swear that I would never tell my mother about it. He said -there was no use in talking and the greatest thing in this world was not -to get found out. He said the girls in the theaters were foolish to -talk. He laughed afterward. - -“He said it was all right--that there was ‘nothing so nice as young -girls and nothing so loathsome as fat ones. You must never get fat.’” - -The black heart of Stanford White was disclosed in all its hideousness -at last! The final shred of respectability had been torn from his -reputation. The almost fainting Evelyn had completed the human -sacrifice. Her life story, tragic beyond human comprehension, had been -told under oath--told to a jury that gasped at every sentence, -shuddered at every disclosure. It was the coup d’etat of the defense! -the staggering blow reserved to overwhelm Jerome and his allies. What a -story it was that the poor little victim of a sybaritic brute told! What -a tale of Nero’s time it seemed to be! Tiberius and Caligula planned -dens and stage settings such as Evelyn Nesbit described in the haunts of -Stanford White. Did Tiberius and Caligula ever plan darker, more foul -conspiracies against helpless little girls than the plots of the great -architect seemed to have been? And with the telling of the heart-rending -story came new thoughts, new lights upon the shadowy life of the man who -died before the pistol of Harry Thaw. - -No one ever denied that Stanford White, no matter what he may have been, -was a generous giver, a good Samaritan in the time of need. He supported -Evelyn, her mother, and her brother, in royal fashion. - -What was to be deduced from the largess of White, both to the Nesbits -and to scores of others? - -Was the licentious architect a Jekyll and a Hyde? - -Or did the weight of remorse and gloomy shame bear down upon this -strangest of men in such degree that he strove mightily to salve his -conscience and his bitter memories? - -Or was White “a bookkeeper with the Fates”--a man who tried ever to -balance the accounts of good and bad, so that the final reckoning might -find his ledgers balanced? There are many men who keep the lists of -debits and of credits--who strive to make a deed of kindness balance -every deed of crime. Was White such a man--bookkeeping with the Fates, -and seeking by princely generosity to offset the debits of unscrupulous -passion? She sat in the witness chair, a tiny, shrinking figure, and she -spoke out the horrid details of the criminal outrage upon her; -unhesitating and unbreaking. The kindliness of White, all with its -ultimate hideous object masked beneath the roses; the mirrored room in -the architect’s hidden lair; the drugged wine; the awakening--all these -things the little Evelyn told with the close precision of a seared and -branded memory. And when the story had been spun the shrewd and skillful -Delmas smiled serene, well knowing that a probably fatal blow had been -dealt the prosecution. The “learned Jerome,” as Delmas suavely called -him, spent the night before planning and massing his artillery. He had a -fearful day of defeat and sorrow. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -Intrigue Like Those in Days of Nero. - - EVELYN TELLS HOW WHITE PLOTTED WITH FALSEHOODS AND MONEY AS HIS - INSTRUMENTS, TO BLAST HER LIFE BY FORCING HER TO LEAVE HARRY - THAW--SOUGHT TO WRECK HER LOVE--HUSBAND GHASTLY IN COURT--LAWYER - DICTATED “AFFIDAVIT” ACCUSING THAW, WHILE BEAUTIFUL ACTRESS - WEPT--BREACH OF PROMISE SUIT CONSPIRACY--BLACKMAIL HINTED--WHITE - FLEECED--ARCHITECT EVEN TRIED TO STEAL EVELYN FROM HUSBAND--JACK - BARRYMORE, ACTOR, BROUGHT INTO CASE--WANTED TO MARRY - WITNESS--PROPOSED TWICE--RUIN OF OTHER GIRLS BROUGHT UP--EVERYBODY - AFFECTED BY TRAGIC STORY. - - -“I refused to marry Harry at first because I loved him--it was because -of my reputation. I loved him more than all else--more than my own life. -I did not want to ruin his career, to estrange him from his family and -blast his future,”--Evelyn Nesbit Thaw told the Jury. - -Intrigue--a story of intrigue by Stanford White to steal Evelyn Nesbit’s -love away from Harry Thaw by means of false, shocking stories of cruelty -to other women was bared by the fragile Evelyn the second day she was on -the stand. - -Spectators shuddered at the diabolical ingenuity of White, millionaire, -famous and feted, who, with noble aims ready for his mind, diverted his -talent instead to hideous crimes. - -The ordeal of the witness chair had made nervous wrecks of the frail -woman and of her husband, for whose life she was battling. Young Thaw -for the first time since the trial began had lost the spring in his -step, and instead of walking briskly to his place at the table of his -counsel he moved hesitatingly and looked constantly from left to right -about the courtroom. The big crowd seemed to annoy him. The pallid face -broke into a faint smile as the prisoner recognized his brother, Edward -Thaw, who was the only member of the family in court. - -“Call Mrs. Evelyn Nesbit Thaw to the stand,” requested Mr. Delmas of the -clerk. - -When she appeared and took her place in the big witness chair Mrs. Thaw -was dressed precisely as on the previous day. She was extremely pale and -her lips trembled visibly as she replied to the first simple question -asked her by counsel. - -“Please relate what you told Mr. Thaw besides what you stated before,” -said Mr. Delmas, looking at Jerome, as if to say, “You cannot stop me -now.” - -“He asked me how I came to speak to Stanford White after my return from -Europe,” said Mrs. Thaw. “I told him I was driving down Fifth avenue one -day in a hansom cab with my maid and we passed Stanford White. I heard -him exclaim: ‘Oh, look at Evelyn.’ - -“A few days later I was called to the telephone and it was Mr. White. He -said: ‘My, but it is good to hear your voice again,’ and said he wanted -to come and see me. I told him I could not see him. He said it was very -important that I should see him at once. He said he had had much trouble -with my family and must see me. I asked if my mother was ill. - -“He said it was a matter of life and death--he could not tell me over -the telephone. So he came to see me at the Hotel Savoy. - -“When he came in he tried to kiss me, but I did not let him. He asked me -what was the matter. I told him to sit down and asked him again if my -mother was ill. He said, ‘No,’ and at once began to talk about Harry -Thaw. He told me that different actresses had told him that I was in -Europe with Harry Thaw. - -“He said presently that Harry Thaw took me to Europe, and asked me why I -went around with a man who took morphine. He said positively that Harry -Thaw took morphine, that he was not even a gentleman, and I must have -nothing to do with him. - -“After that he came constantly to see me. He also sent people to me who -told me stories about Mr. Thaw, the stories I told yesterday. I told Mr. -Thaw afterward that the stories worried me so much I could not sleep -nights. I got very nervous, for I knew Mr. Thaw was coming over and I -did not want to see him. I told Mr. White I did not want to see Mr. -Thaw. - -“One day Mr. White telephoned me that he was going to send a carriage -for me and I was to come to Broadway and Nineteenth street. I did so, -and White met me and got into the carriage. He said he was taking me to -see Abe Hummel, the greatest lawyer in New York, who would protect me -from Harry Thaw. He said I was not to be afraid of Mr. Hummel; he was a -little man with a big, bald head, warts on his face and was very ugly. - -“When I got to Mr. Hummel’s office Mr. White went away. Mr. Hummel’s -office walls were covered with photographs of actresses, with writing on -them. He asked me how I came to go to Europe with Harry Thaw, and I told -him that I didn’t, I went with my mother and Thaw followed us. He asked -me about my quarrel with my mother in London. I said it was a continuous -quarrel between us; we simply couldn’t get along. She wanted to come -home to America and I said she could come, but I was going to stay there -and return to the stage; but the doctor told me I couldn’t dance for a -year. Hummel asked me all places where I went with Thaw. - -“I told him all I could remember. He said I was a minor and that Thaw -should have been more careful. He said he had a case in his office -against Thaw, but the woman in the case was a very bad one and he did -not think the case was much good. - -“Then he said Thaw was a very bad man, and, above all things, I must be -protected from him. Mr. White then said that the other man was to get -Harry Thaw out of New York and keep him out. - -“They asked me if I went to Europe of my own accord, and I said I -certainly had. I said I remained in Europe after my mother left because -I had quarreled with her and could not dance for a year, and I liked Mr. -Thaw very much and could not do anything else. - -“‘Nevertheless,’ Hummel said, ‘you are a minor and he should not have -taken you away from your mother.’ I said he did not take me away. - -“Mr. White said that strong methods must be resorted to to keep Thaw out -of New York, and to protect myself I must help in every way I could. - -“Mr. White said I must leave everything in Mr. Hummel’s hands. Then they -sent for a stenographer, and the lawyer said I must not interrupt him in -what he was about to say. I was very nervous and excited, and I think I -began to cry. Then they began to dictate and put in a lot of stuff that -I had been carried away by Harry Thaw against my will. I started to -interrupt, but the lawyer put up his hands and stopped me. - -“They put in that I had been taken away from my mother and a lot of -stuff that was not true--that - -[Illustration: JUSTICE FITZGERALD - -Judge in charge of trial.] - -I had been treated badly by Mr. Thaw. Then they sent the man out of the -room. - -“Several days later Mr. Hummel called me up and asked if I had any -letters from Mr. Thaw. - -“I said I did, but I could not see what that had to do with it. Mr. -White also called up and said if I was not willing to help in every way -they could not protect me from Mr. Thaw. He said I must do just what Mr. -Hummel said. So I made the letters up in a bundle and took them down to -Mr. Hummel’s office. He said he did not want to read them, and did not -care what they contained. He asked, however, if they were love letters, -and I said ‘yes.’ - -“He said he just wanted to hold them over Harry K. Thaw’s head. He -sealed them up in a big envelope so I could see, he said, that he did -not care anything about them. - -“Then he asked me why I did not sue Harry Thaw for breach of promise. I -said that was absurd, for if there had been any breach of promise it was -on my part. He said that did not matter. - -“Mr. Hummel said a breach of promise suit would be a fine advertisement -for me. I told him I did not care for that kind of advertising. He said -lots of actresses had done the same thing and he had won lots of cases -for them. He told me an English duke had once been sued by an actress -for breach of promise. He declared he could easily win a suit for me. I -said I did not want to sue anybody. - -“This made Mr. Hummel very mad and angry and he told me I was foolish.” - -“What more did you tell Mr. Thaw?” suggested Mr. Delmas, to give the -girl witness a breathing spell. - -“Mr. Thaw asked me if I had signed anything in Mr. Hummel’s office and I -said I had not. He said that was funny, for if they wanted to cause -trouble I must have signed something. I said I had signed absolutely -nothing in Mr. Hummel’s office. - -“Mr. Thaw was very much agitated. He said Hummel was a blackmailer and -he said, I think, that there was something bad in the air and he -impressed me that he was going to see Mr. Longfellow, his lawyer.” - -Mrs. Thaw testified to going to her own lawyer and relating her -experiences with Hummel. Her lawyer, she said, was greatly incensed at -what she told him of her experiences in Hummel’s office. Mrs. Thaw said: - -“My lawyer, too, told me that Hummel was a shyster.” A laugh went around -the room. Hummel was at this time under conviction in a divorce scandal. -Mrs. Thaw continued: - -“Mr. Thaw told me that I had no business to speak again with Stanford -White. He accused me of having been imprudent with Mr. White since I -came back from Europe, and I said that it was a lie. He said it would -look to people as if I was a blackmailer by going to Hummel’s office.” - -“Did you tell of another incident?” - -“Yes, I told him of one day when White came to the hotel Navarre and he -was terribly mad, and walked up and down the room with a camp chair in -his hand. ‘My child,’ he said, ‘what did you tell Mr. Hummel about me?’ -I said I had not said anything, and then Mr. White said I must have told -Hummel, because Hummel had just squeezed $1,000 out of him and he was -not going to send another $1,000.” - -The witness, continuing, said that she did not know what she had signed -when she signed the paper at the request of Mr. White in his office in -Madison Square garden. - -“I called Mr. White up on the telephone after I had talked to Mr. Thaw, -and I demanded of Mr. White that he put the paper in the fire. He said -he did not have it--but that it was in Mr. Hummel’s office. I said: -‘Very well,’ and told him I was going down to Mr. Hummel’s office -immediately. He told me to not talk about the matter over the telephone, -and I said I did not care who heard me. Then White said he would meet me -on the corner and I met him. - -“When I met him we went down to Mr. Hummel’s office. He showed me the -paper and showed me my signature and asked if it was mine, and I said it -was. Then they put the paper in a big jardiniere and burned it. -Afterward I told Mr. Thaw all about it and also saw Mr. Longfellow and -told him. - -“How did Mr. Thaw treat you from that time until he proposed marriage?” - -“He treated me very nicely; carried me up and down stairs when I was -sick and brought me flowers and took me carriage riding.” - -After her marriage to Mr. Thaw the witness said they took a trip through -the west. While in Pittsburg, she said, she had lived at the home of her -husband’s mother. She related how she had persistently refused to marry -Thaw before she finally did so. - -“What reason did you give him for not marrying him?” - -“It was because of my reputation. I did not want to separate him from -his family. I knew it would be a good thing for me to marry him, but it -would not be for him. It was because I loved him that I would not marry. -If I did not love him so much I might have been anxious to marry him.” - -Mr. Delmas got the witness to relate how she met some of the Thaw family -in Europe. - -“There was something happened which led you to change your mind in -regard to marrying Thaw?” asked Mr. Delmas. - -“Yes,” answered the young woman. - -“You were given to believe that his family would receive you as his -wife?” - -“Yes.” - -“Did you meet Mrs. Thaw, his mother, in New York.” - -“I did.” - -“After your marriage did you visit New York from Pittsburg?” - -“We did.” - -“Did you tell your husband of the efforts of Stanford White to renew -your friendship?” - -“I did.” - -“What was the first occurrence you told your husband about?” - -“Once when I was driving on Fifth avenue, when I passed Mr. White and he -called out to me, ‘Evelyn.’” - -“Did you tell your husband?” - -“I did, and he said it was not right for me to see him and made me -promise that if I ever met White again I would tell him about it.” - -“Did you tell him?” - -“I did.” - -“When did you see Mr. White again?” - -“It was on Fifth avenue one day when I was riding to Dr. Delavan to have -my throat treated. I was in a hansom and Mr. White was also riding in a -hansom, too. - -“When I got home I told Mr. Thaw that at about Thirty-fourth street I -had passed Mr. White, both of us in hansoms. He did not attempt to speak -to me, but stared hard at me. I looked away. When I got down to the -doctor’s office I found Stanford White in his hansom coming there. I ran -up the steps, but I was excited and nervous and I told the door porter -that I would come some other time, so I ran back down the stairs, jumped -into my hansom, looked neither to the right nor to the left, and told -the driver to go back to the Lorraine as quickly as ever he could.” - -“How did Mr. Thaw act when you told him of this?” - -“Oh, he was always very excited whenever I told him of my meetings with -White. He bit his nails and looked excited.” - -“Did you ever tell Mr. Thaw how you came to be sent to school at -Pompton, N. J., and if so, relate it to the jury, and also wherein the -name of Jack Barrymore entered into the discussion, and tell what your -relations to Barrymore were.” - -“I met Mr. Barrymore when I was with the ‘Wild Rose’ company at the -Knickerbocker theater. Mr. White gave a dinner to a whole lot of -friends. I was asked to attend and I went there and met his friends at -the party. Mr. Barrymore was there.” - -Mrs. Thaw privately mentioned the names of the members of the party to -Mr. Jerome. She said that when she told White of “Jack” Barrymore’s -proposal he became very angry and said he would send her away to school -to New Jersey. She continued to detail her relations with Barrymore, and -her being sent to school. - -“It all came about through a quarrel between Mr. White, my mother and -myself over Mr. Barrymore, continued the witness. One afternoon in -Madison Square garden Mr. Barrymore said to me, ‘Evelyn, will you marry -me?’” - -Mrs. Thaw pronounced the name with a long “e.” - -“I answered him, and said, ‘I don’t know,’” she went on. - -“White asked me if I would marry Barrymore and said, ‘If kids like you -get married, what would you have to live on?’ - -“Every day after that when I would meet my mother she would ask me if I -intended ‘to marry that little pup Barrymore,’ saying Mr. White was -afraid I would. - -“Mr. White then came to see me and said I would be very foolish to marry -Mr. Barrymore: we would have nothing to live on, would probably quarrel -and get a divorce. He also said Mr. Barrymore was a little bit crazy, -that his father was in an asylum, and he thought the whole family was -touched. He was certain Mr. Barrymore would be crazy in a few years, and -for that reason said I ought not to marry him. - -“Mr. Barrymore asked me a second time if I would marry him, and again I -said, ‘I don’t know,’ and laughed. The upshot of the whole matter was -that Mr. White came and said I ought to be sent to school, and I was.” - -Mr. Delmas had asked Mrs. Thaw if Thaw had told her the fate of other -girls ‘at the hands of this man White?’ - -Mr. Jerome objected to further “defamation being thrown on the dead, who -have no chance to answer. The state is not permitted to controvert the -truth of a single statement in this testimony,” he added. “Stanford -White is dead, and I object to this question, which is along a path -which we can not follow.” - -Mr. Delmas said he had no desire to besmirch the name of the dead. He -was introducing letters by Thaw to corroborate the question. - -Justice Fitzgerald said he thought further competent evidence as to -Thaw’s insanity should be introduced before further testimony along the -day’s line was taken. - -“We are ready to submit the proof,” said Mr. Delmas. - -The line of examination was changed and Mrs. Thaw was asked to identify -more letters. - -One of the papers Mrs. Thaw was asked to identify was Harry Thaw’s will. - -The old saying, “Nothing but good of the dead,” must have recurred again -and again to Mr. Jerome as the slender Evelyn told her story. It is a -good old saying, but there is another: “The dead are safe--let us take -care of the living.” Jerome strove to protect the cold and unresponsive -dead. Delmas tried to save the living, and the fragile little model was -the life-line in his hands. Evelyn Nesbit’s story, as she told it, -showed new and curious lights and shadows in the character of White. One -thing was - -[Illustration: - -Best photograph of -DIST. ATTORNEY WILLIAM TRAVERS JEROME. -] - -evident: White, once possessor of a victim, wished to cling to that -victim through the years. Unlike nearly all other men of similar stamp, -he did not cast aside his playthings when wearied of them. Possibly he -had been like other men in this regard--possibly he had turned from many -another victim in the past. But the frail and pitiful little Evelyn -seemed to have enthralled his fancies, conquered his vagrant passions. -All his thoughts were for her, and for her his future dreams. He -lavished his bounty on her, and he strove to keep her from all other -men. The story of Evelyn’s affair with Jack Barrymore was a page in real -life that made the courtroom crowd strain its eager ears. Barrymore, -young, handsome, and romantic, had appealed to the girlish mind and eye. -The burly White, with his 50 years, found himself fading into the -background. He seized an opportunity to pose as “the friend of the -family” by discrediting Barrymore and sending the little girl to school. -It was an index to White’s soul--but it showed that White, at least, had -no idea of parting from or wearying of his victim. - -What had Delmas done? - -He made the jurors regard Stanford White as a fiend whose slaying was a -noble deed. - -He made the jurors thrill with sympathy for the fragile, pale-faced -little Evelyn. - -He showed cause enough ten times over for the dethronement of reason in -the brain of Harry Thaw. - -What more could any lawyer do? - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -White on Verge of Arrest When Shot. - - REV. ANTHONY COMSTOCK, THE FAMOUS REFORMER, TOLD HOW HARRY THAW HAD - HIRED HIM TO GATHER EVIDENCE AGAINST ARCHITECT--PROOF OF ORGIES IN - MIRRORED DEN FOUND BY DETECTIVES--HARRY WANTED TO PREVENT THE MAN - FROM SEIZING IN HIS CLUTCHES OTHER YOUNG AND INNOCENT GIRLS LIKE - EVELYN NESBIT--CASE OF CHILD ONLY 15 YEARS OLD LIKE MRS. - THAW’S--HUSBAND MADE DESPERATE--ATTORNEY DELMAS TELLS HOW EVELYN’S - STORY SHOCKED HIM--GREATER DISCLOSURES AHEAD. - - -Another blow to the prosecution, almost as great as that dealt by Evelyn -in her testimony, came when Jerome learned that Thaw held in reserve the -startling story of Stanford White’s entire past, and was ready to -produce it at any moment. Anthony Comstock, famous head of the Society -for the Prevention of Crime, had the documents. Mr. Comstock prepared a -statement for the defense, part of which is substantially as follows: - -“I know that much of what Mrs. Harry Thaw has stated on the witness -stand is true. I know that Stanford White’s den in the tower of Madison -Square garden was arranged as she described it, and that it was the -scene of revelries. I know of at least one specific instance. And what -I know I learned after I had been given the first clews by Harry Kendall -Thaw himself. - -“My first knowledge of this case dates from the summer of 1905--about a -year before the killing, I should say. One afternoon a tall, -well-dressed, well-bred young man came to me in my office in the Temple -Bar building. He seemed to be laboring under excitement, and it was -evident that he was desperately in earnest. He opened the conversation -by asking me if I were interested in the suppression of vice. Then he -wanted to know if my society gave special attention to the arrest and -punishment of men who preyed upon young girls. I told him that we did. -He jumped up abruptly, said he would see me again, and left without -telling me his name. At the door he stopped long enough to say he would -see me again. - -“A few days later he came back, still laboring under strong emotion. He -then introduced himself. As nearly as I can recall he said: - -“‘I am Harry Kendall Thaw of Pittsburg. I want to tell you of a man who -has betrayed more young girls than any other man in New York. He is -particularly given to pursuing the young girls of the stage. It is a -debt which society owes to itself to halt him now, before he brings -shame and sorrow to any more victims.’ - -“That in effect was his statement,” continued Mr. Comstock, “although -of course I asked him a great deal more of the matter. He left after -securing my promise to investigate. He agreed to pay the cost of looking -into the case. He at once mailed me a check of sufficient size to defray -the necessary expenses, and subsequently wrote me several times upon the -subject of White, asking each time what progress we were making. - -“Our investigation confirmed to a great degree what Thaw had told me. -Our detectives were astounded at what they discovered. We worked hard -and I learned a great deal, but of all cases these are the hardest to -prove under the rules of evidence, and before risking an arrest I -determined to catch White. - -“I learned that his rooms in the tower were as Mrs. Evelyn Thaw had -described them in the trial. Two of our detectives endeavored to hire -rooms in the same tower in order to watch his goings and comings. The -deal was almost completed when one of the detectives made a bungle. -Something which he said or did gave the alarm to the janitor, and, -although we were on the waiting list for a long time, and although -several times apartments in the tower were vacant, we were never able to -secure a suite or a single room. - -“We were still vainly trying to arrange a trap for White from which -there would be no escape when he dismantled his room in the tower. - -“I learned positively of one case of White’s conduct to a girl only 15 -years old almost identically as Mrs. Evelyn Thaw describes her own case, -but the girl was in the chorus of a road company, and we could not reach -her and make a witness of her. We got evidence of other things--things -that convince me that what Harry Thaw’s wife now swears is true. I -believe in her story and base that belief upon what I know of the man. - -“The last time I saw Harry Thaw was only two or three weeks before he -shot White. He appeared to be in a desperate state--like a man who is -well-nigh frantic. He said to me wildly: ‘You must keep on, you must -stop this man, he must be stopped now--at once.” - -The defense, on the same day that it secured the Rev. Mr. Comstock’s -statement, made another sensational discovery. It obtained proof that -the day after the shooting of White, the police searched the studio of -White and discovered evidence that showed that Evelyn Nesbit was not the -only young girl who had been lured into the Madison Square Garden -mirrored-room within a few months. - -In the room “with mirrors to left and to right, in the ceiling and on -the floor,” in securely locked drawers built into the walls, the police -found this evidence. That such a den of vice could have existed in the -very heart of the great metropolis seems well nigh incredible. That -such practices could have been known by men of social standing, and -without protest, is past belief. - -Speaking after this discovery, Attorney Delmas was confident of the -acquittal of Thaw. - -“Before we put Evelyn on the stand,” he said, “I heard her story but -once. There was no rehearsal no attempt at dramatic play.” - -“The story as she told it in court was not half as dramatic as it was -when she told it to me during our preparation of the case. - -“Only once in my life have I been so touched with emotion as I was when -Evelyn Nesbit first told me her story. That was at the burial of my -father. - -“As I sat there as a lawyer listening to the girl narrating the story of -what she had suffered at the hands of Stanford White, the tears welled -into my eyes and I fairly sobbed. - -“She told me then that when she awoke and found Stanford White was alone -with her in that mirrored bedroom he seemed to her like a big gorilla. - -“His hair was disheveled, and the look in his face was like an animal. -‘I screamed with terror,’ she told me. She added many details, which, if -she had told the jury, there would have been no need on her part to -produce further evidence--as we had not rehearsed our part, I depended -simply on her memory as to facts. The presence of the crowded courtroom -disconcerted her to the extent that she omitted some of the most -revolting features of that fatal night.” - -[Illustration: EVELYN NESBIT, AS “THE SUNBONNET CHILD” - -Picture taken just before she met Stanford White.] - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -Harry Thaw’s Startling Will Disclosed Fear of Assassination. - - DOCUMENT, INTRODUCED IN EVIDENCE AFTER A BITTER LEGAL FIGHT, - PROVIDED $50,000 OR MORE AS A FUND FOR THE HUNTING DOWN AND - PUNISHMENT OF ANY PERSON WHO MIGHT ASSASSINATE HIM--$75,000 LEFT TO - CARE FOR YOUNG GIRLS WHO WERE RUINED BY A BAND OF DISSOLUTE - MILLIONAIRES LIKE WHITE--MONEY FOR MRS. HOLMAN, WIFE’S MOTHER, AND - FOR HOWARD NESBIT--DOCUMENT ALLEGED TO PROVE THE SLAYER - INSANE--YOUNG MILLIONAIRE THOUGHT OF NOTHING BUT WIFE’S WRONGS--PUT - DETECTIVES ON WHITE’S TRACK. - - -The day Evelyn Nesbit Thaw resumed the stand was a pitiful one -for her husband. Harry Thaw was celebrating his thirty-sixth -birthday--celebrating it in a prison cell, with the memory of his wife’s -shame, told on the stand, rankling in his mind. - -“Be of good cheer,” were the only words Thaw heard addressed to him by -his wife that day, “everybody says you will be acquitted on the first -ballot.” - -Mrs. Thaw was accompanied in court by her chorus girl friend and chum, -May McKenzie, and by another close friend, Mrs. J. J. Caine of Boston. -Mrs. Thaw heard Dr. Britton D. Evans, a noted alienist, testify - -[Illustration: EVELYN NESBIT - -At age of twelve years.] - -that he had made three separate examinations of her husband shortly -after the murder, and on each occasion found him insane. He swore: - -“Thaw exhibited delusions of a personal character, an exaggerated ego, -and, along with them delusions of a persecutory character. He thought -himself of exaggerated importance and believed himself persecuted by a -number of persons.” - -By an “exaggerated ego,” Dr. Evans said he meant “a disproportionate -idea of importance of self, a belief that one is clothed with powers, -capacity and ability far above normal or above those actually -possessed.” - -These symptoms, he said, were characteristic of several mental diseases. - -One of the mental diseases indicated by Thaw’s actions, Dr. Evans -declared, is known as adolescent insanity. It is characteristic of the -development period of life--from 10 to 40 years. The person thus -afflicted is known as having a psychopathic taint, a predisposition to -mental unsoundness, the result of heredity. - -The death of the wife of Joseph B. Bolton, who succumbed to pneumonia, -delayed the trial for three days after Dr. Wagner’s testimony, and for a -time, grave fears that a new trial would be necessary, were expressed. -The day after the funeral, however, the juror resumed his duties. Up to -this point the defense had expended $1,000,000 on the trial, and the -state had paid out $250,000. If Juror Bolton had been incapacitated by -his wife’s death, all this expense would have been useless. - -When the failure of the trial was feared, Mrs. Thaw sought to cheer her -husband. Perhaps her woman’s wit had warned her that she must look her -prettiest, for on her visit to the Tombs prison she wore for the first -time a new and modish little brown frock, its coat set off with jaunty -silk fixings. She was radiant and smiling as she jumped out of her cab -and ran up the steps to the iron gates of the Tombs. - -As she waited to be taken to her husband, a jail guard showed her a -message which had come in the mail for her husband. It was a postal -card, a picture of a bunch of violets, bearing in a childish hand this -inscription: - -“Dear Mr. Thaw: I am a little Baltimore girl. I send you this as a token -of my sympathy. Yours, - - “LULU BELL.” - -The wife’s face dimpled with pleasure. “Isn’t that sweet?” she said. “I -know Harry will appreciate it.” - -Dr. Charles Wagner, the alienist, who took the stand when the trial was -resumed, declared there could be not the slightest doubt that Thaw was -insane at the time of the shooting, and told the jury that Harry had -declared a “sudden impulse” made him slay White. - -“Mr. Thaw said in his conversation with me,” asserted the witness, “that -he had no idea of killing White up to the very time he shot him. Thaw -said his sole purpose had been to get evidence against White to send him -to the penitentiary for his offenses against young women. - -“White, declared Thaw, made a practice of his sins against girls, to -pick out young women who had a disposition toward morality rather than -toward girls with an inclination toward immorality. - -“Thaw told me,” said Dr. Wagner, “that White did not hesitate to use -drugs or employ physical force to accomplish his evil purposes.” - -Mr. Jerome protested at “thus attacking the name of the dead,” but in -vain, and the doctor resumed: - -“Thaw constantly referred to White as ‘this man, this creature, the -beast, the blackguard,’ and said the man had sought to pollute every -pure minded woman who came within the sphere of his observation. - -“‘I tried to save them,’ Mr. Thaw said to us, and added, ‘I did all in -my power, I never wanted to shoot the creature. I never wanted to kill -him. I knew he was a foul creature, destroying all the mothers and -daughters in America, but I wanted through legal means to bring him to -trial. I wanted to get him into court so he would be brought to -justice.’ - -“I then asked him why under such circumstances he had shot Mr. White. - -“‘Providence took charge of it,’ he replied. ‘This was an act of -Providence. For my part I would rather have had him suffer in court the -humiliation the revelation of his acts would have caused.’” - -“Did he tell you what he had done, if anything, to bring White into -court?” asked Mr. Delmas. - -“He said he had gone to see Anthony Comstock, District Attorney Jerome -and a private detective agency. He said Mr. Jerome had told him he had -better let the matter drop; that there was nothing to it. The detectives -told him they would take the matter up, but they had not submitted a -proper report. As to Mr. Comstock, he said, he discovered that Delancey -Nicoll, an attorney, was acting as legal adviser both to White and to -Comstock. He regarded this as another link in the conspiracy against -him. - -“I asked him why he carried a pistol, and he said that Roger O’Mara, a -Pittsburg detective, had advised him to do so after he had told O’Mara -that on several occasions thugs had jostled him in an attempt to get him -into a street brawl. He said these thugs were the hired agents of -Stanford White, who did not want to take the responsibility and danger -of making a personal attack. He said White had hired the Monk Eastman -gang to get him into a quarrel and beat or kick him to death.” - -After these astounding statements, to which the jury listened eagerly, -the bailiff cried: - -“Mrs. Evelyn Nesbit Thaw to the Stand!” - -A thrill ran round the court. - -[Illustration: MAY McKENZIE - -Beautiful actress friend of Evelyn Nesbit Thaw.] - -Mrs. Thaw looked pale and serious as she took her place on the stand. -She appeared in the same simple girlish costume that she had worn every -day since the trial began. She smiled slightly as she caught her -husband’s eye. Thaw returned the smile, and then turned to Attorney -O’Reilly, with whom he talked for a minute excitedly. Then he kept his -eyes fixed on his wife’s face. - -After Mrs. Thaw had sat in the witness chair for nearly five minutes, -Mr. Delmas began his examination. - -“You have already testified, Mrs. Thaw, that you are familiar with the -handwriting of Stanford White,” said the attorney. “I now hand you a -paper and ask if from beginning to end it is in the handwriting of Mr. -White?” - -Mrs. Thaw gazed at the paper, evidently a letter, and said: - -“It is his handwriting.” - -Letter by letter, Mrs. Thaw identified forty-two missives written by the -architect. - -As the examination of the letters was concluded Mr. Delmas turned to the -witness. - -“How long have you known May McKenzie?” - -“Since 1901.” - -“How long has Mr. Thaw known her?” - -“Since 1904.” - -“Did you in May, 1906, relate to Mr. Thaw a conversation you had with -May McKenzie especially with reference to what she said to you -regarding Stanford White?” - -“May McKenzie told me,” said Mrs. Thaw, “Stanford White had been to see -her and that she had told him that Harry and I were getting along finely -together. She said she thought it was so nice the way we loved each -other. - -“She said Stanford White had remarked: ‘Pooh, it won’t last. I will get -her back.’” - -“Did Mr. Thaw say anything when you told him this?” - -“He said he had already heard it from Miss McKenzie.” - -“What was his condition when you told him?” - -“The way he always was when on the subject of Stanford White.” - -“How was that?” - -“Very excited and nervous.” - -“You had a second operation in 1905, did you not?” - -“Yes.” - -“Who made the arrangements for it and paid the cost?” - -“Harry K. Thaw.” - -“How much was the bill?” - -“In all about $3,000. The operation itself was $1,000.” - -The nature of the operation was not gone into. - -“Did Mr. Thaw have any conversation with the attending physician at -that time regarding your previous relations with White?” - -“No, sir; not in my presence.” - -“Did Mr. Thaw at the time of your marriage and subsequent thereto talk -very much about the incident in your life connected with White?” - -“Yes. He always talked about it. He would waken me often at night, -sobbing. And then he would constantly ask me questions about the details -of this terrible thing.” - -“Did you visit May McKenzie at her apartments in 1904?” - -“Yes; she was ill and sent me a letter to come to see her.” - -“While you were there did Stanford White come in?” - -“Yes.” - -“Did you tell Mr. Thaw of anything that then occurred?” - -“Yes. Stanford White spoke to me several times and I always answered -‘yes’ or ‘no.’ He then came over and started to straighten a bow on my -hair. My hair was short, having been cut off at the time of my first -operation. Then Stanford White tried to put his arms around me, and -wanted me to sit beside him on the bed. I told him to let me alone.” - -Mrs. Thaw said that Harry Thaw always attributed her ill health, the -necessity of the second operation, etc., to White. She also testified -that Thaw had told her he was going to take up White’s affairs with -Anthony Comstock. - -“I told him it would do no good,” she added: “that White had many -influential friends and that he could stop it. I told him that lots of -people would not believe the things about White on account of his -personality.” - -Harry had begun to weep when his wife told of the operations, and -continued to sob bitterly. - -“Did you and Mr. Thaw discuss the fate of other young women at the hands -of Stanford White and did you tell him certain names?” - -Mr. Jerome objected. - -Mr. Delmas put another question: - -“Did you and Mr. Thaw discuss the fate of the ‘pie girl?’” - -“Yes, sir. It was in Paris in 1903. He asked me what other girls I knew -of who had suffered at the hands of White. I told him I had heard of the -‘pie girl,’ whose name was known to both of us. A girl at the theater -had told me about it and that night when White came to my dressing-room -I asked him about it. He asked me where I had heard the story. I told -him a girl had told me. Then he told me all about it. - -“There was a stag dinner, he said, and the girl was put in a big pie -with a lot of birds. She was very young--about 15 years, I think he -said. He also told me that the girl had a beautiful figure and wore -only a gauze dress. He helped put her in the pie and fix it, and said -it was the best stunt he ever saw at a dinner. When the girl jumped out -of the pie the birds flew all about the room. - -“‘But I came near getting into trouble about it,’ he said. ‘We put gold -pieces in the girl’s shoes and in her dress and a lot of people heard of -it. All the newspapers got hold of it. I stopped it at all the -newspapers but one, but I could not stop it there. I got a friend to go -see them, though, and we finally got them to stop it, too. We kept it -out of the papers, but it was close.’” - -“I told Mr. White I had heard he ruined the girl that night, but he only -laughed.” - -The names of other girls ruined by White were whispered by Mrs. Thaw to -Jerome, but not made public. - -“When did Mr. Thaw next talk to you about such cases?” asked Delmas. - -“The next time was in Pittsburg, when we were married. He told me that -the girl was dead. He said he had investigated the story and that it was -true; that afterward the girl married, but her husband heard the story -of her connection with Mr. White and that he cast her off and she died -in great poverty and disgrace.” - -“Did you and Mr. Thaw often speak of these girls?” - -“Yes, there was a constant conversation. I could not possibly tell you -every place and every time we discussed it. He told me something ought -to be done about the girls. I told him I could not do anything. He then -said I could help him. I tried to get his mind on other things and then -he would say I was trying to get out of it. He said White ought to be in -the penitentiary; that he got worse and worse all the time and something -had to be done.” - -This closed the direct examination, and Mr. Delmas then read a letter -from Harry Thaw to Anthony Comstock, the foe of vice in New York. In it -Thaw described the studio in the Madison Square tower, and said it was -filled with obscene pictures, and should be raided. He also described -the studio at 22 West Twenty-fourth street, which he said was -“consecrated to debauchery” and was used by “a gang of rich criminals.” -He described the studio and said in it there were many indecent -pictures. - -In this building, the letter said, were the famous red velvet swing and -the mirrored bedroom. He inclosed a sketch of the arrangements of the -rooms. “Workmen on the outside of the building,” says the letter, “have -frequently heard the screams of young girls from this building.” - -The letter continued that the place was run by “rich criminals,” but was -frequently visited by young men who did not know its character. The -letter said that the place had been partly dismantled three years ago. - -The letter called attention to still another house, saying: - -“You may also abolish another place at 122 East Twenty-second street--a -house used secretly by three or four of the same scoundrels. - -Mr. Delmas then asked permission to recall Mrs. Thaw for one more -question--a startling one. Mrs. Thaw blushed violently and said in reply -that White was a monster given to such practices that they would not -bear repetition. - -Evelyn Thaw, when first she told her story of alleged wrongs at the hand -of the dead architect, did not falter in details as to the approximate -time and circumstances. - -“Counsel for the defense,” said the attorney, in speaking of the -progress, “are greatly pleased with Mrs. Thaw and her testimony. What -pleases us most is that she followed the instructions given her, which -were that she should tell the truth, no matter what question was asked -her. We told her she was not to consider the effect upon herself or the -defendant, but to tell the truth bluntly and without consideration of -the consequences.” - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -The Hidden Witness to the Proposal. - - MRS. CAINE TELLS HOW HARRY THAW OFFERED EVELYN’S MOTHER A VAST - AMOUNT OF CASH FOR HER HAND--EVELYN RECALLED TO THE STAND--TELLS OF - POSING IN STUDIOS--ANOTHER DAY OF TORTURE--THE VISIT TO THE “DEAD - RAT”--MRS. THAW IN TEARS--HUSBAND WEEPS WHEN SHE IS FORCED TO TELL - HOW SHE WAS FOUND BY A VISITOR TO WHITE’S STUDIO--ADMITS SHE - VISITED HIM OFTEN AFTER THE “MIRRORED STUDIO” INCIDENT--ALMOST - FAINTS ON STAND--HUSBAND IN TEARS--EVELYN IN DELIRIUM AFTER THE - ORDEAL. - - -The next sensation in the trial came when Mrs. J. J. Caine, of Boston, a -close friend of Evelyn Nesbit and her mother. Mrs. Holman, testified -that Harry Thaw pleaded with Evelyn’s mother for her hand in marriage. -The scene which she dramatically described, occurred in New York, in -1903. Mrs. Holman was entertaining Mrs. Caine in her apartments at the -time and when the young millionaire called, Mrs. Caine concealed herself -in a bathroom where she overheard all that took place. - -Mrs. Caine testified as follows: - -“Harry Thaw entered the room excitedly and at once told Mrs. Holman that -he wanted to marry Evelyn. He told the mother of his desire to send the -girl to Europe and said if she would marry him he would settle enough on -the mother and her son, Howard Nesbit, to keep them in comfort during -their entire lives. (Later testimony indicated this amount was -$200,000.) - -Evelyn’s mother said she would try to fix it so the seventeen-year-old -girl would accept him. Mr. Thaw did not stay long, and when he left, -Evelyn’s mother said, “Now you see his intentions are honorable.” - -Thaw had never before known his conversation was overheard by an -eavesdropper who would stand him in such good stead. - -After Mrs. Caine left the stand Mrs. Evelyn Thaw was recalled for cross -examination. For hours she sat before the merciless Jerome under a -scathing cross fire of questions. Traps were laid and sprung, queries -were hurled in volleys to carry her off her feet and overwhelm her in a -tangle of contradictions, but all in vain; the mere slip of a girl met -the skilled prosecutor with a calm and effective resistance. - -Jerome’s first step was to try to prove that Evelyn had posed in the -nude. He first showed her a photograph of herself taken in 1904. It -showed Evelyn in a kimono--the famous one given her by Stanford White. -There was nothing offensive in the pose as disclosed by a view of the -picture. - -Mr. Jerome by his next few questions indicated that he did not intend to -spare the feelings of the young woman in any way. He interrogated her -sharply as to the details of her dress when she was posing for artists -in Philadelphia and New York, seeking to learn whether she posed in “the -altogether” or partially draped. The prosecutor persisted in certain -questions even after Mr. Delmas had objected, and insisted on having -definite answers, though Mrs. Thaw usually said she could not exactly -remember. - -“Was there any exposure of the person or did you wear the so-called -artistic draperies?” - -“I would not say that,” replied the witness. “I posed in a Greek dress -and a Turkish costume.” - -Jerome questioned her especially as to her posing in New York, asking -whether she had ever been photographed or painted with her person -exposed. She answered positively that she had never posed in such a -condition. - -“You are certain you never posed for a painting or photograph in such a -manner?” asked Jerome. - -“I never did--I always posed with clothes on.” She moved her hands from -her throat to her waist and said: “Do you mean without anything on here? -I have posed in low-neck, but never, never like that.” - -Then Mrs. Thaw told how she won her New York reputation as a model. She -sent a picture of herself, under the name of Florence Evelyn to a New -York magazine and soon was besieged by artists. Her mother aided her in -her search for work. - -[Illustration: Jerome cross-examining Evelyn Nesbit Thaw.] - -“Is it not true,” went on Mr. Jerome, reading from a paper, “that in the -spring of 1901, so far as your relations with your mother were -concerned, that you were getting unruly, that your mother still stuck by -you, that a married man -- --” - -At this point Mr. Delmas interposed an objection to Mr. Jerome reading -from what he termed a statement by Evelyn Thaw’s mother. - -“If the district attorney wants the mother’s testimony in he should -produce her on the stand,” he said. - -“I’d like to, but you know that it is impossible. You know where she -is,” said Mr. Jerome. - -The question regarding Evelyn becoming unruly was allowed to stand. - -“No,” she answered decidedly. - -“Is it not true that that married man was James A. Garland, and that he -was getting a divorce, and that you and your mother frequently quarreled -about him?” - -“No, indeed.” Mrs. Thaw drew herself up indignantly and stamped her -foot. - -“Is it not true that you went alone with him on the yacht?” - -“Mamma and I, yes.” - -“Were you made a corespondent in Mr. Garland’s divorce suit?” - -Mr. Delmas objected. The record, he said, was the best evidence. - -The question of photographs was resumed. Jerome asked: - -“During this time did you ever pose for an artist in the nude?” - -“Never.” - -“Ever have any casts made in the nude?” - -“No.” - -“Did you not in the spring of 1901 have such a cast made?” - -“No.” - -“Do you know Mr. Wells, sculptor?” - -“No.” - -“Ever heard of him?” - -“Never.” - -“How long did you know Mr. Garland?” - -“Not long.” - -“When did your acquaintance with him cease?” - -“When I met Stanford White.” - -“Isn’t it true that Mr. Garland became very annoying when you lived at a -certain apartment house?” - -“No.” - -“Your recollection is clear that you posed in draperies the day before -the mirrored-room incident?” - -“Yes.” - -“Was there any exposure of the person?” - -“The photographs were low-necked.” - -The ivory cheeks of the fair witness suddenly flamed with color and a -look of mingled fear and - -[Illustration: District Attorney Jerome and Harry K. Thaw, photographed -in court.] - -anger crept into her big limpid eyes. She was about to break down when -the hearing for the day was ended. It was a spell of sorrow to her -husband and terror to the woman. - -Another day of torture was in store and it came with the morrow. Jerome -had prepared to make the ordeal terrific and under his pitiless lash -Evelyn fell like a stricken doe. Jerome read his questions from notes -carefully prepared, realizing it was useless to attempt to ensnare the -witness any other way. Although he brought tears to her eyes, and caused -her to wince again and again, she stuck to her story bravely. - -“Did you continue to believe all women were what Stanford White told you -until you talked with Thaw in Paris in 1903?” he thundered. - -“Yes, sir,” replied Mrs. Thaw meekly. - -Then Jerome proved that Mrs. Thaw had visited a place in Paris called -the Dead Rat in company with Harry Thaw. - -“Before the time you left Paris, had you any appreciation that such -things as you have described were considered as improper and positively -wrong?” - -“Not until my talk with Mr. Thaw.” - -“Before that you didn’t believe it wrong; you did not think it -improper?” - -“Oh, yes.” - -“Very wrong?” - -“Not particularly. I knew people said it was wrong.” - -“Did you think it very indelicate and vulgar?” - -“That is all.” - -“That it was only bad taste?” - -“Yes.” - -“But you didn’t think it was wrong?” - -“I didn’t fully realize it until I went to Paris.” - -“But you thought it was wrong?” - -“Yes.” - -“Did you belong to any religious organization?” - -“No.” - -“You went to church and Sunday school in Pittsburg?” - -“Not in Pittsburg.” - -“In Paris it was impressed on you that White had done you a terrible -wrong?” - -“In a way.” - -“Before you left Paris you had begun to look on such relations as very -wrong?” - -“Yes.” - -“Had you come to a full understanding of the infamous character of -White’s act?” - -“Yes--but not so much as I have now.” - -“Yet it was this that induced your renunciation of Thaw’s great love?” - -“Yes,” said Mrs. Thaw, as tears welled to her eyes. - -“Did you refuse Thaw solely because of the occurrence with White?” -asked Mr. Jerome of the witness. - -“Because I had been found out.” - -“Who told you you had been caught?” - -“Friends of Stanford White.” - -“So it was not because of the occurrence but because you had been found -out?” - -“It was both together. I had an instinct about it. When Mr. Thaw -proposed it was the first proposal I ever had and it all struck me very -seriously. It all came together.” - -“You felt the most heinous wrong had been done?” - -“I didn’t know anything about it at the time. All I remember is what I -felt like when I woke up. I remember that distinctly. I didn’t -understand what had taken place.” - -“It outraged every maidenly instinct in you, didn’t it?” - -“It did, and that is why I quarreled with Stanford White.” - -“You were very bitter against White when you told Thaw, weren’t you.” - -“Not then.” - -“When you felt you were giving up Thaw’s love you didn’t feel bitter -against White?” - -“Not intensely. Not until Mr. Thaw made me realize it.” - -“Did you continue to have a feeling of enmity against White?” continued -Jerome. - -“I wouldn’t say enmity--it was hostility against him for this one thing -and subsequent things.” - -“What subsequent things?” - -“The prosecutor caught up Mrs. Thaw’s own words?” - -“Things with Stanford White,” replied Mrs. Thaw. - -“Were they improper and indecent?” - -“I don’t know what you would call them.” - -Mrs. Thaw then testified that while she was in London, before her -marriage, her mother compelled her to write a friendly letter to White. - -“While abroad did you tell your mother of your experience with White?” - -“No.” - -“How did you know Stanford White’s friends knew of your relations with -Stanford White?” - -“One of them saw me with him at the East Twenty-second street studio.” - -“Was there any impropriety there?” - -“Yes.” - -“So you continued to maintain relations with Stanford White?” - -“Yes, for a time.” - -Thaw buried his face in his hands. Tears were in Mrs. Thaw’s eyes and -she broke into sobs. - -Mr. Jerome demanded the name of the man who had seen her at the studio. -He asked the witness to whisper it. - -Mr. Delmas wanted it publicly announced. A wordy conflict ensued, in -which Mr. Jerome threatened to have the courtroom cleared. Justice -Fitzgerald finally settled the matter, saying the name might be given to -counsel, the court, and the jury. - -“Did you tell Harry Thaw about these subsequent relations with Stanford -White?” - -“Yes.” - -“And you didn’t think to tell us on your direct examination?” - -“No.” - -“Can you fix dates as to these subsequent events?” - -“No.” - -“How did you know this man knew of your relations with White?” - -“He saw me one day with Mr. White in one of his studios.” - -“Were you and Mr. White alone?” - -“Yes.” - -“And this was about a month after the incident with drugs?” - -“Yes.” - -“How long did you continue to visit Mr. White?” - -“Not after January, 1902.” - -“How many visits did you make?” - -“I do not remember.” - -“Were they frequent?” - -“No.” - -“Ten times?” - -“I can’t remember.” - -“Where did these visits take place?” - -“At the Twenty-second and Twenty-fourth street studios and in the -Tower.” - -“And on these occasions were you two alone?” - -“Yes.” - -“Did you partake of refreshments there?” - -“Yes.” - -“Were you drugged again?” - -“No.” - -“Did you have too much wine?” - -“Yes.” - -“What time of the day did these incidents occur?” - -“Usually after the theater,” replied Mrs. Thaw, wiping the tears from -her eyes. - -As to the nature of the operation which was performed upon her while she -was at school in New Jersey the witness said she knew only what the -nurses and doctors told her, that it was for appendicitis. - -“Why did you not tell your mother all about your visits?” - -“I would rather have died than to tell her,” almost shrieked the girl. - -During this period the prosecution established the following facts -adverse to her: - -That this beautiful girl, in the critical character-forming time of her -life, was practically without religious instruction or training. - -That she was an associate of various men of evil reputation and mingled -with the gayest set of the intemperate circles of Bohemia. - -That she pursued a calling most dangerous to innocence and purity for -any girl. - -That she lived off the bounty of the man who she alleges committed a -shocking crime against her. - -That she held astounding and shameful ideas of morality. - -This was Mrs. Thaw’s worst day on the stand, when her tears flowed -almost constantly. When she was forced to tell of her experiences in -White’s infamous studio, she almost fainted. With head buried in his -hands, Thaw wept aloud. It was a pitiful scene. The husband was so far -overcome that he could not take his customary notes on the trial. - -Evelyn Thaw was delirious that night and fell in May McKenzie’s arms at -her hotel. - -Is it a wonder that Evelyn Thaw wished to flee from further notoriety -after Thaw shot Stanford White, according to a member of the Thaw -household? She is said to have made hasty preparations to sail for -Europe. When the Thaw lawyers learned of this, a council was called -immediately, and Evelyn was induced to stay, as rumor had it, by liberal -concessions of the Thaws. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -Lived on Bounty of Stanford White. - - EVELYN THAW FORCED INTO FURTHER REVELATIONS--PROVED THAT WHITE PAID - HER BILLS--ARCHITECT’S LETTERS AND RECEIPTS FOR MONEY PAID HER, - READ--THAW CALLED WHITE’S CASH “POISON”--AMERICAN OFFICIAL DRAGGED - INTO SCANDAL--JEROME PRODUCES EVELYN THAW’S DIARY AS A - SCHOOLGIRL--EVELYN’S PHILOSOPHY--DECLARES HERSELF VERY - “SUSCEPTIBLE”--ABE HUMMEL CALLED; LEAVES THE STAND WITH STORY - UNSHAKEN. - - -More crushing than all the ordeals hitherto experienced, Evelyn Thaw was -next compelled to admit the shameful fact that after her ruin she lived -on the bounty of her betrayer. Documentary evidence was introduced to -strengthen the hands of the merciless Jerome. A dozen times she took -refuge in the answer, “I don’t remember.” - -It was a bad day for the defense. The most sensational feature of the -session was the introduction of her diary which pictured her a -whimsical, strange little philosopher, even as a school girl. - -Jerome sprang his coup with startling suddenness. He handed Mrs. Thaw a -bundle of receipts representing money paid to her and her mother by -Stanford White, and demanded that the fair witness identify her own -signature on them. - -There were fourteen receipts in all. They were for various amounts -received from the Mercantile Trust company, where White had deposited a -sum of money for Evelyn and her mother. The amounts varied from $65 to -$110. The receipts were signed “Evelyn Florence Nesbit,” the mother and -daughter having the same name. - -A letter and envelope addressed to White’s private secretary by the -architect were next offered in evidence. The letter said: - -“Dear Hartnett: Please telephone Mrs. Nesbit to let you know whenever -Miss Evelyn decides to go on her vacation. Then send this note to the -Mercantile Trust company: ‘Please notify Miss Nesbit that on receiving -word she is about to start on her vacation you will send her the weekly -checks for $25 and an additional check for $200.’ Yours truly, - - “STANFORD WHITE.” - -Evelyn was then compelled to admit that for several months in 1902 she -lived at the exclusive Audubon apartments and that White paid the rent. -Then she told of her meeting with Thaw and of her trip to Europe with -him and of her recital to him of the story of her ruin, which, it was -contended, wrecked his mind. - -“When Harry learned I had a letter of credit from Stanford White, he -grew very much excited,” declared Mrs. Thaw. “He said the money was -filthy and poisonous and that I must never touch it again. He said he -would take it so I could not use it. He said that he would give me -anything I wanted, and that if mamma wanted anything she would only have -to ask for it. - -“When Mr. White gave me the letter of credit it was sealed up. I did not -know what it was, and he told me I must not open the letter until we -were well at sea. Whatever was used of the money was for my mother. Mr. -Thaw gave it to her after I had given it to him.” - -Thaw gave her $1,000 while she was in Paris. - -Jerome had in some mysterious and unexplained way secured possession of -a diary kept by Evelyn while she was at school at Pompton, N. J., in -1902. Rumor had it, that a handsome sum of money found its way to a -member of her family for filching the booklet. Extracts from the diary -were read to the fair witness, who admitted their authorship. - -Some of the remarkable excerpts were: - -“Mrs. De Mille (the head of the school) said to come right in and I -jumped with the agility of a soubrette and began to get shy. - -“I met Mrs. De Mille’s son, and I must admit that he was a pie-faced -mutt. - -“My room here is neither large nor small. There is a white, virtuous -bed. I took a nap, and the last thing I remember was, I wondered how far -I am from Rector’s. Rector’s is really not a proper place for an -innocent young person, but I always had a weakness for it.” - -“When one comes to think it over it is good to have lived. A girl who -has always been good and never had any scandal about her is fortunate in -more ways than one. On the other hand, not one of them will ever be -anything. By anything I mean just that. They will, perhaps, be good -wives and mothers, but whether it is ambition or foolish, I mean to be a -good actress first. - -“Of course, I can’t live here all the time. And I can’t forget all the -old people. They do not know what they are doing here, but give them a -chance to get away and see what they would do. If I stay here long I’ll -get just like the rest. I am very susceptible and I’ll soon be a -- --” - -“From the time you first became intimate with Thaw in 1903 until the -shooting of White, June 25, 1906, did you ever see anything in Thaw’s -condition that was irrational?” asked Mr. Jerome. - -“Yes.” - -Mrs. Thaw then detailed several instances. She said that one night while -on Broadway in a cab, she and Thaw saw White. Thaw became much excited. - -“I don’t know what you would call it,” she said, “but I would call it a -fit. He cried and sobbed, and bit his nails and talked rapidly.” - -“Did you ever see a man in an epileptic fit?” asked Mr. Jerome. - -“I’ve seen cats.” - -There was considerable laughter. - -Mrs. Thaw said her husband told her that White was circulating -scandalous stories about him and was plotting to have him killed. - -Abe Hummel, a once brilliant and respected lawyer in New York with a -large practice among theatrical people, was brought on the stand by the -prosecution prepared to swear that Mrs. Thaw had made an affidavit in -his presence that Harry had beat her in Paris. - -The evidence was not admitted. Jerome tried, however, to prove that she -had made the affidavit. Evelyn, who had left the courtroom, was -recalled. She came drying her eyes and showing signs of bitter -disappointment because she was not allowed to remain at her husband’s -side. - -“You’ve a brother, Howard Nesbit?” began Jerome. - -“Yes, sir.” - -“On your return from Europe in 1903, did you tell your brother Howard, -in substance, that while you were abroad you had been brutally abused by -Thaw to induce you to tell lies against Stanford White, and that these -lies were that he had drugged and mistreated you, which story you told -Howard Nesbit was false?” - -“I did not.” - -“Didn’t you tell your brother you were compelled at the point of a -revolver to make some such statement?” - -“I did not.” - -“Didn’t you tell Howard these facts in substance at some time?” - -“I--did--not!” - -Each time this answer was repeated with greater emphasis and a longer -pause between the three words. - -Evelyn was excused again. Jerome had been trying to prove her a -perjurer, but had failed. - -This ended Evelyn’s greatest ordeal on the witness stand. The slender -girl was free to rest after a strain that had taxed her vitality to the -utmost. Although she had suffered much in personal reputation, her -original story was unshaken. - -Dr. Evans, the alienist, was recalled for cross examination and remained -on the stand two days. He was given a terrific cross fire of questions. -Summed up Dr. Evans stated that he believed Thaw to have been suffering -from adolescent insanity in 1903 and at the time of his marriage, again -on April 4, 1905, and that when he killed Stanford White, June 25, 1906, -he was the victim of an acute and recurrent attack of the same mental -malady. - -Important as was his testimony, it was quite lost sight of by the public -in the keen interest surrounding Evelyn Thaw, and the spirit of -anticipation with which the appearance of Harry Thaw’s mother was -awaited. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -Thaw’s Mother on the Stand. - - AGED WOMAN WITH ALL HER WEALTH AND SOCIAL POSITION, A PATHETIC - FIGURE--BENT WITH GRIEF AND SHAKEN WITH SOBS--TELLS HOW SON WEPT - VIOLENTLY AT NIGHT--FIRST HEARD EVELYN NESBIT’S NAME ON - THANKSGIVING BEFORE MARRIAGE--HARRY CONFIDED TO MOTHER THAT GRIEF - WAS DUE TO EVELYN’S FATE--CALLED HER VICTIM OF - CIRCUMSTANCES--MOTHER APPROVED OF MARRIAGE ON CONDITION THAT MRS. - HOLMAN SHOULD NEVER ENTER HER HOUSE AND THAT EVELYN’S PAST SHOULD - NEVER BE REFERRED TO--DEFENSE ENDS ITS CASE. - - -Pathetic as was the trembling figure of Evelyn Nesbit Thaw on the -witness stand it paled into insignificance as compared with the -appearance of Mrs. William Thaw, the aged mother of the defendant, in -the role of a witness, contributing her share of humiliation to the -sacrifice for her son’s life. - -Bent with grief and shaken with sobs, the haughty widow of the -millionaire steel king appeared clothed from head to foot in black. For -the moment, pride of family and of wealth disappeared before the misery -of the ordeal she had to undergo. Momentarily, she would show a flash of -spirit, but it disappeared almost as quickly. Even the stern prosecutor -softened - -[Illustration: MRS. WILLIAM THAW - -Harry Thaw’s aged mother.] - -in manner before the sorrow of the aged woman. To attack her with the -same ferocity as the wife of the accused would have spelled ruin for -him. He read the handwriting on the wall and desisted. - -Altogether Mrs. Thaw did not make as good a witness as did Evelyn with -her wonderful composure and ready wit; but she impressed the jury and -all hearers forcibly nevertheless. She herself seemed disappointed when -her examination came to an end. Her disappointment centered about -refusal of counsel to permit her to deny that her son Harry suffered a -taint of insanity by heredity. She was placed on the stand immediately -after Dr. Charles D. Wagner, an alienist, had testified Harry Thaw was -incapable of viewing his action as wrong when he shot White. - -Mr. Delmas conducted the direct examination of Mrs. Thaw, which follows: - -“In what time of the fall of 1903 did your son, Harry K. Thaw, come to -your home in Pittsburg?” - -“In October. He came two days after my other son was married.” - -“During the time that Harry K. Thaw was at your home did you notice -anything peculiar in his conduct denoting a change?” - -“When he first entered the house his manner was such that it struck me -at the time.” - -“Will you describe his appearance?” - -“He seemed absent-minded and had a despairing look.” - -“Did this continue?” - -“Yes.” - -“What followed?” - -“This sort of thing happened several times at night. His room was next -to mine and he sobbed violently during the night.” - -It was at this point that the grief-stricken mother first gave way to -her overpowering emotion. Her face, which had been as gray as her hair -when she entered the courtroom, flushed red and tears stole down her -cheeks. - -She wiped away the tears with a black-bordered handkerchief and -continued her story in a hesitating manner. Her tones were so low that -several of the jurors could not hear her. - -“Had you proceeded to state that you had found your son as late as 3 or -4 in the morning awake and undressed?” - -“No; I said he was dressed.” - -“And you had proceeded to state what he said?” - -“He said that a man--probably the worst man in New York--had ruined his -life.” - -“Had you made any inquiry of your son as to what that man had done?” - -“He said the man had wrecked the life of a young girl.” - -“Did you learn more about that statement?” - -“Yes. I could not learn who the girl was who was associated with this -wicked man in New York.” - -“Did you learn her name from your son?” - -“Yes.” - -“Will you tell us just what he said?” - -“I learned more about it afterward.” - -“Was that all you learned up to Thanksgiving day?” - -Mrs. Thaw began crying again and restrained herself only after a great -effort. - -Some of the jurors complained that they had not been able to hear the -testimony. By direction of the court, the stenographer read aloud the -testimony of Mrs. Thaw. Her testimony was as follows, eliminating -questions: - -“In November, 1903, a few days before my second son was married, Harry -came there. It was the 18th of November. I noticed a change in his -conduct when he first entered the house. I had the habit of going to the -door, and when I saw him it struck me that he looked absent-minded, as -if he had lost interest in everything. The impression grew on me. - -“He appeared to be laboring with a problem. He went to the drawing room -and I heard the piano playing violently at first and then the tone grew -softer and softer. This happened after he would come back, and after a -while he would go to the drawing room and resume playing in the same -way, first wildly and then softer and softer. - -“But the most marked feature was his wakefulness at night. His room was -next to mine and I would hear him sobbing. I would see a light under -the door at three or four in the morning. I would go into his room and -find him sitting up crying. - -“I am not of a prying disposition, and I did not inquire into his -trouble at once. He finally told me one night what the trouble was. He -did not tell me definitely at first. He first said that it was something -a wicked man in New York had done that had ruined his life. That was as -much as I could get from him at first. He said the man was probably the -worst in New York. - -“On Thanksgiving I learned more. I did not ask the girl’s name. I -learned from him one night what the wicked man had done to the young -girl. I did not want to inquire any further. - -“I told him that sort of thing happened in New York constantly and I -asked, Why should that ruin your life? But he insisted it had. - -“I tried to influence him the other way, to show him that it was not his -place to look after the young girls. - -“He said the girl had the most beautiful mind of any woman he had ever -met and that if she had been under the influence of a good mother she -would have been the best woman that ever lived. I cannot recall the -entire conversation, but that is the substance of it. - -“I only know that on Thanksgiving Day that incident occurred. It was the -first Thanksgiving Day in our new church, and as it was very crowded. -Harry and I had to stand under the gallery. I was glad afterward that we -had to, as we heard the beautiful music. - -“I heard a sob and when we drove home I asked Harry, ‘Why did you forget -yourself in church?’ and he said it suddenly came over him--this -dreadful thing. ‘If that dreadful thing had not happened,’ he said, ‘she -could have been here with us.’” - -The reading ceased and Mrs. Thaw was questioned further by Mr. Delmas. - -“Did you have further conversations with him?” - -“I think that was the substance of what he said and what I noticed.” - -“After this conversation on Thanksgiving day, did you notice anything -about his wakefulness and disturbed condition?” - -“Nearly every morning I saw him up early. The same condition prevailed.” - -“Do you know whether Dr. Bingaman was in attendance a few afternoons -later?” - -“Yes; I remember it was a gloomy afternoon. It was the Saturday after -Thanksgiving, I believe. He did so so frequently that I do not recall -any single occasion.” - -“While he (Dr. Bingaman) was in your home did his reference to this -young girl become more frequent or less frequent?” - -“I am not sure. If anything it was more frequent.” - -“When did you learn who this young girl was?” - -“I cannot recall that. I have tried to. During the Spring of 1904, -before he went abroad, I am inclined to think I learned that.” - -“At that time can you recall what your son said about the young girl?” - -“I can not recall it.” - -District Attorney Jerome here appealed to the court to instruct the -witness to answer yes or no to this question. - -“You have stated that you think you learned who this young girl was -before your son went to Europe in 1904. Now, my question is, what did he -say?” - -Mrs. Thaw’s examination was interrupted at this time by a clash of -counsel over the purpose of the questions, District Attorney Jerome -insinuating that if it was to show Thaw mentally unbalanced he would ask -for a lunacy commission. The clash did much to disconcert the witness. -Finally her examination continued. - -“What did your son say to you?” - -“It was some time between Thanksgiving and when he went back to Europe -that he told me who the young girl was. I cannot recall the conversation -we had, but I think it was in March that he told me.” - -“What did your son tell you?” - -“He said she had gone with her mother to New York and she had met the -wicked man who had ruined her. I cannot recall all the conversation, but -know I learned her name. - -“Have you now stated all the conversation you had with your son between -the time he got home and the time he left for Europe?” - -“Yes: I have told all.” - -“Your son then reappeared in your home in the Fall of 1904?” - -“Yes.” - -“Did he speak to you then about his contemplated marriage to this young -girl?” - -“I remember expressing my disapproval about his coming over from the -other side with her, but he said there was nothing wrong: that she had -been the victim of circumstances.” - -“Will you state when he first manifested the intention of marrying that -young girl?” - -“In November, 1903, he told me he desired to marry her, but that he had -been frustrated at every move he made.” - -“You went South in 1904?” - -“In February. It may have been in 1905. I cannot remember dates.” - -“When you returned from the South you say your son was still intent on -marrying this girl?” - -“Yes; and I therefore came here to New York and saw her. This was about -a month before the wedding.” - -“You came to see her? And did you talk with your son about the wedding?” - -“Yes.” - -“Did you finally give your approval? Kindly state what conversation you -had with your son on the subject after your return to the hotel?” - -“He asked me whether I would be willing he should marry her and I said -he could marry her at my home. I said he could take her home--that I -liked the girl. I told Harry I had no one at home now and would take -this girl to my home and her past would be closed. I told him I would -never ask her about it nor permit it to be mentioned in my presence. I -did, however, make one condition. I told him I would not have her mother -in my house. So he made the arrangements and on April 2 came home to be -married.” - -“Now, after you had given your approval, they were married at your home -in Pittsburg?” - -“Yes.” - -“How soon did the marriage take place?” - -“Two days later.” - -“What seemed to be his condition just prior to the marriage?” - -“He seemed to be in a better condition, but somewhat depressed. He -seemed to fear that the mother of the girl would withhold her consent to -the marriage. He said he feared that at the very last her mother would -refuse her consent.” - -“What was the cause of this agitation on his wedding day?” - -“He felt that her mother would still try to interfere. He was busy -writing nearly all day.” - -“Did you know that a will and codicil was being executed that day?” - -“Yes.” - -“At what time of the day?” - -“At the early dinner.” - -“You say they left for the West that night?” - -“Yes.” - -“How did he appear when he came back?” - -“Their life was clear and placid. They were with me until October. I had -an opportunity and carefully watched them.” - -Mr. Jerome then took the witness in hand for cross examination. - -“Did your son learn to play the piano?” - -“Yes.” - -“At some time subsequent to the death of your husband--or, rather ... -I’ll put it this way--were you the executrix or trustee of your -husband’s estate?” - -Delmas objected. - -“I am trying to show that at a certain date the executors of the late -Mr. Thaw’s will increased the amount set aside for the defendant under -the will,” said Jerome. - -The question was changed as follows: - -“Did such an event take place?” - -“Yes.” - -“At what date?” - -“I cannot remember exactly.” - -“How did it come about?” - -Delmas objected. - -“I want to instruct the witness that the District Attorney can ask any -question he wants,” he said, “and that I can object to it if I want to, -and I ask you, Mrs. Thaw, not to answer until I have had a chance to -object.” - -“There was a time when your son, under his father’s will, was to receive -a certain amount of money unless the executors saw fit to increase it -and there was a subsequent time when the amount was increased by the -executors, when was that?” - -“If you will state it was after June, 1903, I will not object,” said -Delmas. - -“I will not allow the question unless you set the date subsequent to -June, 1903,” said Judge Fitzgerald. - -Jerome again put the question and was again overruled. - -“After the death of the defendant’s father was he in receipt of a -certain income from the estate of his father?” - -Delmas objected and was again sustained. - -“After June, 1903, what was the income of the defendant?” - -“It was from his own estate.” - -“What income did he receive before that?” - -[Illustration: CLIFFORD W. HARTRIDGE - -One of Thaw’s lawyers.] - -Delmas objected and was sustained; Jerome was beaten at every point. - -“When you spoke to him of his proposal of marriage, did he say he wanted -to shield the young girl from a wrong?” - -“Yes.” - -“Did he relate to you the occurrences in Europe? Did he tell you of his -desire to make Evelyn Nesbit his wife?” - -“He did.” - -“Did he express fear that he might not be married at that time?” - -“He said she had told him that it would make an unsuitable match and -that while he was very anxious to make the girl his wife she was not so -anxious because of this wrong.” - -“When they arrived from Europe did he come to your home in Pittsburg?” - -“Not directly, but during that month.” - -“So that up to the time of the marriage you had received no information -of his former relations with Evelyn Nesbit?” - -“No.” - -“I am through,” said Jerome. - -After the aged woman’s testimony had been concluded, Attorney Delmas -suddenly threw a bomb into the ranks of the prosecution by announcing in -a low voice the three words: - -“The defense rests!” - -[Illustration: PAULA DESMOND - -Actress figuring in the case.] - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -Scathing Denunciation By Jerome. - - DISTRICT ATTORNEY MAKES ATTACK ON LIFE OF HARRY THAW--ATTRIBUTES - WILD ORGIES TO THE DEFENDENT--THE ETHEL THOMAS TRAGEDY--ATTEMPT - MADE TO PROVE EVELYN THAW A PERJURER--NEW LIGHT ON THE CASE--ABE - HUMMEL ON THE STAND--JEROME TRIES TO PROVE EVELYN HAD SWORN THAT - WHITE NEVER WRONGED HER--CHARGES PLOT BY THAW TO PUT ARCHITECT IN - PENITENTIARY--FAMOUS ALIENISTS SWEAR THAW WAS SANE AT THE TIME OF - THE TRAGEDY--EVELYN ON THE STAND AGAIN. - - -With the testimony of Thaw’s aged mother fresh in their minds the jurors -heard District Attorney Jerome make a sensational attack on the past -life of Harry Thaw. Jerome insinuated that Thaw had in his wild youthful -days, indulged in wild orgies no less iniquitous than those of which -Stanford White had been accused, although differing in character. - -Attorney Frederick Longfellow, Thaw’s personal counsel, was a witness -from whom Jerome fought to draw this information. - -Longfellow was an unwilling witness and every answer had to be dragged -from him, Delmas interposing objections to the procedure throughout the -examination. - -“Did you represent this prisoner in the suit of Ethel Thomas against -Harry K. Thaw?” demanded Jerome. - -“My firm did,” Longfellow was allowed to answer. - -“It has been said that alleged acts of perversion by White added to the -fury of Thaw’s mental unbalance,” Jerome stated. “I want to show that he -knew all about such things--that they were set forth in the complaint in -this suit by Ethel Thomas, the papers of which were served on him. - -“I am not trying to show that Ethel’s statements were true. Anyway, this -poor girl now is dead--” - -A hot fight came here, and Jerome was forced to withdraw the words “poor -girl,” while the jury was cautioned to ignore what Jerome had said. - -“Mrs. Thaw herself,” Jerome fairly shouted, “says she was told the story -of Ethel Thomas!” - -Longfellow was not allowed to testify to anything about the charges -contained in the Thomas girl’s suit against Thaw. - -Jerome was burning with wrath. His expected victory had been turned to -bitter defeat. - -The next witness was Policeman Dennis Wright, who was called to testify -as to conversations he had with Thaw the night of Thaw’s arrest. The -witness said: - -“When I was in Madison avenue I saw Thaw. I asked him what the trouble -was. He said he wanted me to take him away from the crowd, to take him -to the station-house.” - -“Was there any more?” - -“Yes. When we were in Fifth avenue some person unknown asked me if I -knew the prisoner or what he had done. I said I did not. I asked the -defendant if he knew what he had done and he said ‘Yes.’ I asked him if -he knew who it was he had killed. He said he would say nothing until he -reached the station-house. He asked me for a light, offered me a cigar, -and then wanted to take a cab to the station, but I would not agree.” - -“Were his actions rational or irrational?” - -“Rational.” - -Four other policemen testified Thaw appeared rational after the murder. - -Jerome here made an attempt to prove Evelyn Thaw a liar. He was -defeated, however, for his star witness, Rudolph Eckmyer, a -photographer, was not allowed to tell the date he made the famous -Madison Square Garden photographs of Evelyn. - -“If you will let me fix the date of these pictures,” he said heatedly, -“I will show that on the night following the day they were taken, when -Mrs. Thaw’s experience at White’s studio took place, Stanford White was -not in the Twenty-fourth street house at all.” - -Jerome fairly shouted the last words and pounded the table before him. -Mr. Delmas said he must stand upon his objection, and it was sustained. - -“I now offer,” repeated Jerome, “to prove by this witness the exact date -on which these pictures were taken, which was, Mrs. Thaw testified, the -day before she was drugged by Stanford White. And I further offer to -prove that on that occasion Stanford White was not where she said he -was.” - -James Clinch Smith, Stanford White’s brother-in-law, who was in Europe -when the trial began, was allowed to testify for the defense. Smith’s -story threw much new light on the tragedy. It showed that Thaw several -times passed through the aisles on the Madison Square Roof-garden, -apparently seeking some one, and always his eyes were turned on the spot -where Stanford White sat. - -He sat down and talked to Smith on a variety of subjects--Wall street -speculation, the play, a trip to Europe, common acquaintances, and many -other topics. - -This story, Jerome sought to show, proved that Thaw was sane the night -of the murder, and that he repeatedly sought for his victim on the -roof-garden, instead of killing him because of a sudden impulse. - -“Thaw sat down beside me,” said the relative of White, “and offered me a -cigar. I said, ‘No, thank you.’ He said, ‘How’s that, don’t you smoke at -all?’ I said I occasionally smoked cigarets. He then took out his -cigaret case, offered me one, and I took it and thanked him. He struck a -match and lit my cigaret, and his cigar. He asked me how I liked the -play, and I said I did not care for it much. I thought it slow and not -the sort of play for a roof-garden. - -“He said, ‘It is different from those you usually see on the -roof-garden. It is a relief to see it, and I think it will be a -success.’ I said I doubted it. - -“A few moments later he said, ‘What are you doing in Wall street -now--any speculating?’ I answered that I did not speculate in Wall -street. He said he thought there was a great chance in copper; he -mentioned Amalgamated and one other. - -“And he also said Steel was good; he could not see why steel stocks were -kept down; the company was doing a bigger business than ever. He said if -he had any money he would put it in steel and copper, particularly -copper.” - -“Then suddenly he said: ‘Where are you going this summer?’ I told him -that I was going to Europe on Thursday. He wanted to know what ship I -was going on, and when I told him he said he did not like the ship. - -“He said he was going on the Amerika because he could get on that ship a -large suite of rooms, where he could have his meals served in his -apartments. - -“Then he said: ‘Are you alone over here?’ I told him that I had left my -wife in Paris. - -“When Thaw left me he walked around several times, looking over the -audience, toward the place where he subsequently shot White. Finally his -friends arrived, and then I heard three pistol shots and saw a cloud of -black smoke. I saw Thaw after the shooting, aiming his pistol toward the -floor. - -“I went to the entrance, keeping my eyes on Thaw all the while. Then I -saw a man lying face downward on the floor. The man’s face was so -blackened with powder I did not recognize my brother-in-law and left the -place without knowing who the man was.” - -Smith on cross-examination asserted Thaw was not intoxicated on the -night of the murder. - -Jerome next asked Abe Hummel this question: - -“Did you on October 27, 1903, see Evelyn Nesbit Thaw in your office?” - -“I did,” replied the lawyer. - -“At that conversation did Mrs. Thaw inform you that Thaw wanted to -injure White and put him in the penitentiary and that Thaw had compelled -her time and time again to sign statements about White and that those -documents charged White with having drugged Evelyn Nesbit when she was -about fifteen years old and that she, Evelyn Nesbit, had told you that -Thaw had beaten her for not signing the papers?” - -Hummel was not allowed to answer then, on objections by Delmas, but the -witness said he was acting for Stanford White at the time of the -conference. - -The district attorney made an impassioned argument to secure the -admission of Hummel’s testimony. He said: - -“Your Honor has ruled and rules, as I believe, with entire correctness, -that as to the truth or falsity as to whether Stanford White did do -these acts, we on this trial have nothing to do, the issue being, did -the defendant’s mind become unhinged by these and other things that have -been proven in evidence? Was an insanity induced by this revelation and -the others that appear in evidence which so swept reason from its -moorings that when he killed Stanford White that night he did not know -the nature and the quality of the act and that it was wrong? - -“Your Honor’s rulings have reduced the case to that, and have properly -reduced it, in my estimation, to that point. - -“Now on that question of whether or not his mind was unhinged by these -revelations, whether or no these revelations ever were made to him is -surely most important. It is not collateral. It goes to the very root of -the case. - -“They claim that as Thaw sat in the hotel in Paris that night and asked -her to marry him and she said she would not because of White, and she -then cryingly told how this man had drugged her when but a girl of -fifteen--they contend that this picture unhinged his mind. Your Honor -has ruled we have nothing to do with the truth or falsity of her story. -We have nothing to do with whether Stanford White did or did not do -these things. The issue here is did or did not this defendant’s mind -become unhinged when he heard Evelyn Nesbit’s story. - -“If this jury believes that she told this awful story would it not be a -fact that they would carry it in their minds and would it not weigh -heavily? - -“If on the other hand I can show that Mrs. Thaw did not tell Thaw in -Paris that White drugged her it will be a matter for the jury to -consider seriously in determining whether or not Thaw was insane when he -killed Stanford White. - -“If I can show that Evelyn Nesbit Thaw under the solemnity of an oath -swore that White had never wronged her; if I can show that she repelled -the advances of the man and that Thaw whipped and beat her because she -would not affix her signature to an affidavit charging White wronged -her; if I can show that she said to Hummel: ‘He beat me when we were in -Paris; he lashed me with a whip because I would not sign papers;’ if I -can show she swore ‘Stanford White never touched me’; if I can show that -Thaw wanted her to sign papers in order to put White in the -penitentiary--I can then show that the evidence in question is of vital -importance. - -“If I can show that she has made contradictory statements, the testimony -of Doctors Evans and Wagner, which was based on her statement contained -in the hypothetical question, can be stricken from the records. - -“There is the crux of the case as it appears in the evidence, and the -question becomes one of what the law says on this subject of introducing -contrary statements of a witness. - -“I was sincere when I said that I knew nothing in history or literature -could compare with the heroic sacrifice made by Evelyn Nesbit when she -refused to accept the proffered hand of Thaw in Paris--if the story told -by Evelyn is true!” - -The court made no decision on the question at issue, and examination of -Hummel was resumed. - -“At the interview in your office,” asked Mr. Jerome, “did Evelyn Nesbit, -prior to your dictating anything, tell you that she had told Thaw that -it was not true that Stanford White had drugged her?” - -Mr. Delmas was on his feet to object, but before he could do so and -immediately after the district attorney had ceased to speak, Hummel -said, in a loud voice: “She certainly did.” - -Mr. Delmas looked at the witness, and, with scorn in his voice, said: -“And you call yourself a lawyer!” Then, after a bitter clash with the -district attorney, in which temper was shown on both sides, Jerome being -denounced, Delmas said, “Let the answer stand, I waive my right.” - -Jerome turned to Hummel again and asked: - -“Did Evelyn Nesbit, as she was then known, say to you that Thaw had -prepared documents charging Stanford White with having drugged her when -she was 15, and insisted upon her signing them, but that she told Thaw -she would not, because the statement was not true?” - -The court ruled this question could not be answered until Evelyn Nesbit -Thaw had been recalled and testified as to whether or not Hummel was -acting as her attorney or as White’s. - -The next testimony was by Dr. Austin Flint, famous alienist for the -prosecution. In response to a question which required an hour and a -quarter to read, Dr. Flint said Thaw was sane when he killed White. The -question was practically a review of the tragedy and trial. - -The other $250-a-day alienists for the state--Drs. William B. Pritchard -of the New York Polyclinic Institute, Albert Warren Ferris of the -College of Physicians and Surgeons, A. R. Diefendorf of the State -Hospital of Middletown, Conn., and a professor of mental diseases at -Yale University, Dr. William E. Mabon, superintendent of the New York -state hospital for the insane on Wards Island, and Dr. William Hirsch of -the Cornell Medical College made the same reply to the same question. -All swore Thaw was perfectly rational and knew what he was doing when he -shot White. - -Jerome had hurled his strongest attack against the defense in this -desperate effort to prove Thaw sane at the time of the killing. While he -was smiling in triumph Delmas said: - -“Call Evelyn Nesbit Thaw.” - -Pale and apparently almost a nervous wreck the beautiful child wife took -the stand. - -“Did you,” asked Delmas, “when you visited Abe Hummel in his office call -upon him then and there, in a professional capacity with a view to -having his legal advice as a counsellor-at-law?” - -“I did,” was the answer. - -Mrs. Thaw then left the stand. - -Justice Fitzgerald then ruled that the defense could not now plead the -professional privilege in bar of Hummel’s testimony for the privilege -was involuntarily waived when young Mrs. Thaw herself took the stand and -told of the occurrences in Hummel’s office. - -This was a hard blow to the defense and the Napoleanic Delmas was -enshrouded in temporary defeat. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -Shocking Disclosures in Famous Affidavit. - - DOCUMENT DECLARED TO HAVE BEEN SIGNED BY EVELYN THAW INTRODUCED IN - EVIDENCE--CHARGES THAW CHOKED HER, AND BEAT HER WITH A RAWHIDE - WHIP--ANOTHER ATTACK THE NEXT DAY--FAINTED IN AGONY--BEATEN AND - CHOKED AGAIN AND AGAIN--DEFENDANT DECLARED TO HAVE TAKEN EVELYN’S - DIAMONDS AND MONEY--THREATENED WITH BODILY INJURY UNLESS SHE WOULD - ACCUSE WHITE, IS CHARGE--AFFIDAVIT ASSERTS WHITE DID NOT WRONG HER. - - -Startling charges that Harry Kendall Thaw administered unmerciful -lashings to Evelyn Nesbit, and tortured her because she would not accuse -Stanford White, were made in the famous affidavit prepared by Abe Hummel -and allowed by Justice Fitzgerald to be introduced in evidence, after -Hummel had sworn the prisoner’s sweetheart--whom he later married--had -signed and sworn to the document. - -Threats of death were added to the pitiless whippings and torture, some -of which made the girl--then traveling in Europe as Thaw’s wife--faint -in agony, and on one occasion confined her to bed for three weeks, so -read the affidavit. In this document Evelyn declared White did not -injure her. With blanched face--shuddering--Thaw listened to the -reading of the document. He had never heard it before. The full text of -this affidavit, classed by many lawyers as “the most remarkable exhibit -ever introduced in a New York law court,” was as follows: - -“Evelyn Nesbit vs. Harry Kendall Thaw. - -“Supreme Court, city and county of New York: - -“Evelyn Nesbit, being duly sworn, says: - -“I reside at the Savoy hotel, Fifth avenue and Fifty-ninth street, city -of New York. I am 18 years of age, having been born Christmas day, 1884. -For several months prior to June, 1903, I had been at Dr. Bull’s -hospital at 33 West Thirty-third street, New York city, where I had had -an operation performed on me for appendicitis during the month of June, -and then went to Europe with my mother, at the request of Harry Kendall -Thaw, the defendant above named. - -“My mother and I had apartments at the Hotel Maintenon in Paris, France, -and from there traveled to Boulogne, during which time we were -accompanied by Mr. Thaw. Mr. Thaw left us once for London, England. -Mother and I remained at the Imperial hotel about three weeks. - -“While the said Thaw was in London he wrote me a number of letters. He -then returned to Boulogne and took my mother and myself and we went back -to Paris, where we stayed at the Langham hotel. We left there about two -weeks after and the said Thaw, my mother and I returned to London, -where we located at Claridge’s hotel; that is, my mother and I lived in -that place, while Mr. Thaw stayed in Claridge’s hotel for some little -time and then removed to the Russell Square hotel, in Russell square, -London. - -“I went with Mr. Thaw to Amsterdam, Holland, by way of Folkestone. I was -ill during this entire period. Mr. Thaw and I traveled throughout -Holland, stopping at various places to make connecting trains and then -went to Munich, Germany. - -“We then traveled through the Bavarian highlands, going to the Austrian -Tyrol. During all this time said Thaw and myself were known as husband -and wife and were represented by the said Thaw and known under the name -of Mr. and Mrs. Dellis. - -“After traveling for about five or six weeks, the said Thaw rented a -castle in the Austrian Tyrol known as the Schloss Katzenstein, which is -situated about half way up a very isolated mountain. This castle must -have been built centuries ago, as the rooms and windows were all -old-fashioned. When we reached the place there were a number of servants -in the castle. I saw a butler, a cook, and a maid. They were the only -servants there. - -“We occupied one entire end of the castle, two bedrooms, the parlor, and -a drawing room. I was assigned to a bedroom for my personal use. - -“The first night we reached the Schloss Katzenstein I was very tired -and went to bed right after dinner. In the morning I was awakened by Mr. -Thaw knocking on the door asking me to come to breakfast, saying that -the coffee was getting cold. I immediately jumped out of bed and hastily -dressed. I walked out of my room and sat down to breakfast with said -Thaw. - -“After breakfast, he said he wished to tell me something and asked me to -step into my bedroom. I entered the bedroom, when Thaw without any -provocation grasped me by the throat. - -“I saw by his face that he was in a dreadfully excited condition. His -eyes were glaring and his hands grasped a rawhide whip. - -“He seized hold of me, placed his fingers in my mouth and tried to choke -me. He then without the slightest provocation inflicted on me several -severe blows with the rawhide whip, so severely that my skin was cut and -bruised. - -“I begged him to desist, but he refused. - -“I shouted and I cried. - -“He stopped then for a minute to rest, and then renewed his attack on -me, beating me with the rawhide whip. - -“I screamed for help, but no one heard me; the servants did not hear me -for the reason that they were in the other end of the castle. - -“Thereupon the said Thaw renewed his brutal attacks until I was unable -to move. - -“The following morning the said Thaw administered another castigation -similar to the day before. He took the rawhide whip and belabored me -unmercifully. - -“I swooned and I did not know how long I remained in that condition -until I regained consciousness. - -“He left me in a frightful condition. My fingers were numb, and it was -nearly three weeks before I sufficiently recovered to get out of my bed -and walk. - -“When I had sufficiently recovered the said Thaw took me to a place -in -- --, where Italy and Austria join and then we went to Switzerland, -and stopped at a place called the Switzer house at Santa Maria. - -“The next morning I made some remark and said Thaw took me to my room, -and while in the room took a rattan and beat me until I screamed; when I -began to scream said Thaw again stuck his fingers into my mouth. - -“During all that time the said Thaw never attempted to make the -slightest excuse for his conduct or state what the provocation was. - -“During all the time my mother and I remained in England we occupied -apartments at 5 Avenue -- --. I was constantly watched by detectives and -other hirelings of said Thaw, including the coachman and the valet. - -“When in Paris he assaulted me with a rattan for half a day, at -intervals of half an hour or so, striking me severely. - -“One day my maid was in my room taking things out of the drawers and I -found a little silver box, oblong in shape, about two and a half inches -in length, containing a hypodermic syringe, and some other small -utensils. I asked Thaw what that was for, and he stated to me that he -had been ill, and had to make some excuse. He said he had been compelled -to take cocaine. The first time I found he was addicted to the taking of -cocaine I saw the said Thaw administer the cocaine to himself internally -by taking small pills. - -“On one occasion Thaw attempted to compel me to take one of these pills, -but I refused to do so. - -“While in Paris I suffered from sickness by reason of the beatings he -had administered to me and that he had given me, and was confined to my -bed in my room about two weeks. - -“While we were in Paris the said Thaw compelled me by threatening to -beat me to write a letter to a Miss Simonton, who was staying at the -Algonquin hotel in the city of New York and knew my mother, asking her -to come to Paris. When she got there he told her a lot of falsehoods and -lies about me, telling me previously that if I did not indorse what he -said he would kill me. - -“While we were at the Schloss Katzenstein the said Thaw took from me -without my consent and still retains in his possession two diamond -rings, one sapphire ring with a diamond on each side, one pearl locket, -one gold purse and $400 in money consisting of drafts from Thomas Cook & -Sons. He had also in his possession in the city of Paris wearing apparel -of mine, consisting of five gowns, a number of hats, and three parasols. - -“I had not seen my mother since I left her in London, and I am informed -within the last few weeks that she returned to the city of New York from -London on the steamer Campania. - -“I arrived in this city Saturday, Oct. 24, 1903, having returned from -Paris by way of Cherbourg. - -“Before I left Europe the said Thaw had stated to me that his lawyer, a -Mr. Longfellow, would meet me at the dock and asked me if I needed -anything. He said he would see that all my requirements received -attention. I had a letter from him to the said Longfellow in which the -said Thaw asked the said Longfellow to have me followed by detectives -and also to see that everything I wanted was done and to see that I was -not troubled by anybody. - -“I had received a number of cablegrams from Thaw which I have delivered -to my counsel, Abraham H. Hummel. - -“I have been repeatedly told by the said Thaw that he is very inimical -to a married man whom he said he wanted me to injure and that Thaw would -get him into the penitentiary; that the said Thaw had begged me time -and time again to swear to written documents which he had prepared, -involving this married man and charging him with drugging me when I was -15 years of age. This was not so; and I so told him. - -“But because I refused to sign these papers said Thaw not alone -threatened me with bodily injury, but inflicted on me the great bodily -injury I have herein described. - -“Subscribed to before me this 27th day of October, 1903. - -“Sworn to before me this 27th day of October, 1903.” - - (Signature of notary.) - -“The state rests,” announced District Attorney Jerome after reading the -affidavit, and Attorney Delmas then attacked Hummel. He read the record -of Hummel’s conviction in the Dodge-Morse divorce scandal, in which the -lawyer was accused--just as Evelyn Thaw had accused him--of preparing a -false affidavit and false testimony. When Hummel was on the witness -stand he denied that in drawing the affidavit he was acting as counsel -for Evelyn Nesbit; the document itself proved that he was. The papers -were to have been filed, it was stated, in a suit for damages against -Thaw. - -More sensations were ahead. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -Jerome Calls Thaw Madman. - - PHYSICIANS ASSERT YOUNG MILLIONAIRE TO BE DEMENTED--ANGRY PROTEST - BY DELMAS--SENSATIONAL ARGUMENT BY DISTRICT ATTORNEY--BAD FAITH - CHARGED TO COUNSEL--LUNACY COMMISSION IS DEMANDED--THAW’S LETTERS - USED TO QUESTION HIS SANITY--COURT TAKES QUESTION UNDER ADVISEMENT. - - -After the reading of the shocking affidavit, District Attorney Jerome -swore five of the alienists for the defense, at one time. He sought, -through asking them the same hypothetical question put by the defense, -to prove that Thaw was insane both at the time of the murder and at the -time of the trial. - -“I do not believe Harry Thaw was sane at the time he shot Stanford -White, nor do I believe he is sane now,” declared Dr. Graeme M. Hammond. -“I do not know whether he will ever recover.” - -Dr. Smith Ely Jelliffe, professor at Columbia Medical School, swore he -was convinced Thaw was crazed at the time of the murder, but that he -“had a sort of insane knowledge” of what he was doing. - -Dr. Charles W. Pilgrim asserted Thaw “Did not know the nature or the -quality of his act on the Madison Square Roof-garden.” Dr. Minas -Gregory also swore the prisoner was insane at the time of the crime, -and others made the same statement. - -This was a startling change of base for the prosecution. Instead of -trying to prove the young millionaire was sane both at the time of the -tragedy and at the time of the trial, Jerome astounded the legal world -by endeavoring to prove him hopelessly insane. The prosecutor had given -up all hope of securing a verdict which would make the death-chair the -penalty. - -Delmas was angry. - -“We propose,” he shouted, “honestly to convince you, Mr. Jerome, that -Thaw was insane when he shot Stanford White--and sane now--by the very -witnesses whom you have subpœnaed and brought into court for the obvious -and only conceivable purpose of telling to this jury under oath the -truth and the whole truth.” - -The jury was ordered to leave during arguments over further testimony of -alienists. - -In his startling argument after the jury retired Mr. Jerome said: - -“I want to explain and make my position clear. As I understand the -matter Dr. Hamilton, who was originally called into the case by the -defense, is ready to testify that in his opinion this defendant was -insane, that he was of unsound mind when he committed the homicide, and -that as he sits at the table today he is suffering from a mental -disease known as paranoia, a disease in which the sufferer until the -last stages of the disease is capable of knowing the nature and quality -of his acts. - -“I understand that Dr. Hamilton so advised the defendant’s counsel and -that his counsel was then changed. - -“I am willing to throw open the door wide, and ask to let all these -facts come out, but I will not agree to Mr. Delmas confining his -questions to these four visits and keep me down to the close limits of -evidence and not be allowed to go into the real facts of the case. - -“Your honor knows,” continued District Attorney Jerome, “what my -position here has been all along. We have no right to be here trying -this man if the real facts are known. Your honor knows that I have tried -ever since this case opened to bring out these facts and that I have not -been able to do so. - -“If the real facts as to the mental condition of this defendant can be -brought out the court would be shocked and horrified and would stop this -trial instanter. So deeply have I been impressed with all this that I -have served notice on the attorney of record that when this case is -over, if I am convinced they possess the facts that I believe they -possess, I will lay the matter before the Appellate division of the -Supreme court. - -“There is not a man who has seen this defendant sitting there at the -table who believes he is capable of advising counsel. We are today -trying a man who is insane, while under the law he is sane. He is a -paranoiac, and while he is insane he is not insane in the eyes of the -law, for strictly speaking he knows the nature and quality of his acts. - -“A man named Taylor went to death under exactly similar circumstances. -The Appellate court said that he was insane, but he was a paranoiac, and -while his act was committed as the result of a delusion, this delusion -was not such as would have made his act justifiable had it been true. It -was one of the most gruesome acts the law has ever done. - -“In five minutes time,” cried the prosecutor, banging his fist on the -lawyers’ table, “I can show that this man is incapable of advising his -counsel as he sits here in court. I will present facts which will -prevent this trial from going further!” - -“In view of the statement made by the district attorney,” said Justice -Fitzgerald, “I now ask that I be given all the information in the -possession of either counsel--all the evidence as to the defendant’s -present state of mind which can be presented to the court. I do this -before instituting the proceedings I understand have been asked for.” - -Mr. Delmas wanted to know if a commission in lunacy was under -discussion. - -“The court,” replied Justice Fitzgerald, “is asked to hear testimony -while the jury is out of the room, and then to determine its course.” - -“All of my own experts, Dr. Bingaman, the family physician, and Dr. -Deemar, the physician to the Copley family, have informed me,” said -District Attorney Jerome, “that this man is suffering from paranoia. -This paranoia is characterized by systematized delusions. While -suffering from one of these insane delusions this man shot and killed -Stanford White.” - -“Did your own experts tell you that?” inquired Justice Fitzgerald of -District Attorney Jerome. - -“They certainly did,” replied Mr. Jerome, “but from the record of the -case I was prevented from bringing this out. I was bound down to a -hypothetical question, and my witnesses testified only as to the -hypothetical question. There is heredity in this man which he cannot -avoid.” - -Mr. Delmas again arose and inquired if a commission in lunacy had been -applied for. - -“I so understand it,” said Justice Fitzgerald, “if the court shall so -decide.” - -“We are prepared to combat that application,” said Mr. Delmas. - -“I have made no formal application,” explained Mr. Jerome. “I submit to -your honor the fact as he sits there the defendant is incapable of -directing his defense. I leave the matter entirely to the court.” - -Mr. Delmas declared Mr. Jerome’s charges were entirely unsupported. - -“The district attorney’s remarks were made under his oath of office,” -said Justice Fitzgerald, with some display of feeling. - -“He has appealed to my conscience, and I now demand the production of -all the evidence which any of counsel may possess.” - -Mr. Delmas said he understood Mr. Jerome to imply unprofessional conduct -on the part of the defense in suppressing testimony. - -“There was an implication of misconduct,” said Justice Fitzgerald. - -“I hear of it today for the first time,” said Mr. Delmas. - -Mr. Gleason here asked to be heard in behalf of the defense. - -“I desire to say,” said Mr. Gleason, “that when this case began I -attempted to introduce evidence on the very point which the district -attorney now demands, but it was ruled out on his own objections.” - -“I remember,” said Justice Fitzgerald, “ruling out such testimony on the -ground that it was in relation to collateral lines.” - -“We have made a perfect defense here,” asserted Attorney Gleason, “and -it is the duty of this court to submit that defense to the jury-- --” - -“This court does not need any instructions as to its duty,” interrupted -Justice Fitzgerald. “That is a matter the court can attend to for -itself. All I want is all of the information I can get on this subject. -The court wants this information, but if I can not get it, I will have -to act as I see fit.” - -For a moment all the lawyers were talking excitedly at once, and Justice -Fitzgerald was forced to rap sharply with his gavel. Finally Mr. Jerome -made himself heard. - -“The court has asked for all the facts I have in my possession, and I -will willingly furnish them. I will give them in the form of an -affidavit. I will also furnish the affidavit of Dr. Mabon and Dr. -MacDonald, and if his professional privilege is waived I will have an -affidavit from Dr. Hamilton.” - -“The learned district attorney has just said that this defendant is at -this moment so insane as not to be able to instruct his counsel,” broke -in Mr. Gleason in an angry tone, “and now he asks that this man whom he -has dubbed insane waive a privilege.” - -“His attorneys can waive it for him,” said Mr. Jerome. - -“The district attorney knows that that cannot be done,” was the reply. - -“We will get the other affidavits first,” said Justice Fitzgerald, “and -then we will discuss that matter.” - -Several other clashes took place, and ended in a formal demand by -District Attorney Jerome that a commission in lunacy be appointed to -pass on the mental condition of Harry Thaw, that the young prisoner -might be sent to a mad-house at once if found insane. Justice Fitzgerald -asked time to consider the question, and demanded from both sides the -names of all the alienists involved in the case, to guide him in -selecting a commission. - -Jerome was happy. He made this statement: - -“The situation is just what I have been looking for all during the -trial. A man who should be incarcerated in an insane asylum should not -be on trial for his life.” - -The justice held a special session of court, with the jury absent, for -the purpose of receiving affidavits from alienists for both sides, to -aid him in determining whether or not a commission in lunacy should be -appointed. Mr. Jerome called the court’s special attention to the -following statements by Dr. Carlos MacDonald: - -“After careful examination of the exhibits and the hypothetical question -and the testimony and affidavits of Mr. Cobb and assuming evidence -stated in the case to be true, my personal observation, in court during -the trial and also including certain observations that I made of the -defendant in the library of the district attorney’s office on the 27th -day of June, 1906, I am of the opinion that the defendant is now and -for some time past has been suffering from a form of mental disease -commonly known among men skilled in mental diseases as paranoia. Yet it -is my opinion, based upon what has just been enumerated, that when the -defendant killed Stanford White on the 25th day of June, 1906, he was -then suffering from said mental disease commonly known as paranoia, but -that his then mental state was such that he knew the nature and quality -of the act that he was doing ... and that he then and there knew such -act on his part was against the current morality of the people of this -state and in violation of law. - -“I am of the opinion, upon the facts above enumerated, that the mental -disease commonly known as paranoia, from which the defendant was -suffering on the night of June 25, 1906, is a form of mental disease -from which it is reasonably certain he will not recover, and that the -discharge of the said Harry K. Thaw would be dangerous to public peace -and safety, and that he should be committed to an institution for the -insane.” - -In arguing to secure the investigation of Thaw’s mental state, Mr. -Jerome said: - -“As long as forty days ago, Dr. Austin Flint, one of the state’s -alienists, came to me in my office and told me that after watching Thaw -in court every day of the trial he was solemnly of the opinion that the -defendant was not capable of instructing his counsel. I was much -concerned, and with my assistant and Drs. MacDonald and Mabon held a -long conference. I then called in other alienists, and after submitting -to them all the evidence I had in my possession they joined with the -others in declaring Thaw a paranoiac. - -“I am convinced Harry Thaw should be tried for his life.” - -To strengthen his argument, the prosecutor gave Justice Fitzgerald -several letters written by Thaw to J. Dennison Lyon, his Pittsburg -banker. Some were written before the tragedy and some while Thaw was in -the Tombs, but all, Jerome asserted, went to show Thaw was insane. One -of these letters, written from the Republican Club, was as follows: - -“Dear Denny--I’m sorry that the manager of Miss N’s (Evelyn Nesbit) -hotel is an idiot. She stopped one night at a place called the -Cumberland, but was disturbed by street noises. No one was moved, and -all meals were served. Now she has a better place, with a nice -woman--Mrs. Kane (Caine), a friend of her family. - -“I never saw this Sweat, nor spoke nor wrote to him. You know of her -misfortunes. - -“Mr. Holman married her mother three years too late. He is trying to -keep her quiet, and must do so. Should the facts come out, no one but -would believe she sold the child to the most notorious dastard in New -York. Everything proves it. - -“I, and a few other persons, know she did not mean wrong, but since -infancy she was jealous of and disliked the child, and was gulled to an -unbelievable extent by this blackguard and -- -- --” - -Some rambling letters about transactions in stocks followed this, and -then came these letters: - -“Dear Denny--I’m sorry to trouble you, but I don’t understand. I was -overdrawn $10,063.36. Paid in $8,982.70. (6370). (?) Did you make a note -for $10,000--leaving my balance near $9,000 or make a note for -$1,130.85, leaving no balance? - -“I lost almost nothing at M. C. playing. Just $1,400 for four weeks--a -good deal less than the percentage. I bought some pearls and a strong -automobile.” - -This letter was written after the trial started: - - “Dear Denny--The package arrived safely, but I can’t send them the - slip for 11 (eleven) days, as we thought it best to leave bundle - sealed in Gleason’s desk until he returns. He worked exceedingly - hard circumventing the crooked deal between Jerome’s first - assistant and that judge--and will combine rest with affairs. - Friday he starts for Mexico with -- --. If needed a telegram will - always catch him, then he could be back in two days--if we see a - chance for an early trial before any other judge--but we believe it - will be first week January. - - “All very well. Yours very sinc’ly, - - “H. K. THAW. - - “P. S.--I hope these blackmailers try you again.” - -The following peculiar letter no one in court could understand: - - “Dear Denny--or Frank: Please try to remember who was -- --. It is - said a relative of his is on my jury. If he is friendly or neutral - only write me a brief answer, but if he had any trouble with you or - I or is unfriendly please telegraph, ‘The iron is,’ eh? I will know - what you mean. I hope he is all right, we can leave jury as it is. - Of course, this is very secret. - - “All well. Y in haste. - - H. K. THAW.” - - - -The defense presented evidence equally strong, and Justice Fitzgerald -plainly was in a quandary. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -Lunacy Commission is Appointed. - - EVELYN THAW CARRIES TRYING INFORMATION TO HER HUSBAND--ACCUSED - ISSUES STATEMENT--PERSONNEL OF THE COMMISSION--JEROME - BALKS--REMARKABLE INQUIRY IS RUSHED--THAW SUBMITS TO - EXAMINATION--HOW THE YOUNG DEFENDANT PASSED EASTER. - - -To the surprise of every one connected with the case, Justice Fitzgerald -on March 26, suddenly called District Attorney Jerome and the lawyers -for the defense into a conference and announced his decision to appoint -a commission to pass upon the sanity or insanity of Harry Thaw. - -Upon the verdict of the three disinterested men whom he selected was to -depend whether Thaw would ever face the jury again, or go directly to -the Matteawan asylum. - -The decision was embodied in a written memorandum, prepared for the -minutes of the court. The court based his decision on the conflict of -affidavits as presented by the opposing sides, saying they were too -diametrically at odds to permit of a decision other than in favor of an -impartial inquiry. After citing the suggestion made in court by District -Attorney Jerome and the various affidavits presented on both sides, -Justice Fitzgerald’s memorandum reads: - -“I do, therefore, in pursuance of the statute in such cases made and -provided, hereby appoint Morgan J. O’Brien, Peter B. Olney and Leopold -Putzel, M. D., three disinterested persons, a commission forthwith to -examine into the mental condition of said Harry K. Thaw, and to report -to the court with all convenient speed the facts and their opinion as to -whether at the time of such examination the said Harry K. Thaw was in -such a state of idiocy, imbecility, lunacy, or insanity so as to be -incapable of rightly understanding his own condition, the nature of the -charges against him, and of conducting his defense in a rational -manner.” - -The task of announcing the decision of the court to Thaw was allotted to -his wife, who tearfully accepted it. Messrs. Hartridge and O’Reilly went -with Mrs. Evelyn Thaw to the Tombs and there in the hospital ward they -met the prisoner. This ward had been placed at their disposal because of -the crowd in the usual consultation room. Thaw was cheerful. - -“It is all right, dearie,” he said to his wife, “I am not afraid of a -commission. I am a sane man now; just as sane as the judge himself, and -I am sure that any fair-minded commission will so declare me.” - -The attorneys quickly withdrew from the conference and Thaw and his wife -sat for a long time together discussing what the commission probably -would do. When Mr. Hartridge came out he declared: - -“The fortitude of the boy [meaning Thaw] astonishes me sometimes, and it -certainly did today.” - -Later in the afternoon Thaw sent out a statement, in which he said: - -“Everything is perfectly satisfactory to me. I am sure I will be able to -satisfy the commission that I am sane at the present time. Anything -Justice Fitzgerald does is all right. He has always acted in a fair and -impartial manner.” - -The brothers of the defendant did not go to the Tombs, but hurried -uptown with the news of the commission to their mother and sisters, who -were waiting in their apartments. Thaw had divined the result of the -conference with Justice Fitzgerald and was not in the least surprised. - -The personnel of the commission lent a new distinction to the already -notable case. - -Morgan J. O’Brien, a former justice of the Appellate division of the -Supreme Court, was one of the trustees, with Grover Cleveland, of the -Hyde stock in the Equitable Life Assurance Society purchased by Thomas -F. Ryan just prior to the insurance investigation. When he was a -candidate for re-election to the bench in 1901 as a Democrat, Justice -O’Brien was unopposed. President Roosevelt made a trip from Washington -to Oyster Bay to cast his ballot for him. - -Peter B. Olney, formerly district attorney of New York county, was a -member with William C. Whitney of the commission appointed in 1879 to -revise the laws of the state affecting public interests in New York -city. He was a graduate of Harvard. - -Dr. Leopold Putzel, the third member of the commission, was a graduate -of Bellevue Hospital Medical School and had a long experience in that -institution. He qualified before the State Medical Board as examiner in -lunacy. - -A surprise was ahead, however, for former Justice O’Brien declined to -serve as a member of the board, after he had been sworn in. He gave -ill-health as a reason. Attorney David McClure, a well-known reform -worker in New York, was appointed to fill the vacancy. - -When the commission was finally in court together Harry Thaw was brought -in and found all the members of his family awaiting him. He looked -exceedingly well, and smiled a greeting to his wife, mother, sisters and -brothers. - -The commission began its hearings at once. At the end of the session, -which was held behind closed doors, Attorney Peabody for Thaw announced: - -“We are perfectly satisfied.” - -Hardly had the commission seated themselves when Thaw appeared. He was -directed to a chair within the inner counsel rail and sat directly -beneath the eyes of the men whose decision as to his mental capacity -was of such vital import to him. - -Thaw appeared to be in excellent spirits and sat unflinchingly under the -steady gaze they turned upon him. In the big courtroom there were only -the newspaper reporters and three of the prisoner’s family--his wife, -Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, who has never missed an opportunity to be near him -since he was placed on trial; and his two brothers, Edward and Josiah -Thaw. Mrs. Thaw sat between the brothers. - -After the session had formally been opened by the reading of the court’s -order, Clifford W. Hartridge, acting as counsel of record for Thaw, -arose and stated to the commission that his client was ready at any time -to submit to such examination as the commission desired. His only -request was that the hearing should be private. - -“Being a prisoner on trial for his life,” said Mr. Hartridge, “he feels -he should be protected as far as possible in this matter.” - -Chairman McClure then announced that whatever examination of Thaw the -commission might decide upon would be held behind closed doors. - -District Attorney Jerome protested. He remarked that if the -commissioners resolved themselves into a body of medical examiners and -undertook a physical examination of the defendant in private, he would -not attend such an examination. - -“But the law requires you to attend the session of the commission,” -suggested Chairman McClure. - -“I shall attend all sessions of the commission sitting as judges in -lunacy,” replied Mr. Jerome, “but I am not required to attend a board of -medical examiners.” - -Chairman McClure then said the inquiry the commission had in mind was a -simple one--to determine whether at this time the defendant is capable -of understanding the proceedings against him and of rationally advising -his counsel. The commission desires to limit the scope of inquiry as far -as possible. The court, he said, wished the inquiry to be brief in order -that the pending trial might be disposed of at the earliest possible -moment. The commission had decided not to take into consideration the -conflicting affidavits submitted to Justice Fitzgerald by Thaw’s counsel -and the opposing alienists, as they were considered as having been -prepared solely for the information of the court. - -The first two days of the hearing were taken up with a mental and -physical examination of Thaw. He was asked scores of questions, but the -nature of these never was made public. - -While the investigation was in progress Easter came, and on that Sunday -afternoon Thaw had a two hours’ conference with his wife in the Tombs -prison. The visit by Evelyn Nesbit Thaw was unusual. Never before had -she called on her husband on Sunday. To do so it was necessary for her -to obtain from Commissioner of Corrections John V. Coggey a special -permit. Mr. Coggey granted it when Mrs. Thaw explained that she had been -unable to see much of her husband during the week and that she wanted to -be with him some time on Easter Sunday. Commissioner Coggey went to the -Tombs himself and remained there during the time that Mrs. Thaw was -there. - -Before leaving the Tombs Mrs. Thaw said there was no significance -attached to her visit. She said she merely wanted to visit her husband -on Easter. - -“Harry is cheerful and feels confident the commission will decide in his -favor,” she said. - -Mrs. Thaw looked exceptionally pretty. She was dressed in a plain brown -tailor-made suit. She wore a flat, round hat of black straw, such as -women wear in riding costume. Her veil was white and heavy. She looked -just a little pale, and her expression was sad, but she said she felt -quite well. The trip to and from the Tombs was made in the electric -hansom that Mrs. William Thaw, mother of the prisoner, uses in going to -and from the courthouse. - -Thaw deviated from his usual custom and attended special Protestant -Easter services conducted in the Tombs chapel by the Rev. Mr. Sanderson. -A special choir and orchestra was engaged for the service. Thaw seemed -to enjoy the music and the remarks of the minister. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -Commission Finds Thaw Sane. - - CRISIS IN CASE IS REACHED--BLOW TO JEROME--EVELYN CARRIES GLAD - TIDINGS TO PRISONER--THAW EXPRESSES NO SURPRISE--PROSECUTOR - THREATENS TO APPEAL, BUT BOWS TO FINDING. - - -One of the most dramatic phases of the great trial was at hand. The -defense suddenly announced it had closed its case before the lunacy -commission, and after a private examination of Thaw by the board Dr. -Allen R. Diefendorf told the members that Thaw was a paranoic and had -not recovered his sanity. “Thaw is insane now,” he swore. - -The crisis came on the morning of April 4, 1907. After a session lasting -nearly all night the commissioners filed into court and Chairman McClure -handed the following report to Justice Fitzgerald: - -“After careful examination of the defendant personally and of all the -evidence we find the following facts: - -“In the frequent and in some cases daily--during the several months last -past--intercourse had by the defendant with the Tombs physicians, -chaplains, keepers, other attendants, and the probation officer these -persons failed to discover anything irrational in his conduct or speech. - -“The defendant has taken an active part in the conduct of the trial, has -made numerous suggestions orally in court and by letter as to the -selection of jurors and the examination of witnesses. Many of these -suggestions were deemed valuable and were adopted by his counsel, and -examination of the letters referred to shows that generally the -suggestions contained in them were material, sensible, and apparently -the product of a sane mind. - -“While the testimony of numerous experts called by the district attorney -and the defendant’s counsel is irreconcilable, that given by certain -experts who personally examined the defendant during the trial and since -the appointment of the commission, and who of all the alienists examined -had greatest opportunity of observing, disclosed the fact that no -indication of insanity at the present could be found in the speech, -conduct, or physical condition of the defendant. - -“The direct oral and physical examination of the defendant by the -commissioners themselves disclosed no insanity in the defendant at the -present time. Upon all of the facts it is our opinion that at the time -of our examination the said Harry K. Thaw was and is sane and was not -and is not in a state of idiocy, imbecility, lunacy, or insanity so as -to be incapable of rightly understanding his own condition, the nature -of the charges against him, and of conducting his defense in a rational -manner. - - “DAVID MCCLURE, - “PETER B. OLNEY, - “LEOPOLD PUTZEL.” - -This was a staggering blow to Jerome, who protested loudly. The defense -was elated. Thaw was not in court to hear the decision, and the jurors -also were barred. All the members of the prisoner’s family, however, -were present, and Evelyn Thaw herself conveyed the glad news to her -husband. Harry was not surprised at the finding. - -“It is only what I expected,” he declared. “I am as sane as any man on -earth.” - -The district attorney, who had been threatening to “appeal to the -Appellate court and have the trial stopped,” suddenly decided to yield -to the inevitable. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -Delmas, Nestor of Western Bar. - - SWAYS JURYMEN BY HIS ELOQUENCE--WAS BRILLIANT AS A STUDENT--HONORED - BY SANTA CLARA ACADEMY--STARTS POOR, AMASSES A FORTUNE--DELMAS’ - METHODS--IMPORTANT CASES HE HAS CONDUCTED. - - -The supreme moment for the defense came on April 8, when Delphin M. -Delmas, the master orator of the Pacific coast bar, arose to address the -jury in what proved to be the greatest forensic effort heard in a New -York court since the days of Daniel Webster. - -Twelve jurymen sat spell-bound under the sway of his eloquence. One -wept. A mute, absorbed and sympathetic audience listened--the judge, -bending forward, his eyes fixed eagerly on Delmas; the defendant hanging -on the words that he hoped would set him free; the wife, the mother, the -sister--their faces distorted with the pain of suspense--clutching their -chairs, clenching their hands--all the while, rising and falling in -waves of emotion, the voice of Delmas echoing a masterful plea for the -life of Harry Thaw. - -Delmas himself proved little less interesting than his wonderful -argument. He first attracted attention in 1856 as a brilliant young -student in Santa Clara college in California. - -The following sketch of his life was published in the History of the -Bench and Bar of California: - -Mr. Delmas was graduated in 1862, and in 1863 received the degree of -Master of Arts with the highest honors. Entering the law department of -Yale College, he received from that University, in 1865, the degree of -Bachelor of Laws, and at the same time was admitted to the bar of the -State of Connecticut. Returning shortly thereafter to California, he was -admitted in February, 1866, in the Supreme Court. In May of that year he -opened an office in San Jose. - -Mr. Delmas remained at the bar in San Jose for sixteen years; and, in -that period, acquired a reputation for skill and ability of the first -order. He had also great prosperity from the standpoint of finance. He -early held the office, so important and lucrative in that rich section, -of District Attorney. He was a public speaker of acknowledged force and -grace. By his knowledge, talents and address he gathered around him more -friends and clients that any other man of his age in the State. Setting -forth without money resources he amassed a fortune. It did not take long -to accomplish all this; and when his fame had spread through and beyond -the State, he left the field where his most splendid visions had been -realized, and established himself in San Francisco. This was on the 1st -of February, 1883. - -When Mr. Delmas had been in San Francisco about six years, we said of -him that no lawyer in this State possessed broader knowledge or was a -greater master of his profession than he. As an advocate he is the -admiration of the bar itself. His remarkable clear vision, his subtle -intellect, his piercing judgment, his power of statement, have been -applauded by the veterans of the profession. Before a jury, he is -argumentative or pathetic, as the occasion demands. Unlike some other -advocates of brilliant parts, he keeps in mind the fact that “the jury -are sworn to make a true deliverance, and that to address their passions -is equivalent to asking them to violate their oaths.” Mr. Delmas is very -painstaking in the preparation of causes and very skillful in their -management. He has great capacity for applying himself to his subject. -In the matter of evidence his method is noticeable. His system is to -make himself, before the case is answered “ready,” accurately, -mathematically if possible, master of all the facts of the controversy, -and especially, of those which are favorable to his adversary. Upon the -trial, he takes full notes of everything that is said and done. It is an -article of faith with him to state evidence to the jury with absolute -accuracy; and he almost invariably prefaces his argument with a -courteous invitation to his adversary not to hesitate to interrupt and -correct him in case he should inadvertently fall into an error. - -It would be impossible to enumerate the cases in which Mr. Delmas has -taken part. His practice has been confined to no specialty, but has -extended to all branches of litigation. He has figured in almost every -important case which has been before the courts during the last twenty -years. The most celebrated of these is, perhaps, that of Ellen M. Colton -vs. Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, and C. P. Huntington, in which Mr. -Delmas, who had for associates ex-Chief Justice William T. Wallace, -ex-Judge John A. Stanly, Hon. George R. B. Hayes and G. Frank Smith, was -the senior counsel for the plaintiff. This case, if regard be had to the -eminence of the counsel engaged, the standing of the litigants, the -amount involved, the nature of the issues, and the duration of the -trial, is, doubtless, the most important that has been tried in -California in the last quarter of a century. The trial lasted eighteen -months--from November, 1883, to May, 1885. The arguments alone consumed -nearly five months. Mr. Delmas closed the case, answering Hall -McAllister and J. P. Hoge, who had immediately preceded him. - -Since he was elected District Attorney of Santa Clara County, in 1867, -Mr. Delmas has never been a candidate for any office, having devoted -himself entirely to the practice of his profession. He was, however, -appointed a regent of the University of California by Governor Stoneman, -in 1884, and served until 1892. While regent he was President of the day -on the occasion of the inauguration of Hon. Horace Davis as President of -the university, March 23, 1888, and delivered the address of welcome. - -In 1869, Mr. Delmas married a daughter of Colonel Joseph P. Hoge, of San -Francisco. There are four children of this union one of whom is the wife -of William S. Barnes, ex-District Attorney of San Francisco. Mr. Delmas -occupies offices at 120 Broadway, New York City. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -Delmas Moves Jurors. - - DECLARES HE BASES DEFENSE ON LAW--EXPRESSES SYMPATHY FOR WHITE’S - WIDOW--“SADDEST STORY EVER HEARD IN A COURT OF JUSTICE”--“BETTER - FOR STANFORD WHITE HAD HE NEVER BEEN BORN”--SCORES EVELYN THAW’S - MOTHER WITHOUT MERCY. - - - “If your honor please, and you, gentlemen of the jury, we have no - more right, if the real facts were known, to be here trying this - prisoner at the bar than if it was prohibited by statute,” declared - Mr. Delmas in opening his masterful address. - - “Had you heard these words from any irresponsible persons, instead - of having heard them from an official charged with a public duty; - had you heard them from a man given to irresponsible talk, instead - of in this court of justice and solemnity; had the occasion on - which they were uttered been some trivial discussion about an - insignificant topic, instead of where the discussion is one of life - or death--these words might not have filled you with amazement, but - this was a statement made by the district attorney. - - “To show the falsity of that, it will be necessary to call upon all - the energy in my power to reach a conclusion. And to reverse, at - least in a general way, the same points of the evidence which you - have heard for so many days I shall make no attempt to inflame your - passion, no appeal to make your feelings warp your judgment. - - “I shall rely on no such unstable thing as the supposed unwritten - law. I will base the fate of this defendant on the law of this - state--the law of the books, the written law. - - “In the performance of my task it will become my duty to speak of - the dead. I shall not be unmindful of the injunctions of the - departed. Only that which is good should be spoken, but I cannot - forget the circumstances under which the protection of the living - demand that the truth shall be told, no matter how it blights the - memory of the dead or how painful to the survivors. - - “Under that law we find ample protection for his rights and life - and to that law I shall resort as to the horns of the altar, for - his safety. In the performance of my task it will be my imperative - duty--unshunable duty--to speak of the dead. - - “I shall not be unmindful of him and shall speak in no other - terms--if possible--than those of praise. I shall not forget that - for the protection of the living the truth must be told, no matter - how painful to the dead or those who survive him. - - “Of those survivors I can speak in no other terms than those of the - most profound sympathy. For the widow who mourns and the son who - survives I have no words than those of sympathy. Gladly would I - remove from them, were it in my power, the cloud which must - henceforth accompany their life, and gladly would I remove from the - young man the sentence that the sins of the father must be visited - upon their children to the second and third generations. - - “Gentlemen, the story you have listened to is the story of two - young persons whom fate, by inscrutable decree, had destined to - link together, that they could walk through life together. It is a - story--the saddest, most mournful and tragic which the tongue of - man has ever uttered or the ear of man has ever heard in a court of - justice. - - “Let me begin briefly with the story--one filled with incidents - with which a volume might overflow and a tragedy might be filled, - as though it were written by the hand of a Shakespeare. - - “She was born on Christmas, 1884, in the state of Pennsylvania, in - the city of Pittsburg. The first years of her childhood saw her - lose her father and natural protector and left her in charge of a - mother who early manifested a character of frivolity and - extravagance which was later to be attended with such fatal - consequences. - - “At ten years of age the family began to feel the pangs of want, - the sufferings of poverty and the gnawing of hunger. At twelve she - began to be the family drudge, assisting her mother in such acts as - she could perform. And thus the family continued moving from place - to place without any fixed habitation on the face of the earth. - - “But nature having endowed her with beauty which showed in early - youth, we find her looking to it for the support of the family. At - fourteen we find her in Philadelphia, already embarked upon the - perilous seas of an artist’s model’s life. But New York was the - market in which such gifts were most eagerly sought and would be - dearly paid for. And to New York the family came, and by the - efforts of the mother the employment begun in Philadelphia was - continued here and the beautiful child went from studio to studio - and at the end of the week paid into the hands of the mother the - scant few dollars she had earned to support the mother, the brother - and the child. - - “But the large metropolis afforded broader avenues of gain than the - mere studios of artists--the stage, with all its tinsel and glare - of dazzling lights lay before them and the tempter came. - - “The theatrical manager found the girl at fifteen and employed her - at $15 a week, where she slaved at night as she did by day--posing - for artists--but at night she appeared on the boards of the stage. - - “It could not be long, for the beauty with which she was gifted - attracted attention and the tempter came. He saw, he desired to - have, with the consummate cunning of a man whose head had already - grown gray. He had a wife and an accomplished son. He fixed his - eyes upon the fated child and determined to make her his. - - “To win her he had none of the graces which a man of her own age - might present. He was already married and had a family of his own - and any such thought of love--legitimate love--between him and this - child was out of the question. He introduced himself into the - family in the guise of a protector. - - “His tender solicitude manifested his intentions to ameliorate - their condition. He won his way into the confidence of the mother; - established himself in the position of a protecting attitude toward - the family. When his purpose was secured he persuaded the mother to - absent herself from the city, assuring her the child would be safe - in his hands in her absence, telling the family that they should - rejoice that they had such a careful eye to watch over the - beautiful child. She went. The child was left alone. - - “I wish, gentlemen, it were in my power to pass over the scene - which followed. I wish it did not have to be embodied in the - argument I have to make to you. - - “To one of those dens fitted with all the splendor and dazzling - beauty with which this man of genius endowed his places, this child - was one evening lured, under the pretense that there were to be - others there to share the supper that had been prepared, and when - she arrived she found herself alone with the man who had promised - to be her protector. - - “Need I recount to you how the child was led from one step to - another until plied with wine and plied with drugs she became - unconscious and this man, who had promised to protect the child, - accomplished her ruin and downfall? Need I recall to you the - terrible scenes which you heard told from the lips of this tortured - victim? - - “Oh, better for Stanford White had he never been born. - - “Better that his ears had never been opened that he could not have - heard the words of anguish of the victim. - - “For what had he--a man whose hair was already gray--what had he - done? He had perpetrated the most horrible crime that can deface - the human heart. He had lured the poor, innocent flower that was - struggling forth to life. He had committed a crime which is a - felony--which the President of this republic in his last message to - Congress said should be punished by death. - - “He who had erected altars and sanctuaries and churches crowned - with the emblem of the Redemption--had he forgotten the words. - - “‘Who so receiveth such a little child in my name receiveth me, but - whosoever offendeth such a little one, it were better that a - millstone were tied around his neck and he were cast into the sea.’ - - “Oh, ye who have erected temples to the God of Abraham, Isaac and - Jacob, have ye forgotten the words of Jehovah, when upon the return - from Egypt He said: - - “‘Ye shall not afflict a fatherless child. I will surely hear that - cry, and I will kill you with the sword and your wives shall be - widows and your children fatherless.’ - - “Oh, Stanford White, in the entirety of your hardened heart, you - imagined that the cry of the fatherless child which that night was - heard in the darkness of the great city, where good citizens were - at rest, the child without a father, the child deserted by her - mother, the child left alone in this city of millions, would not be - heard. - - “Did your hardened heart imagine that God would not hear that cry? - Did you imagine that He had forgotten the promise He made--that any - one who afflicted a fatherless child would surely die? - - “Did you believe that the retribution would be omitted? - - “Better had it been for him had he died before that day, for then - he might have died in glory--he might have died when public - mourning would have attended his obsequies; he might have died - before his name had become a byword; before his genius had become - an aggravation. - - “But fate had decreed it otherwise. The poor child, returning to - her senses, not realizing what had been done, was taken back to her - home, there to sit in lonely vigil until he went back the next day - to complete the pollution he had but partially begun the night - before. It remained for him to destroy the last vestige of womanly - honor in her mind, and he performed that task after daylight that - day. - - “He went there--he, the strong man, kissed the hem of her garment; - told her to dry her tears, and to stifle her moans; told her that - what she did was not wrong, that it was but what all women did; - that the only sin was to be found out, and that if she would but - keep the dread secret pent up in her breast and not tell her mother - all would be well; that all women were wicked; that the only - distinction was that some succeeded in concealing their vices, - while others were found out. - - “And so he left her. And so he lured her again and again, plying - her with wine in the same dens for a couple of months. - - “Is this story true, gentlemen, or, rather, is the story I have - related to you the story Evelyn Nesbit told Harry Thaw in June, - 1903, in Paris--that, gentlemen, is one of the main questions which - you have to decide in this case and in the elucidation of which I - may be permitted to occupy a little of your attention. - - “The prosecution says this story is a clever lie--the result of the - imagination of this defendant’s wife. Your first inquiry must be - into the veracity of Evelyn Nesbit. If she never told Thaw this - thing, then she has been an untruthful witness before you. - - “She gave this testimony: ‘And those things you told Mr. Thaw of - the outrages at the hands of White were true?’ Her answer was, - ‘Those things were true.’ - - “In corroboration of the statement that these things did take - place, I beg to refer to the evidence and to the things that have - occurred before your eyes. You have seen Evelyn on the stand for - four days. You are men of the world--men accustomed to looking - through the souls of men and analyzing their conversations--you are - asked to judge if she were a clever actress as she sat in that - chair and related the horrors of that night. - - “You saw when she came to the final occurrence of that night--you - saw her countenance--how the shadow of horror overspread it. - Although the story was to save the life of the one person whom she - loved, you saw how she shrank from telling it. You saw the drawn - face, you saw the brave little girl struggling that she might save - her husband, that she might overcome the objectionable features of - the story. - - “For days and days you have seen her undergoing torture of an - examination unparalleled in the jurisprudence of this or any other - country. - - “Did the District Attorney of your city, to whom I gave the - greatest acknowledgment of talent, confuse her? You saw him using - all the arts, resorting to all the strategies of a practiced master - to entrap a girl who had never testified before. Was she caught in - a single falsehood, or contradiction? - - “You have seen learned men on the stand--tell me, if you have ever - seen a witness who has stood the excruciating tests of - cross-examination as well as this child? - - “Gentlemen, in that cross-examination the merciless District - Attorney--I say merciless without offense, because his office is - not one of mercy--you saw him extort from her truthful but - unwilling lips the confession that the misdeeds of Stanford White - did not stop with the first wrecking of her life, but continued - until God asserted himself in her and she would no longer be the - plaything and toy of this man. - - “I ask you, on your oaths, if this girl had fabricated this story, - would not she or the others who prompted the story have for the - sake of sympathy, said that the first drugging was the only - occurrence and that she had shrunk from further dealings with such - a man. - - “Upon any other theory than that the story is true I ask you the - question, why did Stanford White just at that moment see fit to - remove the mother--the only protector left this child--from her - post as sentinel? Why was the mother sent to Pittsburg with money - furnished by Stanford White? Why was the brother sent to school? - - “Gentlemen, I desire to call your attention to this point. During - this time Stanford White made a contract to pay Evelyn the sum of - $25 a week during the time she should be unable to obtain her own - living on the stage. And during that one year we have - discovered--by a strange fatality which ever seems to assist the - cause of justice and to disconcert the cause of injustice--there - appears certain checks on which the name of the mother was - indorsed. - - “And, according to a computation made by some gentleman in court, - the mother, for the year following the ruin of the child, received - $2,500, in round numbers, $200 a month. And yet the District - Attorney tells you that at the same time Stanford White was in - embarrassed circumstances. - - “One circumstance I desire to call to your attention. It relates to - the assistance which the prosecution draws in its attempt to - deprive Evelyn of her husband. You will recall that when the name - of the mother was spoken I disclaimed having said anything that - would cast upon the mother any shame that would cast reproach upon - her. - - “Gentlemen, at the time I made that declaration, I wish you to bear - in mind that three things had not been developed: - - “First. That the mother had been in receipt of $200 a month from - White. - - “It had not been developed at that time that the mother was - assisting the prosecution in the work of this case. - - “It had not been developed at that time that the mother had given a - written statement to the District Attorney by which he might - torture the soul of her daughter, a daughter who had been left - alone in the world except for a most unnatural mother. - - “And when I saw the District Attorney with that paper in his hand, - when I heard him read from it on the cross-examination of this - girl, when I learned that every shaft which he aimed at her heart - came from a quiver furnished by her mother, when I learned that - every sore in her poor soul had been pointed out to the District - Attorney, that it was a mother who was pointing out those sores, - and when I learned that the poor little girl had been sent away to - school so that she might get the money she desired from Stanford - White--I now retract what I then said. - - “Oh, most unnatural mother, you, who left the girl a victim of the - lust of this gray-haired man! You who received the wages of her - downfall, funds with which you bedecked yourself with diamonds and - finery, now in the hour of her supreme agony this mother assists - the prosecutor of her husband! - - “Why, a beast that wants reason protects her young! I have seen a - poor little bird no larger than your fist while I was out hunting. - A number of young ones were playing in the dust around her and I - have seen a pointer come running upon them and I have seen the - little bird ruffle its feathers until it looked as big and old as - an eagle, making the dog pause and return abashed. - - “I have now laid before you in outline what was given you in - evidence. I propose to prove by evidence that will demonstrate the - truth, which will leave no hook upon which to hang a doubt, that - Evelyn Nesbit told the story she swears she did in Paris in 1903. - - “In the first place, you have the undoubted, undisputed fact that - Mr. Thaw in September of that year, when Evelyn’s mother returned - to New York--that Mr. Thaw narrated that story in a letter to his - counsel, Mr. Longfellow. In the first letter he says: - - “Mistress Nesbit sails to-morrow for New York. Her daughter can’t - be with her, because Miss N. was beguiled by a blackguard when she - was but fifteen years of age. The child was drugged. - - “And in a later letter to Mr. Longfellow he says: ‘Her position - could not be worse. She was poisoned at fifteen and three-quarters. - Also since.’ - - “Now, gentlemen, bear in mind that these two letters were written - by Mr. Thaw in Paris to his counsel, Mr. Longfellow, in New York. I - ask you who is the blackguard referred to in these letters if not - Stanford White? What is the superhuman negligence of the mother, if - not her trip to Pittsburg, leaving her daughter alone in New York? - - “How was the child beguiled, if not by Stanford White’s paternal - kindness and show of parental goodness? - - “I leave it to you as to what these two letters can refer to if not - to the story Evelyn Nesbit says she told Harry in Paris in June, - 1903. - - “She told how she had learned this young woman’s name. He said he - desired to shield her from the awful consequences of the deed. What - was it the child that had come from Pittsburg, that had first posed - as an artist’s model, and had then gone on the stage--what was it - she had told Harry Thaw and what had he told his mother? - - “The learned prosecutor says that he invented it all. After - inventing did he go home and tell his mother--the mother who had - given him birth, who had nourished him at her breast, who had - watched him in his sleepless bed at night as he was giving evidence - of the troubles which were to have such a bearing on this case? - - “When he broke down in church and tears fell from his eyes and a - groan broke from his lips was he telling, was he acting a lie? - - Harry Thaw loved Evelyn. He had loved her ever since he saw her in - 1901. He had loved and wooed her honorably, and honorably sought to - make her his wife. - - “I make these assertions just before seeking to make any deductions - from them. It is meet and proper that I establish them as facts. As - early as 1901, when he found her on the stage, he realized that was - not a fit place for a young girl like her. He was contemplating - sending her to school--that is to say for three years. Then she - might come out and take her station in the world as his wife. - - “And if not, even though she did not become his wife, he would be - amply repaid by the nobility of the act he had performed. Evelyn - Nesbit says he met her in 1901 and called upon her frequently, but - was not always at that time a welcome visitor. It seems her mind - had been poisoned by the same persons who afterward poisoned her - mind against him again. He says of her: ‘When I first knew her she - was the most active, laughing, strong and fair child I ever saw.’ - - “That was the time when she was the support of the family, going - about in the daytime from studio to studio and appearing on the - stage at night and pouring into the lap of her mother her scant - wages. - - “And what was the nature of the foul wrong done to this child? - - “What was the fatal deed which he said he would gladly have - purchased with his life if it could be undone? - - “I say to you, these letters refer to no other transaction than - the story she related on the witness stand--the story she told you - she told him in June, 1903. The letters were private. They were to - be locked up in Mr. Longfellow’s breast. Then ask yourself whether - it is possible that Mr. Thaw was telling his lawyer in September a - falsehood or an invention of his own brain? - - “That is not all. You remember Thaw returned to New York in - November and shortly thereafter went to his home in Pittsburg and - told his mother the selfsame story he told his lawyer then in these - two letters. - - “I desire to give you the mother’s testimony and ask you whether I - am not telling you exactly what occurred. - - “Not only that but I invite interruptions if you desire to set me - right if I omit or tell anything that was not part of the - testimony. - - “Now, the mother whom you have seen on the stand and of whose - veracity I believe not even the prosecution has any doubt, this - mother says that after he arrived home she found him awake at - night, and when she went to his room he said it was because of a - wicked man--perhaps the most wicked man in New York. - - “She learned before Thanksgiving that this was said about a young - girl, but did not at that time learn her name. Her son told her he - was interested in that girl. This she learned one night when the - mother found him in his room at dawn. He had not been able to get - sleep surcease from his tortured brain. - - “She said, the son said, that this girl had the most beautiful mind - he had ever known, that she had been neglected, that if she had a - chance and anyone looking after her she would be all right. And - then you remember, gentlemen, Thanksgiving came. And the mother and - the son went to church together, and there, while the solemn anthem - was peeling, she heard tears dropping upon the paper which he was - holding in his hand, a stifled sob. - - “In 1903 he intended to marry her. Writing to Longfellow, he says: - - “‘Miss N. and I may be married after Lady Yarmouth comes. We could - have been married without a row. If I die, all my property goes to - my wife.’ And, writing to her, he says: ‘Mr. and Mrs. George - Carnegie should be your loving brother and sister-in-law.’ - Gentlemen, no man of his years, of his temperament, ever wooed a - woman in a manner more respectable than Harry Thaw did Evelyn - Nesbit. - - “There is nothing to show that everything and every bit of - testimony does not confirm the statement of Evelyn that in June, - 1903, he proposed honorably to make her his wife. - - “In corroboration of these facts told by Evelyn Nesbit, that she - told this story of Stanford White, that he, Thaw, asked her to - marry him, that it is not a cunningly devised tale told by Harry - Thaw for his own purposes. I ask you these questions: Does a man - who loves a woman, who has lavished upon her for two years all the - affections of his heart, does a man who loves a woman honorably and - sought to make her his wife and besought her mother’s consent--does - a man like that deliberately invent a story of this kind to defile - the object of his adoration? - - “Until you can take from this case the fact that Harry Thaw loved - Evelyn Nesbit, if any man says to you that he deliberately invented - this story to degrade the object of his affections--the most - degrading story any man could tell--it is not in the human heart - but to revolt from the allegation. - - “If I mistake not, I have established to your satisfaction the - great, simple fact--that this story about Stanford White is not an - invention and that the statement that Evelyn Nesbit did tell the - story to Thaw is true. - - “As against this assertion, what evidence is there in this case? - What is there to contradict this statement of Evelyn Nesbit, the - statement that she told this story to Thaw? - - “Nothing except the testimony of Abe Hummel. I will not speak of - that unfortunate man in any harsher term than the exigencies of - this case require. But it is a melancholy sight to see a man in the - declining years of his life, when soon the sun must set for him - forever, and he will appear to give that account of his life that - we are all called upon to give after death--I say it is a - melancholy sight to see a man whose pathway has been wreathed with - dishonest acts, crowning his acts with perjury--resorting to - perjury in order to deprive a fellow of his life. - - “Gentlemen, is this censure deemed excessive? Listen. Mr. Hummel is - not lacking in intelligence--certainly is not lacking in cunning. - - “Let me recall to your mind the photograph of the alleged - affidavit. You remember what weight the prosecution attached to it - and of what importance they considered it. Let me call your - attention to all the points in Hummel’s testimony regarding this. - - “Thaw’s lawyer then tore Hummel’s evidence to bits, showing that in - one place he swore positively he sent for the photographer and in - another he swore as positively that he did not. Continuing Delmas - said: - - “Which of these stories is true? They both come from the witness - sitting in that chair. They both have the sanction of his oath--the - oath of a man already convicted for subornation of perjury and - conspiracy. Both of these stories cannot be true. Which one is - true? One of these two stories is a deliberate falsehood, and which - it is I care not. They probably are both false. - - “Abe Hummel testifies that this thing, miscalled ‘affidavit,’ was - dictated by him in the latter part of October, 1903, in his office, - to a stenographer whose name he does not remember and even whose - individuality he has forgotten. - - “Listen: If Abe Hummel dictated this illegal affidavit, as he - swears he did, in the latter part of October, 1903; if this is his - work; if these are his words, this his dictation, then he committed - deliberate perjury, gentlemen, and the proof of this perjury was in - the hands of the learned interrogator. He held the paper before him - while the witness was in the chair and could not but know that at - that time the witness was swearing the proof of his perjury was - lying before him. - - “In order that Abraham H. Hummel could testify at all--before his - lips could be unsealed--it was necessary for him to swear he was - not acting in an official or professional capacity for Evelyn - Nesbit when he dictated this statement. Hence the absolute - necessity that this wretched old man should swear that he was not - acting as her attorney. - - “Hence he says, ‘I was not acting for Evelyn Nesbit. There was no - action contemplated by her. She did not consult me in my official - capacity.’ - - “Hence there could exist no professional relations. He said so. - - “This is the famous paper by which Abraham Hummel hoped to help the - District Attorney send Harry Thaw to the electric chair. Who - dictated these words, which lay open before the District Attorney - as he questioned Hummel? - - “‘I received many cablegrams from Mr. Thaw, which I turned over to - my counsel, Abraham Hummel.’ - - “Who dictated these words, if the paper was dictated at all? - Abraham Hummel, who came upon the stand and swore he had never - acted as her attorney--Abraham Hummel! - - “‘Howe & Hummel, attorneys for plaintiff,’ are the words that - appear on the indorsement of this paper. And who was the plaintiff? - Evelyn Nesbit. - - “And the same man who tells you no action was contemplated is the - man who dictated the first words of this affidavit, which read, - ‘Evelyn Nesbit, plaintiff, vs. Harry K. Thaw, defendant.’ - - “This is in letters as legible as I have ever looked upon. Perjured - when he tells you he was not counsel for Evelyn Nesbit, when he - tells you no legal action was intended, when he dictated this - affidavit. - - “You are called upon to convict her of perjury. - - “You are called upon to do so upon the strength of Hummel. And on - that testimony you are called upon to deprive a human being of his - life. - - “How did this paper have its birth? Miss Simonton, as I have told - you, came here after hearing in Paris the story you have all heard. - Arriving here, she went to Mr. White in order to get confirmation - or denial of that story. His body turned icy cold when she told her - story you have heard. - - “He knew that what he had done would not only disgrace him, but - would send him to prison. - - “She was told that Harry Thaw was a married man and that she should - be protected against Harry Thaw, and he took her to Hummel’s - office. What was White’s object in taking her to Hummel’s office? - It was to get from her by some monstrous deception her statement of - her story about herself that would neutralize their efforts should - they ever attempt to bring up against him their story of his - outrage, of his acts.” - -At this point Mr. Delmas had spoken two and one-half hours, and court -was adjourned, with another day of supreme effort ahead for the -brilliant general in command of the defense. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -“The Unwritten Law”--The Defense Ends. - - DELMAS IN FINAL BURST OF ELOQUENCE CONCLUDES STORY OF EVELYN THAW’S - SAD FATE--DECLARES STANFORD WHITE A MONSTER WHOM THAW WAS JUSTIFIED - IN PUTTING OUT OF THE WAY--CRAZED BY WRONGS DONE TO - EVELYN--REMARKABLE SERIES OF LETTERS--DEFENDANT PICTURED AS A - BENEFACTOR TO SOCIETY--“I NOW, WITH ALL SOLEMNITY, LEAVE IN YOUR - HANDS THE FATE OF HARRY K. THAW.” - - -In a final burst of eloquence seldom equaled before the American bar, -Attorney Delmas concluded his pitiful tale of the wrongs of Evelyn Thaw -and her husband, and concluded dramatically: - -“I now, with all solemnity, gentlemen of the jury, leave in your hands -the fate of Harry K. Thaw.” - -Mr. Delmas made a direct appeal to the unwritten law. He said: - -“Let me call the ‘insanity’ of Thaw ‘Dementia Americana.’ It is the -species of insanity that makes every American man believe his home to be -sacred; that is the species of insanity which makes him believe the -honor of his daughter is sacred; that is the species of insanity which -makes him believe the honor of his wife is sacred; that is the species -of insanity which is him believe that whosoever invades his home, that -whosoever stains the virtue of his threshold, has violated the highest -of human laws and must appeal to the mercy of God, if mercy there be for -him anywhere in the universe.” - -The point of Delmas’ whole argument was that Stanford White deserved his -fate; that Harry Thaw in shooting the architect had acted as the -champion of purity and goodness, and that he had slain a foul monster -that had preyed upon the virtue of women. - -The closing part of the summing up by Delmas was as follows: - - “I will relieve the long suspense which has been occasioned by your - labors by announcing that I will shortly leave the fate of this - defendant in your hands. Before entering upon the remarks which I - propose making it may be useful to cast a rapid glance over what I - have already said, so that you may connect what I shall have to say - with what I have already said. - - “I have endeavored to lay before the eyes of the jury the picture - of the fate of these two young people. I had tried to show the - unfortunate occurrence which befell her when she narrated to him in - the summer of 1903 her awful story of what had happened. I have - shown, or at least have endeavored to convince you, first, that the - facts which she swears she then related were true and, secondly, - that it was true that she did relate them to the defendant at that - time.” - - Here Mr. Delmas endeavored to prove these facts. - - “Gentlemen, I shall prove to you from a number of sources, and - first, without adding any words of my own, in the very language in - which it was told by Evelyn when she was testifying before you. - - “She says, after narrating what took place in Paris in June, 1903: - ‘The effect of this story on Mr. Thaw was terrible. To think of - me--I was so young--and to think of this big, great yellow brute. - It must have been frightful. He could not think of it. He would - walk up and down the room exclaiming, “Oh, God; oh, God,” and kept - sobbing, not like an ordinary sob, but a terrible sob. He kept - saying, “Go on, tell me the whole story.” He said it was not my - fault--that I was simply a poor unfortunate little girl; that he - didn’t think any the less of me on account of it, and he said that - no matter what happened he would always be my friend. He renewed - his proposal of marriage two months after. He said that I was not - to blame--that it was not my fault. - - “‘I told him that if I did marry him the friends of Stanford White - would always laugh at him--that they knew about it and would be - able to sneer at him after our marriage; that it would not be right - for us to get married; that it would not be a good thing because of - his family; it would get him into trouble in his social relations. - He kept saying that he could never care for or love anybody else. - He said he never could marry another woman and that he wanted to - make me his honorable wife. He said I was an unfortunate person and - he thought just as much of me. - - “‘He kept pressing me to become his wife, but I said I could go on - the stage. I said that if he ever met some one he wanted to marry - he would be perfectly free to do so. - - “‘I loved him so dearly, but during the whole period I was refusing - his offers of marriage because I loved him. And I also respected - him.’ - - “‘Sublime renunciation,’ says the sneering district attorney. - ‘Sublime refusal on her part to accept the hand of a wealthy man - when he offered her an honorable union.’ - - “Incredible, he would lead you to believe. - - “‘Impossible!’ the district attorney says, and in the same breath - intimates that it is a falsehood from beginning to end. - - “I shall prove to you by evidence that will convince you beyond - every doubt that this renunciation by Evelyn was sincere. But, - thank God, the great Creator has placed in the breast of gentler - woman the noble sentiment and renunciation for the consolation of - the home and of the world. - - “But I shall prove to you that it is true. I shall prove to you - beyond the slightest doubt that she did refuse him, and refused him - for that reason alone. - - “Man, it may be, has not that great power of renunciation, but in - the gentler breast of woman do we find that great gift of God, and - in the breast of this little girl existed this great strength that - enabled her to put aside her one love when she knew it was for the - good of the one she loved. - - “Sublime renunciation! Ah, it indeed is. Do you remember the - letters he wrote three months after this sublime renunciation? He - says in a letter written in September, 1903: ‘Three months ago I - asked her point-blank. She thought, but said she would not; that it - would shut me out,’ etc. - - “The genuineness of this letter is not disputed; that it was - written to Mr. Longfellow is not denied; that Mr. Longfellow was - the trusted friend and adviser of Harry Thaw is admitted. Three - months before September, 1903, when this was written, was in the - early summer of 1903. Is not that true? Is it not true that she had - refused him? In this letter he says she thought she did not want - the man she loved to become an object of scorn. - - “She looked up to the man she loved and she did not want the man - she loved to be pointed at with the finger of scorn. - - “In her little heart she said, ‘Oh, Harry, I love you. I love you - so much that I will not drag you down. I want to leave you free, - and the moment you say so I shall return to my own sad way. You - shall be free and happy and I will go down until I, like many - others, have disappeared from the world.’ - - “The sneer, then, is unjustified. The sublime renunciation did take - place, although we men may not rise above our sordid occupations to - realize it. Do you remember how his mother saw him holding his - vigil in his room; heard him sob and moan, and how he told her - about the awful wrongs done to a little girl whom he loved? - - “And he told her he desired to protect the child from the vile - wrong that had been done her; that he had proposed marriage, and - that she--I quote the very words of the mother--that she had - refused because she would not drag him down. - - “Has this gray-haired and venerable mother in Israel come here to - perjure herself, or did he deceive her when he told her that he - wanted to extend his protecting arm over the girl whom the other - had betrayed; that she, the poor little girl who was earning her - living by the talents God had given her--she refused the man, not - because she did not love him, but because she thought it would not - be fitting to wed the man she so dearly loved. - - “Sublime, indeed, was the renunciation of this girl, unless the - mother of Harry Thaw has not told the truth upon the stand. I - return to her story as told in her own words. She says: ‘He talked - altogether too much of this thing. He did not sleep nights. He - cried too much about it. It was not crying, but terrible sobbing. - He would sit for hours without speaking or moving, and it was - terrible, terrible. He got worse about it. He would sit for hours - in a chair, just biting his nails. And then, in the midst of it, he - would suddenly ask me about Stanford White. It seemed to be - something that was ever present.’ - - “This, gentlemen, was the condition of Harry Thaw when, in 1903, he - parted from Evelyn Nesbit and sent her back ahead of him to New - York. You have the first faint dawn of that mental condition which - manifested itself three years after. The tower in which reason held - its seat did not topple over, but its foundations were already - beginning to be undermined. - - “The storm had not burst forth, but the dark clouds were gathering - from the four quarters of the horizon, from which lightning and - thunder were three years afterwards to burst forth. - - “She says that he called upon her as soon as he arrived in New - York--the middle of November. She had got to this city in the - latter part of October. In the meantime such things had happened - here that when the man whom she loved and whose hand she had - refused called upon her she declined to see him alone, and she - says: ‘I saw him at the Navarre. I would not see him alone. He came - into the room and sat beside me and said: “What is the matter with - you?” and I said: “I don’t care to speak to you because I have - heard certain things about you.” He said he did not understand, and - wanted me to tell him. - - “‘I told him that I had heard terrible stories. He said, “Poor - Evelyn! They have deceived you!” I told him that Mr. White had - taken me to Abraham Hummel’s office and that they had showed me - papers which they said were filed in a suit by a young woman - against him. He said, “Poor little girl! You can believe them if - you wish.” The interview lasted ten minutes. I persisted I did not - want to have anything to do with him. At the parting he kissed my - hand and said no matter what happened he would always love me and I - would be an angel to him.’ - - “Gentlemen, I ask you to picture yourself in the state of mind - Harry Thaw was in when he received such a greeting from the woman - he loved--the one he had parted from but a few weeks ago; the one - he had sworn to devote his whole life to. I ask you to imagine what - his condition of mind was when he returned to New York and found - that she had had her mind so poisoned against him again by the man - who had been the cause of all her misfortune. - - “She would allow White to fill her mind with these terrors of Harry - Thaw to such an extent that she refused to see Harry Thaw alone. - And what must have been the condition of mind of that poor man when - he exclaimed, ‘Oh, poor, deluded Evelyn!’ and stooped and kissed - her and then parted, as she believed, forever from her. - - “Gentlemen, what was the condition of his mind is pictured to your - eyes by documents of immeasurable worth, telling the story of this - epoch in Harry Thaw’s life. - - “The series of letters that voiced the wail that came from his - suffering soul is unparalleled in history from the time of the - Greeks to the present day. - - “He wrote to her the day after he had kissed her hand and parted - from her--she thought for all time--he wrote: ‘Yesterday I saw - you--you believed everything false people told you. Poor little - Evelyn! You have fallen back into the hands of the man who poisoned - your life--who poisoned your mind. I have no reproaches to heap on - your head, for I know you are honest. - - “‘I must fight this battle alone.’ his letter went on. ‘I should - have bet every cent in the world three weeks ago that no hypnotism - in the world could have made you turn on me.’ - - “If this man (Hummel) who sat upon that chair and perjured himself - in your presence--had he kept away with his smooth tongue and - professional tricks and devices, poor little Evelyn Thaw would not - have turned away from her the man who loved her and who was ready - to sacrifice his life for her. - - “She would not have broken the vow which she pledged. She would - have kept the purest thing from the pollution of those - double-minded, lying, deceitful, treacherous persons. - - “‘I am changed, but not in truth or faithfulness. Alone I cannot - settle down. I am not responsible now, so I am frivolous and not at - all as I was before. I can do no more than make the best of it, - which was far from bad except for regrets--every loss, every - illness, every opportunity missed--all these together are but as - the raging sea of water to a battling ship. Everything is trivial - to me now.’ - - “Pages neither of poetry nor oratory contain a more simple story of - anguish than the one of this young man, seeing the object of his - affections won from him by this man who had wrecked her life. - - “All was lost to him and the world appeared to him flat. He had - nothing to live for--all the ambitions of his life were gone and - whatever could happen was but as a glass of water in the sea in - which a ship was battling. He left New York in November for his - mother’s home in Pittsburg in this condition. - - “Up to that time Harry Thaw had been a man of cheerful and sanguine - temperament. His mother saw a change had come over her son the - moment he crossed the door. His manner was entirely different. He - had an absent-minded look, as if he had lost everything. - - “She told how she then in the dark of night had found him sitting - up on his bed fully dressed--how she questioned him. ‘It’s no - use,’ he said, ‘I cannot sleep.’ The mother was allowed to peep - into the heart of the suffering son by the story she brought out, - little by little. - - “But even then he would not tell the girl’s name, and then you - remember the scene in the church and while the organ pealed; how - the sob broke from his throat and the tears gushed from his eyes, - and how when his mother asked him why he had sobbed he answered, - ‘But for him she might have been with us today.’ - - “That was the condition of his mind; that one thing was ever in his - mind. - - “He could not, he would not forget--great, courageous, indomitable - man, who believes he has a mission to fulfill, to make one more - effort to rescue her from the hands of vice into which Stanford - White had lured her. He came back to New York and met her in a drug - store, where the artificial means were found to supply the beauty - she possessed, and he said: ‘Oh, these things are not for you.’ And - you remember how, afterward, they met as mere acquaintances in the - street and passed the time of day. - - “Here again no words of mine could supply the picture that is - furnished by the words of the wife herself as they fell from her - lips on the stand. She says that when they met at the Cafe Beaux - Arts: ‘I said I was going to a play, and Mr. Thaw said I looked - badly and wished I would not go to the play. He would pay me my - salary I would lose--that he would send it through a third party. - He begged me merely for the sake of my health not to go to the - theater. - - “‘But I said that I would go; that I had no other means of - livelihood.’ You remember they met a couple of days afterward and - he asked her to tell him of the stories that had been told about - him. ‘I told him then,’ she said, ‘all they had said about him and - that he was addicted to morphine and had many other vices, and he - said he could easily understand that they had made a fool of me. He - urged investigation.’ - - “She could find nothing in the stories. ‘I never lie,’ Thaw told - her. ‘You never told me a lie in your life,’ she said. And while - she was investigating these stories spread by Abraham Hummel for - the protection of Stanford White, he told her all these things had - been disseminated by Stanford White and his friend. - - “When she discovered that these awful stories were untrue--learned - that they had been disseminated by Stanford White and Abe Hummel - for the purpose of separating her from the man who loved her and - whom she loved--hope began once more to dawn upon him. - - “The hour of reconciliation was at hand. The barriers which had - been set up between them were one by one falling to ruin and the - two persons whom God and nature had intended to be united were - drawing nearer to each other. - - “That night in December, 1903--that night might have been, - gentlemen, the beginning of another tragic chapter in the life of - this poor child--the night when Stanford White in the lofty room in - the tower where he had spread a banquet in celebration of the - birthday of his child victim--the night in which he was to lure her - once again if possible, and bring her under his influence--the - night in which, amid the glare of the lights and the splendor of - the treasures he had planned to renew his power over the child - victim. - - “And the little girl, who had resisted the pleadings of rescuing - her came to her and snatched her from the clutches of Stanford - White--snatched her from the snares set for her--from the man whose - very existence had been a menace to her and the curse of his whole - life. - - “He folded her in his arms; he snatched her away from the old man. - And that night began another series of events. It was on that night - that Stanford White, baffled, his plans disconcerted, went about - that theater in Madison Square hunting for his victim, and, finding - her not, pistol in hand and with impotent rage in his heart, - threatened to shoot the man who had baffled his schemes. - - “And that night Harry Thaw, as he walked the streets of New York, - found that his footsteps were being dogged by hired malefactors in - the pay of Stanford White, and he learned in a few days of the - threat of Stanford White and his hirelings. From that moment the - dread of his life being taken away by this man added a grim specter - to the one that already had been haunting him. - - “And he from that time, as she relates to you, began to think - himself persecuted by Stanford White. The scurrilous stories - circulated in newspapers and elsewhere he attributed to him. He - expressed apprehension of personal violence and impressed upon her - mind that if he died she was to have his death investigated and to - spare no pains. - - “He told her he would probably be set upon in New York by some one - in the employ of Stanford White. He said the Monk Eastman gang had - been hired to kill him and the fear of death constantly haunted - him. - - “Consider in this connection, consider the strange clause in his - will--if you will not take it from Evelyn--the strange clause - appropriating the sum of $50,000 to be devoted to the investigation - into his death, should it occur. - - “In 1904, in the latter part of the year, or the beginning of 1905, - a second operation was performed on Evelyn. And when she was - convalescent the man who for two years had loved her, the man who - had told her sad story to his mother in 1903, who had been refused - by her because she thought their union would interfere with his - family relations--that man, I say, such was the constancy and - fervor of his love, persuaded his mother to come to the little - girl whose sad story she knew and whom in her heart she could not - but revere. - - “And she came to New York--she, embodiment of all that a good wife - and mother means--she came and saw the little girl and assured her - that she would be welcome to her home; that no allusion would ever - be made to her sad story. - - “And the little girl, who had resisted the pleadings of the man who - had loved her and because she loved him, could not resist the - pleadings of the mother, and on April 4, 1905, they were united at - the altar, when he in return for her love pledged to her before - Almighty God that he would protect her. And these two were then - made one. - - “And after a trip westward they returned to the shades of - Lyndhurst, the old family homestead. They were happy in each - other’s love, happy in each other’s confidence, forgetting the - past. - - “But social or business exigencies would not prevent them from - coming to New York, and one day while riding down one of your - streets there appeared the form of the man who had been the cause - of so much anguish, and he, though she was the wife of another man, - stared at her, and had the audacity to call her by her first name. - - “She went back to the hotel where her husband was, and told him - what had happened. And he, in his anger, exclaimed: ‘The dirty - blackguard had no right to speak to you--no right to speak your - name.’ And he extracted from her the promise that no matter what - happened she would tell him all. - - “‘He made me,’ she says, ‘promise that if I ever saw Stanford White - I was to come home and tell him of it.’ - - “They next met in New York when she was going to a physician. - Their hansoms crossed at Thirty-fourth street. He stared at her, - pulled at his mustache, and stared and stared. She did not speak to - him, but looked away and turned into Twenty-second street. - - “He also turned, and as she ran up the stairs of her doctor’s he - followed her. She became frightened, and ran down the steps and - jumped into a hansom and drove to the Lorraine, where she told her - husband. - - “‘He got excited,’ she said, ‘and bit his nails.’ In May, 1906, not - long before the hour which was to be Stanford White’s last on - earth, this is the story that she related to her husband. She told - him that Miss Mae MacKenzie had told her that Stanford White had - been to the hospital to see her. That she, Mae MacKenzie, had said - to him, ‘Isn’t it nice the way Harry and Evelyn really do care for - each other?’ and that she said that she had found it out, and that - Stanford White said: ‘Pooh! I don’t believe it.’ And Miss MacKenzie - had replied: ‘Oh, yes; it is true. I know it myself, and I think it - is so nice,’ and Stanford White had remarked: ‘Well, it will not - last long. I will get her back.’ All this she related to her - husband. - - “Then, when she told her husband what Mae MacKenzie had told her, - he became wild, and began to gnaw his finger nails. Did he not have - cause to get wild, to lose that reason which in a civilized - community one is supposed to stifle? - - “‘I stole her once from her mother, I will steal her now from her - husband,’ Stanford White said. But between him and the consummation - of that act there remained the strong arm of that young man to - protect her from his snares. - - “You remember how at Daly’s Theater Harry Thaw and his wife saw - Stanford White in a box opposite, and how when he saw him, he - became enraged. - - “When he looked into those eyes, into which so many a young girl - had looked before she went down to her ruin, his eyes grew wild and - he just sat there and stared and stared at the object of his - thoughts. She says, describing another meeting: ‘At another time, - when Harry and I were passing Herald Square in a hansom, we saw - Stanford White on the street. Mr. Thaw grew white and his eyes - glared. He talked so fast that I could not understand him. He - carried on in this way for about fifteen minutes. I believe Harry - had a fit then and there. He shook violently. He moaned and - clenched and unclenched his hands, and that was the way he acted - when he saw Stanford White. - - “‘One Sunday,’ said Evelyn, ‘he was sitting in a chair in my room - and suddenly he began to sob and cry without any warning whatever, - apparently gazing upon vacancy.’ - - “His mind was always on this man. He cried until at last his own - wife could not but believe this subject--the thought of Stanford - White--had preyed so on his mind that he had become insane. - - “The man who had brooded over those pictures of horror for three - years--this man would have been more than human if he could have - preserved a calmness of reason. Now, gentlemen, place yourselves in - the position of this defendant. - - “Recall the time, those of you who have wives, recall the time that - you led the one you loved to the altar, and if possible do this - defendant justice. You remember when the little lady tells you that - her husband on this subject had lost his mind--do you remember in - this connection the spontaneous exclamation of the friend who, on - hearing the shots fired on the Madison Square Roof-garden, made the - exclamation: ‘This is the act of an insane man.’ - - “Gentlemen, nothing now remains for me to do but to call your - attention to the events of the night of the tragedy. With a view - simply of elucidating the great point, fix your attention on this - point--that is, the condition of mind of the defendant on that - fateful night--you recall that Mr. Thaw, his wife and two friends - were seated at dinner at the Cafe Martin, a place of public - entertainment in this city. The time was summer, the evening - doubtless was sultry. Tables had been set upon the balcony, the - veranda on the outside for the accommodation of those who desired a - cooler spot. - - “Now, while this party of four were seated at the table, Stanford - White, by accident or design, came into the room in which they were - seated. He came in through such an entrance that Harry Thaw himself - could not see him. After White went out on the veranda on the Fifth - avenue side and remained there a considerable time. - - “The wife, seeing him, forbore at the time to call her husband’s - attention to him, and only when he was gone did she call his - attention on paper. She wrote upon it, ‘The B----’ (meaning - blackguard) ‘was there, but has gone out again.’ - - “As denoting the condition of mind of the defendant at that time, - he turned to his wife and said to her, ‘Are you all right?’ and her - answer that she was mastered every emotion he had in that public - place and the incident had no further consequence. Now, you will - remember that during the afternoon Thaw had procured four tickets - for the performance that was to take place that night at the - garden. He took with him his party and on the way took along - another friend to whom he gave his own seat. He went about with his - busy, nervous activity which characterizes him until he found a - seat beside the witness Smith. - - “He sat by Mr. Smith for half an hour engaging in such idle - conversation as so-called men of the world indulge in--men whose - minds are not seriously engaged in the serious problems of life. - - “When Thaw saw White he walked quietly and slowly down the aisle - until he faced White and then fired three shots. - - “He then slowly and deliberately turned away--and I wish to call - your attention especially to this circumstance, apparently slight, - but to my mind of the utmost importance, and testified to by the - defense. Mr. Meyer Cohen, one of the witnesses, said that as soon - as he heard the shots he looked and saw Thaw standing facing the - audience with his arms spread out in the form of a cross, a - circumstance which has not been dwelt upon by any of the learned - experts for the State. - - “Mr. Thaw stood as a priest might have stood after some ceremony of - sacrificial offering, saying, ‘All is over,’ and dismissing the - congregation. He turned his pistol barrel down to indicate to the - audience that there was no danger to them. - - “He then walked slowly to where his wife stood, and when she said, - ‘Oh, Harry, what have you done?’ he replied: ‘It is all right, - dearie, I have probably saved your life.’ As he said this he - stooped and kissed her. When he was disarmed he said, ‘He has - ruined my wife.’ When the policeman came he said: ‘He has ruined my - wife.’ - - “I have dwelt upon these acts and declarations of Mr. Thaw at that - time to call your attention to the fact that the safety of his wife - was menaced by the man who had followed her to the garden, the same - man who had followed her to Dr. Delavan, the same man who had said - to Mae MacKenzie he would get this young wife away from Thaw. - - “What condition of mind must Harry K. Thaw have been in when - walking down the aisle he turned and suddenly saw the form--the - hideous form--of the man who had caused so much unhappiness. - - “If you have been near death you know that at such a time the mind - travels with the rapidity of lightning. The mind goes back over the - past like lightning. Then Thaw, as he looked upon the hideous form - of this man, saw the whole panorama of White’s life. He saw him - making his way into the family where poverty dwelt; saw him laying - bare his plans to ingratiate himself; saw him giving the mother - money to absent herself from the city that he might perpetrate the - deed of shame he had planned; saw him inflaming her youthful - imagination; plying her with wine; saw her mind wandering under the - fatal drug; saw her losing consciousness; saw her in her shame; saw - him next day kissing the hem of her dress; heard his thousand - protestations of love; heard her refusing, and saw that chamber in - Paris where she told him the story of her wrongs; heard again his - oft proposals to her; he saw that terrible night when she had told - him her story; he saw himself as he walked the floor and cried, - ‘Oh, God! Oh, God!’ - - “He saw her return to New York; he saw her meet this man who had - wronged her; he saw her about to fall into this villain’s hands, - and he saw himself rescue her from this man. He saw himself again - at the altar marrying her. - - “He saw her when her mind was poisoned against him by the same man - who had ruined her; he saw her rescued from the man; he went over - the happy months he had lived with her in his mother’s house; he - saw this monster and he heard his words, ‘I will get her back,’ and - he knew not, he reasoned not, he struck as does the tigress to - protect her home--struck for the purity of American homes--struck - for the purity of American maidens--struck for the purity of - American wives. He struck, and who shall say he was not right? - - “He had appealed to the Pinkertons, to the district attorney, and - that night he appealed to God, and God that night answered that - cry--the cry of the fatherless child. And God then redeemed the - promise He had made thousands of years ago when He said He would - hear the cries of the afflicted and that He would make the wives of - the oppressors widows and their children orphans. - - “Ah, gentlemen, what was his condition of mind at that time? Men, - judge your fellow-man as ye would be judged. Place yourselves as - far as in your power lies in the place he stood. - - “It is for the district attorney to prove that the defendant was - sane, and if he fails to do this he has not established his case. - He must establish that he was sane at the time. - - “And I ask you not to violate any law, and I ask you to judge by - that law which bids you do unto others what you desire others to do - unto you. - - “Send this young man to his death for what he did when goaded into - frenzy by the persecution he had suffered? He turned at last as the - weakest of created things will turn--as a worm, it is said, will - turn against his tormentors--send him to his death for that? - - “Ah, gentlemen, recall the language of the great book in which is - contained the wisdom and religion of the people of old, and I say - to you, Is Jonathan to die for ridding Israel of its pollution? - - “Is Jonathan to die for working this great salvation in Israel? - - “God forbid! Not a hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for - he walked with God on that day. - - “I now with all solemnity leave in your hands the fate of Harry K. - Thaw.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -“Thou Shalt Not Kill”--Jerome. - - PROSECUTOR IN TERRIFIC DENUNCIATION OF HARRY THAW AS A COLD-BLOODED - MURDERER--ATTACKS CHARACTER OF EVELYN, THE “ANGEL CHILD WHO WAS - ALWAYS READY TO GO TO THE HUMAN OGRE” WHOM THAW KILLED--SNEERS AT - THE YOUNG WIFE--WARNS JURY AGAINST “DEMENTIA AMERICANA,” - PLEA--“NOTHING TO SHOW DEFENDANT WAS INSANE; EVERYTHING TO SHOW HE - WAS SANE. - - -In his supreme effort to send Harry Thaw to the electric chair, District -Attorney Jerome in his closing speech savagely lashed the defendant as a -deliberate, cold-blooded murderer. He bitterly attacked the characters -of Thaw and his wife, referring to Evelyn as “the angel child,” who was -“always ready to go to the human ogre who stripped her of her virtue,” -and declared her story of her ruin by White was absolutely false. - -Mr. Jerome lost no opportunity to sneer at the little wife’s tragic -story and at the chivalry of her husband, and he paid his respects to -Delmas’ sensational “Dementia Americana,” or unwritten law plea, by -asking if it was the higher law under which a man may flaunt the woman -through the capitals of Europe for two years as his mistress--and then -kill. - -The prosecutor warned the jury that it would be a violation of their -oaths to consider “Dementia Americana,” declaring it had no status on -the Atlantic seaboard. - -Mr. Jerome said: “This is simply a common, vulgar, everyday, tenderloin -homicide.” He denounced the plea of Attorney Delmas as “an appeal to the -passions.” There could, he said, be but one of four verdicts--murder in -the first degree, murder in the second degree, manslaughter, or “not -guilty because of insanity.” - -The prosecutor also made a stirring appeal in behalf of the slain -architect, declaring that he had been villainously maligned. Mr. Jerome -said it seemed to him that the voice of the murdered Stanford White was -crying out to him, “Can’t you say one word for me? Must I go down to the -fires of hell unheard--undefended.” - -William Travers Jerome, elected district attorney of New York on -November 5, 1902, won a great reputation as a reformer and a foe of -vice, gambling, crooked politicians, and every other evil. Before being -elected prosecutor, on a fusion ticket which overwhelmed the corrupt -Tammany hall machine, he was a justice of the court of special sessions -in New York City. - -As a private lawyer he was favorably known for the intense earnestness -he put into the cases of his clients. As a platform orator; a -campaigner and a hustler for votes he had his name to make, and he made -it. He was the bright, particular star of the campaign, and drew larger -crowds and excited more enthusiasm from immense assemblies than any -other speaker during the campaign. - -William Travers son of the well-known Larry Jerome, grew from a puny -baby to a boy too delicate to meet the rough-and-tumble life of public -schools. He had a private tutor, and after he left the tutor’s care he -entered Amherst College. He remained there three years, and at the end -of that time he left on account of poor health. - -But it was not in the Jerome blood to stay downed. Next year William -Travers Jerome entered Columbia College Law School, and was graduated in -1884. - -After that he traveled considerably, practiced law a little and amused -himself a little. By 1888 he was ready to settle down, and in that year -three important things happened in his life. He was appointed Assistant -District Attorney. He married Miss Hart, of Sharon, Conn. Lawrence -Jerome, his father, died. - -In the District Attorney’s office Jerome made a reputation among the -other assistants as a man who never gave up in the most thankless task, -and as an embryo politician who never worked for his own pocket. Jerome -has his failings and his friends, as well as his foes, know this well. -His chief weakness is a desire to say startling things. He has said -several, the most remarkable being an attack on William C. Whitney and -Boss Platt and the declaration that there was a plot hatched to either -kill him or scratch him at the polls. Jerome was called to time on these -propositions, and he retracted--but he did it without crawling. Jerome -is too outspoken to be a successful politician. His aggressiveness and -his fearlessness are admirable. - -Mr. Jerome’s speech was as follows: - - “If it please your honor and gentlemen of the jury, you seem, as - far as I can judge, to have been wandering through a weird deal of - romance in the past few days. It is not on statements such as you - have listened to that the life of a human individual on the one - hand nor the safety of the community on the other depends. - - “And important as it is that no human life shall be put out except - justly, yet it is equally important that it be put out if justice - demands it. - - “As to this ‘dementia Americana,’ which ‘prevails from the Canadian - line to the Gulf of Mexico’--and mostly on the Gulf of Mexico--does - it wait three years and glare at its enemy and then kill? - - “Does this ‘dementia Americana’ flaunt the woman it loves for two - long years through the capitals of Europe and then kill? ‘Dementia - Americana’ never hides behind the skirts of a woman; ‘dementia - Americana’ never puts a woman on the stand to lay bare her shame to - protect it; no woman could in the category where ‘dementia - Americana’ prevails. - - “‘When I discharged those shots into his head,’ said Thaw, ‘I - didn’t know I was discharging shots. I didn’t know it was Stanford - White. I didn’t know I was killing him, nor did I know it was - wrong.’ - - “It was wrong under the law. When the anarchists threw the bombs in - Chicago they had no personal grievance against any of the four - policemen who were killed. It is not a question whether the slayer - justified himself, not the form of his own conscience. It is the - law of the land that must be satisfied. - - “Let me first deal with the dead man. A middle-aged man, care-gray - already, a man with a wife and children, a man of position in the - community, a man of genius. He comes into the life of this girl. He - assists her and her family. Does he make a single insidious advance - until the night mentioned here? - - “Does he give her a single rich gift? Why, it was stipulated here - that the gifts were trifles--a hat, a coat. Did he try to dazzle - her with rich gifts? Did he try to see if she would yield to drink? - No. Night after night at dinners he would tell her she could have - but one glass of champagne. In the company of actresses, and those - miserable persons about town who seem to think that the society of - a chorus girl is the only one for them, did he not seek to protect - her from them? - - “This angel child, as Delmas depicted her--this chaste, good being, - cannot recall the time within three months of it when this brute - ruined her. - - “When she could not fix the time of her life’s wreck my learned - friend from the Pacific slope concluded, ‘Why don’t you prove an - alibi for Stanford White? The doors are thrown wide open.’ When the - people called Wittans to testify that there was no such drug as she - described the door was closed. When Eichemeyer, the photographer, - was called to fix the date of the event--it occurred the night of - the day after this picture was taken--the door was closed. - - “The learned judge ruled justly. I offered this not as new - evidence, but to call the story of the ‘angel child.’ - - “Maidens know well enough to appreciate the distinction between - right and wrong--their blushes, their reserve, their shrinking - would impress upon them indelibly the time when any such attempt is - made to destroy their purity. Was she brought up more carefully - than your own daughters? - - “And yet she meets him again and again and again. She meets him - eight or ten times at the tower. She meets him in the Twenty-fourth - street place because she believed others would be there. And then - all these subsequent attacks were attacks with liquor. After all - these, there was marked for identification, with greatest - ostentation, a number of letters written by Stanford White--this - great ogre! - - “And yet you will recall that on one occasion a Mr. P. called at - the Twenty-fourth street house and found the angel child downstairs - undressing. - - “Was there one of these letters put in evidence! Is it credible - that if a single one of these letters contained the slightest - intimation of indecency that it would not have been put in - evidence? - - “Could there have been these successive ill-treatments month after - month and yet not a single line in all those letters except words - of tender appreciation? Contrast those letters with this, for - instance: ‘Men celebrated for licking toes,’ the letter of this - most modern St. George, who leads the angel child up to the true - light. After days of description of the baseness and debauchery of - Stanford White, it seems as if the spirit of Stanford White itself - would have come here to say to Evelyn Thaw: ‘What! Not one word of - kindness--not one word to say for me?’” - - Here Jerome’s voice broke, his chin quivered, and he sobbed for a - moment. Drying his eyes, he continued: - - “The law will not allow it.” (Jerome, still talking of the spirit - of White, added: “I am not on trial. I have no one here to speak - for me.”) - - Jerome’s eyes filled with more tears as he went on: - - “‘Can you not say one word for me? Only one word for me,’ the - spirit seemed to say.” - - The tears started down Jerome’s face. He faced the jury, holding - aloft the photograph taken by Eichemeyer--the one on the bear rug. - Then he cried with evident feeling: - - “Can’t you say for me something? On the stand she said, ‘I know no - one who was nicer or kinder than Stanford White, except for this - one awful thing. He was exceptionally kind to me and to my family. - - “‘Outside of this one thing he was a grand man. And when I said so - to Mr. Thaw he said that only made Stanford White the more - dangerous. - - “‘He had a strong personality and had many friends, and they - believed in him and could not believe anything bad about him. And - even when they believed, they said: “Too bad. He is so good.”’ - - “Can there be any grander, better panegyric, uttered than this by - this girl on the stand. I am here not to defend Stanford White. - That he had his faults, his gross faults, no one will deny. - - “But there is a difference between the brute, and the unchaste. Her - own words have ruined this Jekyll and Hyde theory. - - “Can it be possible that now, at twenty-two, she could look back to - the time when she was fifteen and pronounce so grand a panegyric - upon a brute? - - “A wealthy man, finding, God only knows why, enjoyment in her - company--see how young she seems today (pointing to Evelyn - Thaw)--think how young she must have been then--that a rich man - should have tried to help her is consistent with his conduct. - - “That when she was told by the manager of the ‘Florodora’ company, - to whom she had applied, that they were not ‘running a baby - farm’--that a man like Stanford White should have taken care of her - and protected her--is certainly not inconsistent with the belief - that her relations with him were pure. - - “Again, it is consistent that their relations were not pure. This - girl alone knows. But I submit this girl is not telling the truth. - There is no proof of the wrongdoing.” - - At this point Jerome asked that a recess be taken. At the - reconvening of court, Mr. Jerome resumed as follows: - - “I have carefully laid out to you what we are here for in our - respective duties. I have presented briefly as I could the facts - that I have adduced. - - “The head on which I am now dwelling is, ‘What is the defense that - the defendant makes to this formal charge?’ I deem it necessary to - dwell at some length on the character of the three persons who - figure most in this case. However, much as we may disagree, we come - back to the issue: ‘Did he know the nature and quality of his act?’ - - “‘I did not know it was a self-cocking revolver and I did not know - I walked toward Stanford White and I I not know it was against the - law of the land to fire the shots.’ - - “In regard to the girl, we may esteem her, however much or little - we may think of her veracity. Nothing can go out to her except our - pity. If these things did not occur, if she perjured herself it - seems even more that she needs our pity. - - “What chance did she ever have in life? Her father died early, her - mother led a life of shifting about from place to place. We all - know what life on the stage is. We all see some of it. Why do you - suppose Garland, a married man, was following this girl about; why - do you suppose even Thaw was pursuing her with flowers? This little - girl knew something of life before she met Mr. White. - - “Counsel for the defense speaks of her fatal gift of beauty. It is - ever thus. We are all men of the world and we all pass along the - great white way of this city and see its effects daily. - - “Why do you suppose Garland was paying her attention? Why was Thaw - sending her American Beauty roses? Why did he pursue her even to - her home? I don’t wish to speak too harshly of this mother. I will - read what she says of Garland. - - “‘My mother was not entirely pleased with the relations of Mr. - Garland.’ - - “What were the relations that caused the mother to make objection? - They were very poor and the acquaintance of White and Garland was - desirable. The girl, you know, was sent to school. The whole - situation centered about the girl. It was she who, in the long run, - brought about all these occurrences. - - “Next time, Mr. Hartridge, that you take things and papers - belonging to Evelyn Thaw out of a storage warehouse, take good care - that you do not leave behind such a book as this.” - - Mr. Jerome displayed a flexible leather-bound book in which there - appeared a good deal of written matter. Jerome then raised the - diary, or book, and shook it before the jury. Mr. Hartridge - objected at this point and said that there was no evidence that he - had taken the documents from the warehouse. Mr. Hartridge was - overruled by Justice Fitzgerald. Jerome then read the one entry of - the diary which had been admitted in evidence. It was: - - “‘I jumped right in and proceeded to be good. The first thing I saw - was my virtuous couch. I wonder how far I am from - Rector’s--Rector’s and the Great White Way.’ - - “Significant, I consider that, indeed I do,” said Jerome, and then - continued reading from the girl’s school diary. - - “‘These things have always been of that kind. Not one of them will - ever be anything. Mrs. De Mille was very nice and agreeable. - - “‘I was taken into the house and shown all the celerity of a - soubrette and proceeded to get shy. When we drove up to the house - Mrs. De Mille’s son came out smoking a pipe, and I must admit he is - a pie-faced mutt. - - “‘I was taken into the house and shown to my room. It is neither - large nor small; has Japanese paper on the walls. There is a - virtuous white bed, a girl’s bureau and a washstand.’” - - Then Jerome went on: - - “This shows that this child played one man against the other. She - went to Paris on Thaw’s money with White’s letter of credit in her - pocket. This child that believed not at all in the virtue of - women--this child who had been in the ‘Florodora’ company--this - child who had been yachting with Garland--this child who had been - to the late suppers where risque stories and intoxicated women - prevailed. This child thought it was nothing to be a good - mother--that she would rather become a great actress first, and she - arrived in Paris fully convinced that there is no virtue in - womankind, she being eighteen and a half at that time. - - “This is the angel child described by Mr. Delmas. And then we are - told that in Paris the child loved Thaw and in the greatness of her - love renounced him and was willing to come back to the chorus and - the studios. She made this renunciation and when she had done so - she traveled about Europe with this St. George who had revealed to - her that there was chastity in women, and then she leaves him for - some reason, which I will dwell upon later, and comes to New York - with his money. - - “She arrives in this city on October 24, 1903, and is found a few - days later in the office of Abraham Hummel in the company of - Stanford White, the man who had so dreadfully ill-used her. If not - another thing was found in that affidavit than the signature of - Evelyn Nesbit, this date, which appears opposite that name, would - be significant. - - “The significant thing is that within twenty-four hours before she - saw him on Sunday her great love had been undermined so that she - deserted this man for the monster who had wrecked her life. - - “By stories too evil to repeat, she says, she was turned against - Thaw. And then, when he returned, she tells him of what she had - heard about him, and he says, ‘Poor little Evelyn. Somebody has - deceived you.’ - - “And when I call her renunciation of this young man sublime I did - not do so with a sneer. Such a renunciation, if it really occurred, - is unparalleled in history. - - “Great actress, indeed! She thought she could play on you like so - many children. Look at those pictures taken when she was sixteen - years old--does she look anything like the way she appeared in - court? - - “She appears in these early photographs in a way which you could - not allow a daughter of yours of sixteen to appear. - - “She comes here in her little school-girl dress--her little white, - turned-down collars, which cover all but the flowing ends of a - pretty childlike bow-tie. She sits in the witness chair and tries - to impress on you this assumed, youthful childishness. - - “There she was a poor, wronged, orphan child, whom Thaw would take - to his arms and protect. Sir Galahad took that angel child--took - her from her mother and flaunted her through every capital of - Europe. ‘Dementia Americana’--the higher, unwritten law! Why, you - may paint Stanford White in as black color as you wish, but there - are no colors in the artists’ box black enough to paint this Sir - Galahad. Why should this Sir Galahad be abandoned by this girl? Why - should she leave him? For some reason she did leave him. Why? Let - us go into the Hummel affidavit. - - “What do we find Thaw doing? We find him wrapping $50 around - American Beauty roses and sending them to her. Is that the course - of honorable courtship? - - “‘Rector’s, I know, is not the proper place for an innocent young - person, but I always had a weakness for it.’ (Mr. Jerome read from - the diary.) - - “‘It is my ambition to see things and then settle down; but I want - to be a good actress before I settle down to a humdrum existence.’” - - Jerome again read from the diary of the girl, Evelyn Nesbit. - - “You have heard what took place in Paris--mother, daughter and Thaw - were living together. Thaw asked her there to be his wife and she - refused, and when he asked her why she said: - - “‘Because.’ And he asked. ‘Is it Stanford White?’ and she said, - ‘Yes.’ And then we are told she gave him the entire story. - - “She had nothing ahead of her. There was a man she saw she loved. - He offered her his wealth in return for that love. She laid it - aside--all the comforts of life. Wasn’t that a sublime resignation? - - “He offered her a haven of rest--rest for the wanderer. And yet so - great was that love for him that she would not accept him. Those - were noble words for this man to say. This girl’s renunciation was - truly sublime--if true. She might not have known how Stanford - White, like the brute negro of the South, would look upon his - victim with passion, but she did not know that it was wrong. - - “I don’t think Hummel is an upright man, and he is in the position - he is in just because I put him there. He will go to jail and he - will stay there just as long as I can keep him there. He has lived - as a blackguarding blackmailer for twenty years and anything coming - from his hands must be viewed by you justly with suspicion. - - “But Abraham Snydecker swore that he took that affidavit to Evelyn - Nesbit there in the Madison Square tower and that she read it and - signed it. Let us see what she herself says about that affidavit. - The itinerary set down in the affidavit corresponds exactly with - her description of it. Were all these things put in there by - Hummel? Strange touches for this old blackmailing, blackguarding - scoundrel to have put into that affidavit--such little touches as - reference to a watch and to a hypodermic needle used for morphine, - which she says she found in Thaw’s trunk. - - “I will concede that this story may have been dressed up by the - lawyer. Can we think of the suggestions in her own testimony of the - Ethel Thomas suit? Can we think of the rumors of Dillingham’s - story? Can we fail to remark upon that passage in his letter in - which he says, ‘He will never hurt you,’ referring to himself? - - “Snydecker says that affidavit was taken to the Twenty-seventh - street studio and her signature appears exactly opposite the date. - - “Strange that after her return from Europe--from Thaw--she should - immediately have gone to him, to White. - - “A knight of old, redressing the wrongs of injured maidens, would - not have gone to Rector’s at 2 o’clock in the morning, would not - have gone to cakewalks and cafes, to the Dead Rat in Paris and - resorts in other places, to remain there all night and go home when - the market wakes. - - “Almost within earshot of his wife he asked Smith--this knight of - old asked: - - “Would you like to meet a nice, buxom brunette? Are you much - married? I am going abroad and I can put you next. - - “Every element, gentlemen, in this case is simply an ordinary, - mere, vulgar, every-day, Tenderloin, low, sordid murder. - - “If this rich young man instead of being Harry Thaw, the son of a - millionaire of Pittsburg, had been a poor Italian and his victim, - instead of a man of artistic temperament, a maker of plaster casts, - and a girl whom they quarreled about was a chorus girl in the - London Theater, how long would brainstorms and paranoia have - prevailed? - - “Simply a mere, ordinary Tenderloin homicide. Because she has a - pretty face and a child-like manner, she is coming here to tell a - tissue of lies to prevent you gentlemen from putting a deliberate, - cold-blooded murderer under ground. - - “Will you gentlemen acquit a cold-blooded, cowardly, deliberate - murderer on the ground of ‘dementia Americana’? - - “Thaw himself, the girl swore, accused her of having resumed - relations with White after she returned from Paris. Where does this - man’s conduct show aught that he did not know the quality and - nature of his act? We have the letters A to I. The girl says that - at times in 1903 Thaw was drinking heavily.” - - Jerome argued that neither Thaw’s letters nor his will indicated - insanity, but rather showed that he possessed a knowledge of legal - limitations. His letters he described as “erratic and vulgar, the - product of a rich illiterate.” Jerome continued: - - “He knew enough to automobile through Europe with this girl. He - knew enough to warn Longfellow to be on the lookout for legal - actions, and yet he did not know that when he shot White he was - doing wrong. Even the codicil drawn in his own language runs in the - legal way. - - “Everything shows a sane mind. There is not a thing to indicate a - crazy mind. There is evidence here that he consulted Roger O’Mara - before he carried a revolver. He was afraid of the Monk Eastman - gang. - - “Is it such an unknown thing that a man should be followed by a - gang of hirelings? Was the arrest and trial of the Monk Eastman - gang in Jersey a few years ago a figment of imagination? Where was - the delusion in that? How easy it is for a man of this kind to - store away his ‘dementia Americana’ for three years! Where is the - delusion in a man’s believing that he is in danger from a gang? - - “Don’t let’s blow hot and cold at the same time. In one breath we - are told that there was such a gang hired, and then we are told it - was all a delusion. - - “There was such a gang--and I am sorry to have to admit there was. - - “Why did he leave his money to the Society for the Suppression of - Vice? Was that a delusion? - - “And he says in a letter that they could find pictures in White’s - studio which were lewd, but perhaps within the law. Was that a - delusion? - - “Will you gentlemen acquit a cold-blooded, cowardly, deliberate - murderer on the ground of ‘dementia Americana?’ - - “If the only thing that lies between every man and his enemy is a - brainstorm, then let every man pack a gun. There are two things I - want to say. They are: ‘Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord,’ and - that other law that was thundered from Mount Sinai: - - “‘Thou shalt not kill!’” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -The Judge’s Charge to the Jury--Thaw in Collapse. - - JUSTICE FITZGERALD DEALS BLOW WHEN HE TELLS THE TWELVE “GOOD MEN - AND TRUE” THEY MUST IGNORE THE “UNWRITTEN LAW”--READS THE STATUTE - GOVERNING INSANITY AS A DEFENSE--BURDEN OF PROOF OF MADNESS PLACED - ON THE DEFENDANT--TELLS WHAT VERDICTS MAY BE RENDERED--“YOU MUST BE - GUIDED ENTIRELY ON THE EVIDENCE; CLAMOR, PREJUDICE, OR SYMPATHY - MUST NOT PREVAIL.” - - -Upon the heels of District Attorney Jerome’s closing address, Justice -Fitzgerald dealt a terrific blow to the defense in his charge to the -jury. Every word that he uttered seemed to the lawyers attending the -trial to be a plea that the jurors ignore the most telling points of -Delmas’ address and confine themselves strictly to the facts and the law -on the statute books, ignoring the “unwritten law.” - -Thaw heard the charge with rapidly paling face, and he almost collapsed -when the judge said that the defendant must prove his insanity before he -could look for a verdict of acquittal. This charge and the bitter -closing speech of Jerome so worked upon the feelings of Harry that he -was in a sad condition when he was taken back to the prisoner’s room. A -call from his wife, however, cheered him up, and he said: - -“Well, dearie, we must make the best of it, anyway. Cheer up, little -girl, everything will come out all right.” - -The members of the Thaw family were low in spirits, especially when they -heard that the keeper of the prisoners’ room had said: - -“The judge’s cold-blooded charge has scared Harry half to death. He has -finally been made to realize what he is ‘up against.’” - -The charge of Justice Fitzgerald was as follows: - - “Gentlemen of the Jury, it now becomes my duty to give you such - instructions as are necessary to enable you to perform your duty as - jurors and to define for your information the legal principles by - which you are to be governed in reaching your conclusion of the - evidence. - - “It is particularly gratifying to me that you were selected by the - people and the defense as fair-minded men, after the examination of - 337 men and the peremptory challenges on each side had been - exhausted. The care with which you were severally selected to - ascertain the condition of mind of each of you as an impartial - juror must have impressed you with the spirit of justice. It must - have impressed you with that spirit of justice with which the - statutes regulating the acts of the orderly are governed. - - “The admonition so frequently given at the close of the sessions of - this trial were given in accordance with the law, that you might - remain impartial. Let me impress on you the importance of the issue - you are to decide. - - “The life of the deceased was in the protection of the law and had - been taken by the defendant. And the defendant is here to answer to - the law for that. - - “You must take the law absolutely from the court, but of the facts - you are the sole judges. A defendant to a criminal action is - presumed to be innocent until the contrary can be proved, and in - the case of a reasonable doubt he is entitled to it. - - “Let me begin by instructing you on the law of homicide. The - statute on homicide is divided into two divisions, which are again - subdivided. The two chief divisions are homicide that is criminal - and homicide that is not. - - “Criminal homicides are classed as murder in the first degree, - murder in the second degree and manslaughter in the first and - second degree. Homicide unless it is excusable or justifiable is - murder in the first degree, when committed with deliberate design - to effect the death of the person killed. - - “If committed with design to effect death without premeditation or - deliberation, it would not constitute murder in the first degree - but would constitute murder in the second degree. If committed - without design to effect death in the heat of passion with a deadly - weapon that would constitute manslaughter in the first degree. - - “All lesser criminal homicides are embraced within the definition - of manslaughter in the second degree. - - “Homicides not criminal are classed as justifiable and excusable - homicide. Homicide is justifiable when committed in the lawful - defense of the slayer or his wife or child or master or servant or - anybody connected with him in close relation. - - “The defense here is that the defendant was insane at the time he - committed the act and the law applicable in the defense of insanity - is found in sections 20 and 21 of the Penal Code. Section 20 - provides that an act done by a person who is an idiot, imbecile or - lunatic is not a crime. - - “But section 21 limits section 20 as follows: - - “‘A person is not excusable from criminal liability as an idiot, - imbecile, lunatic or insane person except upon proof that at the - time of committing the alleged crime he was laboring under such a - defect of reason as either not to know the nature or quality of the - act or to know that the act was wrong.’ - - “Before murder in the first degree can be done, a distinguished - jurist has said, it must appear that there was some act of - deliberation and premeditation. This, of necessity, is for the - comprehension of the jury. - - “If you are satisfied that there was a design to effect death, but - without deliberation and premeditation, you may find murder in the - second degree. The defendant may be convicted under this indictment - of murder in the first or second degree or manslaughter in the - first degree. - - “When it appears that the defendant committed a crime and there is - reasonable doubt of which degree he is guilty, he can be convicted - of the lowest only. - - “As I have tried to impress upon you since this trial began, the - character of the victim furnishes neither excuse nor justification. - The general character of the victim is not the issue, and no matter - how bad he might have been he was entitled to the protection of the - law. - - “The personal avenger of private or public wrongs is not recognized - under our law. Every person is under the protection of the law. - Good or bad, exalted or humble, all are alike covered by its - shield. - - “The plea of not guilty is a denial of every material allegation - charged against the defendant, and such evidence may be presented - as will offset these allegations and establish his insanity at the - time of the commission of the act. - - “The law presumes that sanity is the normal condition of man, and - wherein insanity is the plea that becomes the crucial question for - the jury to decide. - - “If there existed in the mind of the defendant an insane illusion - it is not an excuse unless the illusion is of such a character that - if true it would result in his injury. - - “Proof of partial or incipient insanity is not sufficient as an - excuse. The settled law of the state is that so long as that power - to appreciate the nature and quality of the act is present no man - must commit crime if he would escape the consequences. - - “Under the rules of evidence the story, claimed by the defendant - prior and subsequent to this tragedy and prior is admitted, not as - affecting the character of the deceased, but that you might - consider what effect such a story had on the defendant’s mind. - - “In considering her story, her credibility as a witness is highly - material, and everything that she has said or done must be taken - into consideration. Her admissions regarding the relations existing - between herself and the defendant prior and subsequent to this - tragedy and prior to her marriage or any other act should be - weighed in connection with her story. - - “A wide latitude was allowed on cross-examination. You should give - due credit to all that was developed along with other facts. - - “There has been no denial entered here that death resulted from - pistol shot wounds inflicted by the defendant; he committed the - act. It was not incumbent upon the prosecution to introduce - preliminary testimony to show that he was sane. The burden of proof - is upon the defense. Whoever denies sanity must prove that insanity - is present. The burden of proving a crime is on the prosecution, - but the burden of overthrowing sanity is on the person claiming - it. - - “The hypothetical questions which were answered by the experts - assumed certain facts and the answer was only the opinion of the - expert on those assumed facts. - - “You are not obliged nor are you permitted to accept opinions as - you would facts. In considering the testimony of medical experts, - you are to consider their experience and knowledge, and you should - consider the quality of the medical testimony and not its quantity. - - “The so-called irresistible impulse has no place in the law and is - not an excuse, nor is every person of a disordered mind excused. - While the burden of proof of insanity is on the defendant, he is - also entitled to every reasonable doubt on the subject. If the - defendant knew the nature or the quality of his act, or knew that - the act was wrong, then he committed a crime. - - “As to the distinction between reasonable doubt and a possible - doubt you were thoroughly examined when you were about to become - jurors. - - “The law does not require that the prosecution shall efface every - possible doubt. - - “It only requires that the prosecution shall go beyond a reasonable - doubt. Nothing in this world is beyond all doubt. The defendant is - entitled to every reasonable doubt and that is all. - - “You may in this case, let me say once more, find the defendant - guilty of murder in the first degree, guilty of murder in the - second degree or guilty of manslaughter in the first degree. - - “If you vote for acquittal on the ground of insanity you may state - that ground in your verdict. - - “You must be guided, gentlemen, entirely on the evidence. Clamor, - prejudice or sympathy must not prevail. You must be guided by your - reason and your judgment.” - -The case was given to the jury immediately upon the conclusion of the -reading of the charge, and at 5:15 p.m., Wednesday, April 10, 1907, the -jury was locked up to begin its deliberations. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -Deliberations of the Jury. - - TWELVE MEN UNABLE TO REST OR SLEEP, HAVE HARD TIME--ANY ONE OF SIX - VERDICTS COULD BE GIVEN, SAID LAWYERS--THAW GLOOMY--VISITED BY - WIFE--MOTHER WORN OUT BY ANXIETY--JURORS HAVE PART OF EVIDENCE READ - AND RETURN FOR MORE BALLOTING--EVELYN ALMOST MOBBED BY - CROWD--VARIOUS RUMORS AFLOAT. - - -From the moment they left the court room, the jurors had a hard task -before them. The situation was complex. According to legal experts there -were six verdicts from which a logical choice could be made, as follows: - -1. Murder in the first degree, the penalty for which is death. - -2. Murder in the second degree, the penalty for which is life -imprisonment. - -3. Manslaughter in the first degree, the penalty for which is -imprisonment for twenty years. - -4. Manslaughter in the second degree, punishable by fifteen years’ -imprisonment. - -5. Not guilty, on the ground that the defendant was insane at the time -of the shooting. - -6. Not guilty, without any explanation. - -When the jury went out. Justice Fitzgerald expected a verdict soon, and -remained in the court room until 11 p. m., ready to receive it. At that -hour no word had come from the jury, and the judge ordered the twelve -men locked up for the night. Thaw’s cheerfulness had entirely -disappeared, and it was plain that he was in a mood of deepest gloom as -he was led back into the prisoner’s pen. There his wife visited him for -a short time, endeavoring to cheer him, and then she went to dinner at a -near-by restaurant with Dan O’Reilly, a member of Thaw’s counsel, not -wishing to be away from her husband if a verdict should be returned. - -In spite of District Attorney Jerome’s masterly speech, the members of -the Thaw family had a faint hope for an immediate verdict, and remained -in the courtroom for half an hour. Finally it became apparent that their -stay was useless. Mrs. William Thaw, worn out with anxiety, was forced -to go to her hotel. - -Though the long delay seemed to many close observers to preclude a -verdict of acquittal, it was taken as indicating that a verdict of -guilty also could not be reached, and the impression began to gain, that -there would be a disagreement, which would render the twelve weeks’ -trial useless. - -Members of Thaw’s family were fearful, however, lest under Justice -Fitzgerald’s charge the jury might bring in a verdict for one of the -lesser degrees of murder or for manslaughter as outlined by the court. - -One of the prison guards with Thaw received word from his home that his -little girl, who had been ill for several days, was dying. Thaw turned -to him and expressed the greatest sympathy. - -“You are in a worse predicament than I am,” he said to the guard, “and I -am very sorry.” - -When Justice Fitzgerald re-opened court the next morning he sent a -bailiff to ask Foreman Smith if the jury had reached a verdict. “No, we -have not,” was the only reply. - -At 11 a.m. the second day the jury sent word it would come into court -for further instructions. - -A moment later they filed in, headed by Deming B. Smith, their foreman. -Nobody needed to be told that they had sat up all night. They looked it. -The look of weariness and anxiety and sleepiness was all over them, but -they did not look like men who were ready to quit. They looked like men -who knew the gravity of their task and who were determined to discharge -it properly if there was any way of doing it. - -Justice Fitzgerald came in a moment later and as soon as he had taken -his seat Clerk Penny advanced to the rail and said in the quiet manner -he might use in asking for a glass of water: “Harry K. Thaw to the bar.” - -There was a brief delay, then the pen door opened and Thaw came in ahead -of a prion keeper and took his place, smiling a trifle at his wife and -mother. Thaw’s relatives had been in the building an hour or so before -the jury came in. They all bore themselves in the same impassive manner. -Grave they were, but none of them appeared in the least excited. Evelyn -Thaw herself looked as if she has passed a wretched night. She was paler -than usual and her eyes looked as if she might have been weeping. -District Attorney Jerome and Assistant District Attorney Garvan were in -their usual places, as also were all of the prisoner’s counsel. - -Justice Fitzgerald, in taking the bench, said: - -“I have received a request from the jury to be allowed to examine and -have possession of the following exhibits: - -“1. The plan or diagram of Madison Square garden. - -“2. Exhibits A to I--the letters from Thaw to Attorney Longfellow. - -“3. The will and codicil. - -“4. The Comstock letter. - -“5. Mr. Delmas’ hypothetical question. - -“6. Mr. Jerome’s hypothetical question.” - -“The people have no objection,” said Mr. Jerome. - -“The defense has none,” said Mr. O’Reilly of Thaw’s counsel. - -Foreman Smith stated that the jury desired not only the typewritten -copies of the Thaw letters, will and codicil, but the originals as well. -The papers were gathered together by Clerk Penny and made into a -bundle. - -The reading of the testimony of Policeman Dennis Wright and John Anthony -and Peter Barrett, doormen of the Nineteenth precinct police station, -followed. - -Meyer Cohen’s testimony had been largely a personal demonstration by -himself of Thaw’s attitude after the shooting and his manner of -approaching Stanford White. Henry S. Plaise was with Cohen the night of -the tragedy. - -Finally the jury asked to hear again the testimony of the doormen on -duty at the Tenderloin precinct police station the night of Thaw’s -arrest and who gave testimony as to the defendant claiming to hear the -voices of young girls. - -Juror Pink, who undoubtedly was in very bad shape, delayed the reading -of the testimony to the jury by asking permission to retire for a few -minutes. He tottered from the room accompanied by an officer and seemed -near a collapse. - -After an absence of five minutes he resumed his place in the jury box, -looking very pale and tired. - -Lastly the jurymen asked to have read to them the testimony of Evelyn -Thaw so far as it related to the shooting, the testimony of Thomas -McCaleb as to where the party was sitting on the roof garden, and the -testimony of Dr. Allen McLane Hamilton so far as it was allowed before -the jury. - -Foreman Smith also asked to have read that portion of Justice -Fitzgerald’s charge relating to the testimony of Drs. Evans and Wagners. - -After hearing a review of the evidence for two hours and a half the jury -retired to its room at 1:30 for a luncheon and further balloting. - -Evelyn Thaw was almost mobbed by the hundreds of curious persons outside -the courthouse as she left the building to go to luncheon with Attorney -Dan O’Reilly. Evelyn separated from the other members of the family at -the door and started to walk to a restaurant in Franklin street. - -The crowd surged about her by the hundreds, growing constantly with -every foot traversed. Several policemen rushed to her assistance, but -they were unable to keep back the mob, which crowded about her close -enough to touch her garments. - -When she had entered the restaurant hundreds took up their station -outside to await her appearance. - -When the other members of the Thaw family left the building it required -several policemen to protect them from the curious ones. - -Nothing further was heard from the jury room the second day. The twelve -men were taken out to a meal early in the evening, and Justice -Fitzgerald, after awaiting a verdict until 11 p.m., ordered the jurors -locked up for the night. Thirty-one hours of deliberation had passed -then. - -This was the second night that the jury has been locked up in the bare -jury room, whose only furniture was a long table and some hard chairs. -Contrary to what has occurred at many other famous murder trials no -information leaked out of the jury room regarding the attitude of the -jurors towards conviction or acquittal that could be regarded as in the -least reliable. - -Various rumors were afloat. Most of them had it that the jury stood 10 -to 2 or 9 to 3 for conviction, but on investigation it provided that all -of the rumors were nothing better than guesses. - -Soon after it was announced that the jury was to be shut up for the -night. Thaw was taken from the pen back to his cell. As he left the pen -he handed out to the reporters this note: - -“It is a great satisfaction that all of my family continue well. I -regret that so many officials and others have so much extra work.” - -On the morning of Friday, April 12, rumor had it that nine of the jurors -had agreed to find Thaw guilty of one in these three degrees: - -Murder in the second degree; penalty, life imprisonment. - -Manslaughter, first degree; penalty, twenty years’ imprisonment. - -Manslaughter, in the second degree; penalty, fifteen years’ -imprisonment. - -The nine, it was reported, were veering most strongly to manslaughter in -the first degree and the three holding out for acquittal. - -At noon the crowd about the courthouse was so great that traffic was -practically stopped. More than 5,000 people gathered about the building -and when a rumor that any member of the Thaw family was about to leave -the building they surged from one corner to another, sweeping the few -policemen who were trying to preserve order almost off their feet. - -A call for reserves from several nearby precinct stations was responded -to by half a hundred men, who were distributed on both of the streets on -all four sides of the building. - -Inspector McClusky issued orders that no crowd was to be permitted to -congregate. No one was allowed to stand on the sidewalks, all of the -curious being obliged to keep moving. - -The jury did not go out to luncheon, but had its meals sent in, and this -added strength to the rumors that a verdict was near. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -Ending of the Trial--Jury Disagrees. - - AFTER HAVING DELIBERATED MORE THAN FORTY-SEVEN HOURS, THE TWELVE - JURORS ARE FAR APART IN THEIR OPINIONS--LAST BALLOT SHOWED SEVEN - FOR CONVICTION FOR MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE, WITH DEATH AS - PENALTY, AND FIVE FOR ACQUITTAL--THAW ALMOST COLLAPSES--EVELYN - BEARS UP IN COURT BRAVELY, BUT IS OVERCOME LATER--THAW BACK TO CELL - IN TOMBS PRISON. - - -After having been out forty-seven hours and eight minutes, the Jury at -4:25 p. m., April 12, 1907, filed into the court room, and at exactly -4:31 announced a disagreement and was discharged. - -The disagreement was unexpected, as the fact that the twelve men had not -asked for further instructions led to the belief that the minority were -being won over to the views of the majority. - -News that the jury was about to report was taken to Justice Fitzgerald -by a bailiff, and Attorneys Delmas, Jerome, and the other lawyers in the -case were summoned at once, while Harry Kendall Thaw was brought from -the prisoner’s room to face the panel. - -After Justice Fitzgerald had taken his seat on the bench the jury was -polled and then ordered to stand up. Thaw was also commanded to rise, -and the clerk asked him to look upon the jury. - -The usual formality of “Jury, look upon the defendant, defendant look -upon the jury,” followed and the clerk asked the foreman if they had -agreed upon verdict. - -“We have not,” replied the foreman. Justice Fitzgerald thereupon told -them that as they had failed to agree he would discharge them. The -jurors quickly left the court room and Thaw sank back in his chair, -almost overcome with disappointment. Evelyn Thaw and the defendant’s -mother bore up bravely and on leaving the court house hurried over to -the Tombs, to see Harry, who was taken there in a few minutes. - -Mrs. William Thaw’s face was hidden behind a heavy black veil. She sat -with her daughters, the Countess of Yarmouth and Mrs. George L. -Carnegie, and all began to weep as soon as the verdict was announced. -Evelyn Thaw, sitting beside her husband, uttered a little shriek and -then turned deathly pale, almost collapsing. She revived quickly, -however, and begged the bailiff to be allowed to follow her husband out -of the court room. Thaw himself uttered not a word, and made no sign of -his great disappointment. He turned extremely pale, however, and was so -weak that two guards had to support him on the way to the Tombs. - -Soon after Thaw was placed in the Tombs his wife arrived. - -“My dear, my dear,” she sobbed. I am so sorry--so sorry,” and then she -collapsed utterly. - -Shortly after the jury had been discharged it was stated that the final -vote stood: Seven for conviction of murder in the first degree, with -death in the electric chair as the penalty, and five for acquittal. -Reports as to the earlier votes varied greatly--in fact, hardly two -jurors told the same story, but it was admitted that the division -throughout was, on most of the ballots, about half for acquittal and -half for conviction, although the degree favored by those who demanded -punishment from Thaw varied considerably. - -Estimates made as to the expense of the trial attracted nearly as much -attention as did the probable outcome of the long hearing. - -Apparently authentic estimates indicated that the trial cost -considerably over $300,000. Of this sum, it is estimated probably -$235,000 had been spent by the Thaw family, while the expense to the -state had been in the neighborhood of $80,000. - -At the district attorney’s office it was stated that the trial had not -cost the county over $30,000. This does not include salaries and such -expenses as come out of the general sessions fund. Conservative -estimates gave $80,000 as probably the minimum cost to the state. - -The expense Thaw had incurred in his own defense was estimated as high -as $1,000,000. As a matter of fact he had probably not spent over -$235,000. Neither Thaw nor any of his relatives could tell exactly, -however, what the defense had cost. - -Thaw’s alienists, it was said, cost him $45,000, and his attorneys -$145,000. To offset his expenses, the jurors who listened to the long -drawn out trial, paid at the rate of $2 a day, got only $1,536 for their -combined services. - -As soon as the verdict was announced, District Attorney Jerome, declared -he would rush preparations for a new trial. He was smiling; Delmas was -heartbroken. - -The day after the trial ended, the jurors stated the final ballot was as -follows: - -For Conviction--7. Murder in the first degree. Deming B. Smith, foreman, -George Pfaff, Charles H. Fecke, Harvey C. Brearley, Chas. D. Newton, -Joseph H. Bolton, Bernard Gerstman. - -For Acquittal--5. On the ground of insanity. Oscar A. Pink, Henry C. -Harney, Malcolm F. Fraser, John S. Dennee, Wilbur F. Steele. - -Eight ballots were taken by the jurors during their deliberations, with -the following results: - -_First Ballot_--Eight for conviction on the charge of murder in the -first degree and four for unqualified acquittal. - -_Second Ballot_--Eight for murder in the first degree and four for -acquittal. - -_Third Ballot_--Eight for first degree murder and four for acquittal. - -_Fourth Ballot_--Seven for murder in the first degree, one for -manslaughter in the first degree and four for acquittal. - -_Fifth Ballot_--One for murder in the first degree, six for manslaughter -in the first degree and five for acquittal. - -_Sixth Ballot_--One for murder in the first degree, six for manslaughter -in the first degree and five for acquittal. - -_Seventh Ballot_--One for murder in the first degree, six for -manslaughter in the first degree and five for acquittal. - -_Eighth Ballot_--Seven for murder in the first degree and five for -acquittal on the ground of insanity. - - -THE END. - - - - -Chronological Story of the Thaw Trial. - - -June 25, 1906--Thaw killed Stanford White. - -June 28, 1906--Indicted by grand jury. - -Jan. 21--Case set for trial. - -Jan. 23--Trial began. - -Feb. 1--Jury completed. - -Feb. 4--State presented its testimony. - -Feb. 4--Defense introduced its first witness, a minor character. - -Feb. 7--Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, wife of the defendant, called as a witness. - -Feb. 11--Dr. C. C. Wiley, expert on insanity called by defense and -severely cross-examined by District Attorney Jerome. - -Feb. 12--Delphin Michael Delmas assumed full charge of the defense. - -Feb. 12--Dr. Britton D. Evans, chief medical expert for the defense, -called to the witness stand. - -Feb. 14--Trial delayed by the death of Juror Belton’s wife. - -Feb. 19--Evelyn Nesbit Thaw recalled. - -Feb. 20-26--Evelyn Nesbit Thaw cross-examined. - -Feb. 27--Evelyn Nesbit Thaw recalled by defense. - -Feb. 28--Dr. Evans cross-examined. - -March 6--Mrs. William Thaw, mother of the defendant, testified. - -March 7--Trial delayed by death of a relative of Justice Fitzgerald, -presiding judge. - -March 8--Defense rested. - -March 11--State began rebuttal testimony. - -March 12--State called James Clinch Smith, brother-in-law of Stanford -White. - -March 15--Thaw declared sane by state’s experts. - -March 18--Court admitted the Abe Hummel affidavit in which Evelyn Nesbit -is alleged to have denounced Thaw. - -March 20--District Attorney Jerome asked court to appoint a commission -in lunacy to examine Thaw. - -March 21--Lunacy commission appointed. - -April 4--Lunacy commission pronounced Thaw sane. - -April 8-9--Attorney Delmas made his plea to the jury. - -April 10--District Attorney Jerome closed for the state. - -April 10--Justice Fitzgerald read his charge to the jury. - -April 11--Jury called for rereading of evidence after having retired. - -April 12--Jury announced disagreement, and was discharged. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREAT HARRY THAW CASE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where - you are located before using this eBook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that: - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without -widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |