Morris tribune., 1881-12-22
THE ASSAsSIN'S TRIAL.
The Great CUES tion Of Guiteau's Sanity Nov
Under Consideration by the Court
ut Washington.
auiteau 10 Playing the Insanity Dodge 70,
All It Is Worth.

Gutte0u 10 Play1ng tno Ahs1nity oouBe ior
All It Is Worth.
Testimony Showing that He Has Been
Hard Citizen, Lunatie or Otherwise.
MONDAY, DEC IL.
On Saturday there was no session, and on
Monday the proceedings were of less interest
than usual DR.. Edward Charles Spitzaka, .
specialist in mental diseases, testified at length
for the defence. Boiled down, his testimony
is to he effect that Guiteau was moral mon
ss ss10'ty; y. so Born nssR' WR m.n ns,ormsd aasi
brain which has misdirected his whole life. He
thinks that he ought to be incarcerated in an
insane asylum. He 10 not allowed to say
whether he considers him legally responsible,
but the inference from what he said was that
he did not. On the whole, he was strong
ny will be fatty contradicted by dozen ex-
perts summoned by the government, it pro-
duced . marked impression in court. Gniteau
was, on the whole, wen behaved. He realized
how how important .,, spitSsa's Sa ,orssal. tssu,
fashion. Once or twice, however, he quite for
got himself, ssand broke forth in his character
istic billingsgate in denunciation Of Corkhil
and the rest Of the counsel for the prosecution
and Of some members of the press.
There was o sensational scene when, at one
Of the Interruptions, man, weary with his de-
nunciations, said in an audible tone, laboring
evidently under great excitement, ''Shoot him
now" Judge Cox Immediately ordered Dep
uty Marshal Williams to apprebezd the ofeHder,
which the marshal did with the assistance of
other deputies and hurried him from the room.
At one time DR.. Spitzaker would not undertake
to express decided opinion as to the mental
0f a Guitpan
terrnpte1: "There was no depravity sbout this
business ct all, and think it .s q burning
shame for the gentlemen of the prosecution to
keep upon the word 'depravity.' 1hsve been q
consistent Christian all my life, and because !
committed adultery to get rid Of woman did
shame for this prosecution to blacken my
"siIenoe!n and "order!n made by
court and counsel at this point Guiteau CON
tinued to strike upon the table, ard shrieked at
the top Of his voice: ''pm not afraid to go to
go there. expect an act Of God that will blow
this court and jury out of that window tn pro-
tect me If necessary. I want this sounded in
the ears of the American people" Davidge re-
marked, 'Oh, this pantomime business is get
ting played out"
Guiteau-You are getting played out and
your theory Of prosecution. too
TUESDAY, DEC Is.
When the marshal exhorted the audience to
preserve order tEoughout the day the court
room was filled with men and women, as usual,
fashionably dressed. There were o few con-
gressman IN the corners. Senator Lamar sat
Foster for time beside the Judge. The jury,
the Judge, counsel for both sides, the experts
and the assassin came In shortly afterwards and
took their usual seats.
The morning session was devoted to SpitZka,
the brilliant young expert, and to Dr.. Fordyce
New York. The afternoon session was con-
sumed in the examination Of B. G. Phelps, a
New York broker, formerly managing editor
Of the Chicago Inter Ocean; GebeQ, New
York insurance agent; Henry Wood. Phila-
delphia railroad manager, and others who
Some of them knew Of him within the last
year. All Of them agreed that he was. when
they knew him, q shrewd, intelligent,
sane man, though lacking, perhaps, the usual
amount Of good common seQse. Phelps sized
him as Col Sellers, with gross selfshness in
the place of the colonels good nature. Spitzks
stuck to his original testimony, to the insanity
| of the assassin, and DR.. Bakers testimony by
inference sustained the theory Of total depravi-
| ty advanced by the prosecutions. This testi-
mony was very entertaining Spizka held bis
own, leaving the box as he entered it, master OF
the situation. Baker, in his odd, husky toned
voice, lectured delightfully."- on the various
| Not having examined the assassin, he
| could not testify as to his mental
condition, but he did tstify practically that all
| facts in the case were more consistent with the
theory Of sanity and depravity than with the
theory of insanity. On the whole, the balance
Of proof was in favor Of the prosecution. Quit
eau was himself. He blasphemed his maker
vilifed the counsel for the prosecution and
| their witnesses, and soolded his relations Be.
| sides telling Corkhill he was "consummatt
jackass;" "Crank Talmadge" that he was 9
'liar and pimp," Scoville that he was 'sbadly
cranked." he gave each Of the witnesses hi
| opinion OF his testimony In the coareest terms
| In the course Of the examination Guiteau
shouted: 81 soc that crank Talmage has beer
| doing some eensationalism business in this case
| He had better go slow. He has been before
his synod several times for lying, and has ,
reputation for lying, and has reputation IL
New York for running for houses Of prostitu
oranks, and if they don't 60 slow I'll give som,
| more of them some free advertising. The higi
| toned portion Of the American people are be
ginning to take right view Of this case"
| WEDNESDAY, DEC. Ii.
DR.. John l. Winthrow, pastor of the Parl
street Congregational church OF Boston, Mass.
took the oath. He recognized him at once ant
promptly announced: ''Dr. Winthrow is tn
honored pastor Of the Park street church, Pos
ton, the church used to attend while in Bos
ton. Heis a very fine fellow" The witnes
smiled involuntarily and then testified in fran
yet dignifed manner, that Guiteau had attend
ed his church in 1873, 10 and 80. a
spoke, however, often in the Friday evenin
meetings, and attended a sociable or two II
appeared to be perfectly sane. He consi1ere
him q shrewd man.
A ~ ha Vorlx tai
Insurance company knew the prisoner in Ne
! York. The witness wa 9 proceeding to relate
circumstance of Quite aus connection with h
company, when Guiteau Indignantly shouted
swell, now, want to cay right here, when th
witness comes here and tells what is false,
false. That is q lie; and, finally, you are mil
erable whslp That is as far as shall go. 1t
equivalent, " said Guiteau, ''to the bar roo
expression, Go down below but don't {
that far.' The witness said the prisoner askt
: loan on the strength of consulsh
he was to have; He considered him sane.
Henry NJ Collier, Anew York attorney, toe
the stand. 81 remember you, sir" shoutt
Guiteau. 'sYou are the man that put up tn
| Herald job on me. Keep quiet, SIR" (turniI
: to Scoville) 81 will disposs OF this man in sho
0 order. He brought suit against me to pay ov
Q certain money, ald the court ruled that shou
keep it That kills his evidence" The witne
/
Sl75 and failing to pay il over. His eviden
proved extremely damaging. The prisoner {
asserted that he had always lived an uprigl
: Christian life, and wriggled and expostulate
: and vainly attemted to explain the transactio
Q The witness at one point said, "I inform
!. Judge Donahue at that time that I consider
Guiteau thief and scoundrel" Guiteau e
citedly cried, s'Yoa did not dare to say 30 to n
b | would have knocked you dor nj"
Gates, mechanic, the twelfth man on I
! jury, accustomed to plain food and out dc
o exercise, came into court suffering with
Q ''blind staggere," or vertigo, as the result
living four weeks on rich fare in . small no
. bed room. He became 90 i'll, finally, that
Q found it impossible TO fix his mind on tho o
deuce, aud after . session Of an hour and b
Q Judge Cox adjourned the court until to-m'
: row.
THURSDAY, DEo 10
The testimony adducsd by the prosecutic
was very damaging to the defense. Collye
the New York lawyer, who Represented Rec
Brothers d o., the Chicago clients, who
4 claim Guiteau (when he had collected iD pool
eted as his 'shalf' In little transaction, whi.
! got into the papers and ruined Guiteau's pra