Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-12-27
GUITEiU TRIAL RESUMED.
MORE EXPERT TESTIMONY.
EVIDENCES OF THE PRISONERS SANITY.


this morning. after interlnission OF three days
in the Guiteau trial. The jury arrived at ten
O'Clock. The other actors in the trial were a little
late In arriving. MeSSrS. ScOville Reed. and j. W.
| Guiteau were present early. At ten O'Clock Judge
Porter was the sole occupant of the reservation
| the prosecution side Tie absence of many of the
! experts noticeable. Drs. Mcdonald, Gray,
hempSter, and Barksdale, are the only four eX-
| pertS announced by the government yet remain
| ing to be examined. Nearly all the rest of the
expert corps have left the town. Judge Cox and
The district attorney We're engaged in the Circuit
Court room, at ten O'clock in the work of organ
izing the 1uries for the December term. so the
trial Of Guiteau was not resumed till after half
past ten o'clock. The mfstness OF the morning
made 1t so dark in the court room that a lamp
had to be provided for the Stenographers. 1t was
Temarked by the officers about the court room
| that the pressure for admttanCe at the doors
! greater than 1t has been for fortnight. The
crowd included large number of young boys
VINO are improving the advantage offered by the
houday vacation III the schools to attend the trial.
GUITEAUs OPENING REMARKS
when the court was called to order at 1875 a.
1n, the prisoner was at once brought in. Upon
taking his seat the prisoner, addressing the au-
dience. said: 81 had nice Christmas. ] hope
everybody else did. had nice Christmas din
ner. fruits, flowers, candies, &C. and plenty of
lady visitors and gentlemen
A New York Expert on the Stand.
Dr. A. E. Macdonald medical superintendent of
the New York City Asylum for the insane, was
called to the stand by MI. Corkhll, In reply to
| the questions OF the district attorney, DR.. Nc
Donald gave his experiences as an observer of the
insane. Somewhat over 600 insane persons, he
sa1d had come under his care. He had been in
attendance Oh The trial with the exception of
three and a-half days, since its opening.
insanity, In medical sense meant disease of the
| brain, which manifested itself in some feeling,
! thought or action not normal He defined the
meanings OF the terms delusfon. Illusion and hal
| lucinatiOn. He said that insane persons who
claimed inspiration, so far as his experience went,
| claimed to have received instructions by seeing
letters on the wall, or hearing the voice OF God,
or In some way like that The patients always
Such persons never expressed fear; they believed
they were above all ordinary danger. InSpira-
tlon such as he had spoken of. came upon persons
already having some form OF insanity. Irlpsisti-
ble impulse was characteristic OF several forms OF
insanity. He had never seen case where the i'm
pulse formed the only characteristic OF the in
sanity, though he had read them. These impulses,
as rule, are very sudden In their inception and
execution. An impulse which was successfully
resisted for two or three weeks, was not properly
speaking, in his opinion, an Irresistible impulse.
MI, MI. torkhill XXI II asked question in which he re-
that ne had testified in the vernacuar OF the
stable sta that the Guiteau family was drenched with
the insane taint.
Nj. scovile objected, and the question was ruled
out.
THE HEREDITARY TAINT THEORY.
The witness said he had no belief in hereditary
ihoauily ultlC SJiIlc COlSlituliOHit Ge-
feet or weakness inherited, but he did not believe
that the disease OF insanity was in itself Trans
missible. The children OF insane people as a rule
were act insane. If they We're, the Whole world
would be insane by this time. The fact that man
had ma cousins insane proved nothing The assertion
Itself amounted to nothing in determining sanity
or insanity, ana so Of the TACT that man believed
he could cure the sick by prayer and the laying on
OF hands.
GUITEAu's KIND OF INSANITY.
The prisoner looking up said There are two
kinds OF insanity; crank insanity and the Abra-
ham style OF insanity. / belong to the Abraham
school. What do you think OF Abraham. Doctor?
He's my example"
MORAL INSANITY ANOTHER NAME FOR wICKEDNESs.
The witness said he cid not believe in moral in
sanity. The term was another name for wicked
ness or depravity. 1t used first in the French
ID AS @ Was any sins nsanty iG9y
confined to the moral nature. He had never seen
a of so-caled emotional insanity Partial
insanity. he thought, was misnomer. Insanity
might have only partial evidences He did not
D:lleVe IN such insanity or in monOmania. Tran
STORY mania Was naIne given to that form OF in
sanity which developed itself in one act wherein
the patient was before the act and afterwards
"1hats my case, broke in the prisoner
PROPORTION OF SANE TO INSANE PEOPLE.
Mr Corkllll asked the witness as to the proper
ton OF the insane to the sane, referring to a
young man from Chicago, calling himself an
agnostic," who had stated on the stand that one
ptISou out ul every I'VE Was insane.
Mr.. ScOyille was about to object. when Mr. Cork
hill started to speak.
81 have no more objections to Make said MI
ScoV1le. changing his mind. 1.-THE district attor-
ney can go on and cast just such reflections as he
chooses upon our witnesses; we will wait till we
get to the jury"
"Then wait,'' said the district attorney, impa
tiently.
.'The proportion of the insane to the sane.n the
witness said, differed in different localities. In
this country, according to the last census it was
7 In every LOCO In regard to the statement that
there is one insane person in every hve,' said the
young mans five might be deemed pretty sane
AS rule, the acts of violence of sane people were
never without motive; as rule, the acts OF the
SO apt to plan an act as sane person.
You are talking about cranks, interrupted the
on Abraham, Doctor"
AN OBJECTION BY Mr.. REED
The district attorney having asked the witness
why DR.. Herman had been discharged from the
asylum, Mr.. Reed objected, that the matter was
| collateral, brought out by the prosecution and
could not under the rule be questioned by them
Mr. Corkhill insisted that expert witnesses were
| not bound by the same rules as others.
| Mr. Reed opposed this view. Experts he said,
| "are just the same as any other person ON the
stand. They have to take their chances'
The court sustained the defence in the objection
| to the district attorneys question.
The witness said his reply would not involve the
question OF DR.. Kiernan's credibility as an ex-
pert r. Referring to the patient, Williams referred
him to claim divine inspiration, as DR.. Herman
alleged. In reference to patient named JobSon
! referred to by Dr. Herman as person alleged to
| have been born insane, the witness said that he
| had not been insane since birth. she was en-
| ployed for many years., said the witness, "on the
! newspaper press OF New York city. don't know
that that was any evidence that he was not in
| sane though"
| QUESTION RULED OUT.
| The witness said he knew DR.. Spitzka.
| Mr.. Corkhill asked If his (the witnessD asylum
chad ever longed for Dr. SPftka'S services ?"
! The question was ruled out, and also all uues
tions relating to DR.. Spitka's application for en-
| ployment under DR.. Mcdonald, as the matter was
collateral, elected from DR.. Spitka on crOssexami
| nation.
! GUITEAU LOOKING Up THE LAW ON INSANITY
| The witness said he had made an examination of
the prisoner at the Jail. He had questioned him
particularly about the delay that occurred after
the conception before the execution of the act.
He spoke OF 1t always as a conception. He said.
after conceiying the idea, he had waited for some
| time, hoping the Almighty would interfere The
witness gave long account of his interview with
the In the jail, agreeing substantially with
Gu1teau'S published statements. Guiteau had told
him that the Almighty did not make all the ar
rangementS for such acts; He left some OF the de-
tails to be arranged by the person whom He chose
1 tv,re cDil kI,< <>1H