Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1882-01-05
GARFIELD'S ASSASSIN.
TUESDAY. DEC. 27.

TUESDAY, DEC. 81.
The court room was densely packed. Upon
reaching his seat Guiteau looked around pat
ronizingy and said; 81 had nice Christmas
dinner, and hope everybody else did. / had
lots of fruit, flowers and lady VISITORS and q
good time Dr.. 4. D. Mcdonald, superintend-
ent Of the Wards Island insane hospital, testi-
lied that during his practice, he had treated
6, ZOO cases of insanity He had given special
attention to the study Of insanity. Witness
ctssei the difference between delusions and in
sane delusion, the one being subject to correc-
ton by Judgment and the senses; the other was
not correctable, and for that reason is des-
ignated as insane delusion He also described
illusions and hallucinations, giving illus
trations from his own experience.
Witness described what Is commonly called
temporary insanity when q man commits an
act which is the only Evidence OF his insanity,
ana when the person is, to all appearances, Per-
fectly sane in all other respects, both before
and after the act
Guiteau-That's just my case exactly.
Witness-I don't believe in snch insanity, and
in all my experience have never seen AN in
stance of It,
Witness, in reply to question, SIN the
group OF which that young man makes one, the
other four will be pretty Safe" thought a per-
son acting Under an Inspiration TO eon,rtis cor
taih Gesds would not Eo deferred from the
commission of that act through any consideIa-
alton Of personal harm to other persons.
Witness had visited the prisoner in his cell at
the jail, remaining two hours snd Masking the
usual mental examination in such cases. He
talked over with the prisoner the main Incl
dents of his life up to and including the shoot
ing of the president. The prisoner always
spoke of the act as 'my conception, and so On,
and ''after conceived the removal of the bras-
ident" The Hitnees asked why, il the act was
the AlIlightys, and he was simply an agent, he
10 coftn his coir
why did he not trust the details to the AL
mighty; and the prisoner hesitated, flushed a
little and said: ''The Almighty often trusts de-
tails to his agents."
Witness believed from his examination and
observation OF the prisoner in court that he is
perfectly sane man Witness then proceeded
at some length to give teRsbns fot his opinion,
using tie expression: 81 have frequently no
ticed that his most violent Interruptions have
been made when the weight Of evidence has
been against him." Counsel for defence OBJ
.jected that witness WAS usurping the functions
of the jury, who alone could pass upon the fact
| that the evidence was for or against the prls-
| oner The court overruled the objection, and
an exception was noted by the defense. Cult
| eau, who had kept Unusually quiet all through
| the morning, here addressed the witness, speak
| ing without any show OF excitement: ''You
| are making q great a5o about nothing,
Doctor / don't .pretend to be insane now.
your money and go home" Witness, coHtinu-
| ing closely analyzed the conduct and remarks
of the prisoner during the trial and concluded
the prisoner had been playing part ever
since the first day. At the outset, he said, the
prisoner had directed all bis abuse against ons
of the counsel and aftsrward against al! oi
| them.
Assuming the Facts set forth to be trie. and
adding that sia,ement TO the others, it strength
ems my opinion that the man was sane on the
% of July. Exception to question and answer
was noted by defense.
| Adjourned.
| WEDNESDAY, DEC. %.
The feature Of the day was the seating OF
| Guiteau in the criminals boz or deck. EaviDe
| o.sregarded the admonitions Of the court to or.
der and silence, he was placed there despite hit
| whining pleas. Guiteau had beer
unusually noisy and abusive. Finally Scoyillt
| asked of a witness hypothilical question in
volving recital of the fact that Guiteau once
| claimed that he was member of the firm Of
| Jesus Christ & Co. Porter arose, and in his
| impressive manner objected to what he termed
the irreverent and blasphemous use of the
name of the redeemer of mankind. Guitear
| promptly interrupted in the mos
abusive manner, and Porter, Immediately fol
lowed by Corkhili and Davidge, demanded hi.
| removal to the dock. It WAS very dramatic
scene. Fcftef5 the attention Of Judge, jttj
| and audience riveted on hls fine head, rehearsec
most impressively the facts in the case and de-
randed, in the name of the law, religion and
| decency, that the obscene, blasphemous wretch
be placed whore he belonged
| No one would run the risk, Iorter said, O!
shooting worthy deputy marshal in the per:
! formancs OF his daily duties. Meanwhile
Gulteau, who was very much excited, insisted
again and again that he would not be placed il
the dock, since he appeared as his own counsel
If he had not been abused. Judge Cox, in s
very sensible decision, ordered
aaas~szplaining that m he 1Soul would have IA bee1 ee
placed there long since had it not been though
that bis presence at the counsel table afforded
peculiar facilities for observation. For Cult
| eau's benefit he laid down well known rules O
practice, that criminal who has counsel hs
waved his right to appear as his own counsel
Guiteau had not expected this ruling. HI
Milted and would have broken down entirel,
had not John Wilson Guitesu, who sat mex
him whispered forcibly ''For Gods sake dom
break down now. Go to the dock like a Haan.
With feebs 81 will be quiet if 70,
let me stay here" twice repeated
he got up, when Judge Cox stern
| ly shook his heal and he shuffied Off t.
the dock The latter concists Of q long bencl
to the left of the judge, running for. some dis
lance by the side of the audience, surrounde,
by a wooden railing. Here the assassin "a
down, surrounded by deputy marshals, having
found spot that suited hum where he coult
Sit and hear the Witnesses and every body else
and prepared to execute his threat to talk NOR
in the dock than out Of it. He did talk grea
deal throughout the remaining hours of tn
afternoon session, but 1t was all in the charac
ter of sane criminal and not of insane coun
sci. Judge Cox overruled.
The testimony was that of experts was whoi
ly against Guiteau. DR.. A. Z. Macdonald o
New York still continues his assertion that Gui
teau is and always has been sane and RESPONSE
BILE throughout q severe cross examination
DR.. Rudolph BarAsdale, a typical Vlrgini
physician, superintendent of the central hospi
tai for the insane at Rich
mond, and DR.. John II. Calendar of the Nash
vile Qenn.) state hospital asylum testified
as Macdonald had done, that after
careful examination in the jail and Carefu
observation in the court room, they believe tn
man to be sane and responsible now and On th
I'd of July. Their testimony was simply dam
aging to the defense, and Guiteau was o
quick to see this as smartest man in tt
Jury.
THURSDAY, DEG. 20.
DR.. Walter Kemsster of the Northern Wi.
eonsin Insane hospital, at Oshkosh, another el
pert summoned by the government, added hi
ing SO rapidly to the sanity Of Guiteau. d
testified in the strongest manner possible ths
he was on the I'd of July perfectly sane an
perfectly responsible. A rigid cross-examinf
ton conducted by Scoviile and Reed elicite
no contradiction Of the evidences give
on the direct examination.
Scoville recalled DR.. Calender, of Tennesse
and asked him whether q letter written by Gu
teau to Senator Don Cameron on Decemb'
10, asking q loan of $500 to defray the e,
penses Of the defense-"a loan from stalwa
to q stalwart"-to be repaid "if get out Of thi
, II not, to be charged to the stalwarts" was IL
letter Of q sane or Of an insane man. DR.. Ca
. lender promptly said that it was the absurd le
ter of sane man. Over the production :
. this letter Guiteau waxed wrathfull
He held forth for several minutes on u
mean, dirty conduct of his brother, who, havir
been entrusted with this personal appeal to
political friend, had delivered it, not to Can
eron, but to Scoville. He scornfully said tn
!. it was not possible that these humble perscl
who had crawled into his case for the sake
! the notority it would give them, to apprecia
the relations existing between himself an
Grant, Conkling, Don Cameron and "thos
! kind Of men, in politics and Moody in theo
ogy. At least they might have done the bi