The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-11-26

| %, o'hSiS POSSESS.
Rn Wrllooss,examln1ed by the state: Mr..
| question. ""h'eu 10 isk one
Doctor, you have seen the witnooS
S't aYags here lei; during the trial?"
He is" ''A 10 ne siiiiuiating!
What is he trying to simuloteg,
| insanity, l suppose"
room) "' o'er the court
n MIeV,aalrect examination by Mai Walton
nv Nv nuI 40 you mean by simuiating?"
bo ~ Waiiace explained at length that
az nltalt that Burt was acting or irving
d ~ acI u part. lie said Burt could con.
; f 10 himself naturally in the court room
tions. uei o'her cohul-
naturally?" "''ne iiioh act
an IN some OF them you can not tell that
lney are insane by their actions ordina.
Ily certainly not by their unnatural CON
uuct. The insane, most of them. are
very cunning and can act in most things
us naturally as any one. What he
meant IN Burts case was that he was
iot actlng naturally, as he could but was
putting ON, acting unnaturally and try
ing TO initiate something he, Wallace. did
no. nv KNOW what. 10 question. he said {:
NO, do not mean to say that he is
sane and pretending to be insane. | moan
nothing of the kind. but l say he is act
ing part" In further Testimony Dr
wallace said Burt might show all the af.
lection for his wife and children testified
and still destroy them. When asked
with what motive" he replied, None
motiyeless. That is what | mean by n
moral pervert." y ="
lie said Burt could have done the decd
under an explosive motive" or with the
greatest dcliberatiOn and caution and
with motive and knowing of right and
wrong He said there were eases of
explosive motive" where man with
knowledge of right and wrong, yet was
unable to oppose his own action, but that
the present case of Burt was not one of
these. Maj. Walton still continued the
redirect examination and DR.. Wallace
seemed nettled that he was compelled to
repeat so often. Finally he said his dag
lnlosls was from the heredity of the fam
lily. the early acts of Eugene Burt and his
killing of his wife and children, if he did
DO it. From all of these taken together
he pronounced him a degenerate, or Il
man who. is not as sensible to right and
wrong as the ordinary man. This crime
was evidently committed deliberately and
after contemplation; it was not the result
OF sudden Outburst. He regarded Eu-
gene Burt as sensible at one time as an
other. As amenable at one time as an
other. He has no fits, but is about the
same all the time, a moral pervert. Dur
ing all this time the greatest excitement
was apparent all over the court room,
nj
much as possible. Even Burt showed
he was moved. His eyes came open more
often than for the past two days. He
moved about in his apparent sleep more
frequently and flush came into his face,
a very small one, but such little things in
q man of Burts iron nerve mean a great
deal. 1t was surely one of the most
tragic times of the trial, and every one
felt crucial moment was at handy DIR.
Wallace was asked about the cunning
displayed by insane people in cOncealing
their crimes. He said they exercised
great cunning in devising and executing
them, but not so much in trying to hide
them. He was then excused.
Then at 4 30 the defense asked that adj
journment be had to Monday at 8 o'clock,
which the court ordered accordingly.
(From Tuesdays Daily)
Yesterday morning during the course
of the taking of testimony in the Burt
trial, was a little child or rather baby
that could hardly walk around and was
continually chirping and cooling to itself.
This child several times hallooed out,
and once the halloo was as though it
had hurt itself. If the infants. voice
found responsive chord in the. heart
of the prisoner at the bar he gave no
token of it. He apparently slumbered
on and the voice of the little one pene-
trated every part of the large room in
its childish unconventionality, had no eff
feet on the prisoner at the bar. But it
set some in the crowd to thinking. 1t
was rather strange coincidence that
the child should be in such a place. Its
presence there was explained by the
mothers desire to hear the testimony.
Its conduct was no part of the program,
yet its presence in the court room was
something worthy of thought There
sat the prisoner, charged with the muir
der of his own little children, and while
he was sitting there apparently asleep
or awake in very listless manner at
best. this little child was running around
within hearing distance, and once or
twice within his range of vision. He
never quavered or apparently paid any
attention to the child's voice. If awake
and in full possession of his faculties,
his mind must have been burdened with
the thoughts that flew one after the other
through his brain. If his conscience was
awake and he committed the deed that
he is charged with committing, his very
soul must have turned within him. II
unacquainted with what was going on
around him he was spared the agony
of the moment, the thoughts of the hour;
The incident, while thrilling in its real
importance, was very momentous in ITS
significance, and the feeling that I'M
pressed some of those who listened and
heard both the taking of the testimony
and the plaintiff wall of the child, as 1t
possible bruised its finger or otherwise
injured its little self in some minor way:
1t was the thought of what the cry of
main must have engendered in the mind
of the defendant if he is in full posses
sion of his faculties. 1t is the impress
sion that it left on the minds of those
listening to the testimony and who also
heard the plaintive wall of the child:
Their thoughts reverted to the hours OF
darkness. a small child and a bloody
Ratchet Somebody must have used the
Ratchet. whether the present defendant or
not. the Ratchet was used, the child was
killed 1t was Il prattling babe like the
ono that Yesterday cooed in Il crowded
rourt room where a man was beng tired
for one of the most hienOus crimes on
record. The child that was killed was
\ bout the same size. The innocence OF
the living child recalled the innocence OF
the dead one. The thoughts of those
who listened wandered from the crowd