The evening times., 1900-01-29
CLERKS ON IHH O'IhtD
Pension Bureau Employees les i.y
AgainS Smell.
Several Swear That the Prisoner
Never Displayed Amy Signs of In
sanity-Dr. Richardson. Of st. lGIig-
abefb. Tells of His Examinations.
Thinl.s the Defendant Is Feigning.

TIE principal witnesses in the Smell trial
today were Pension Office employees, who
testified as to the defendants mental bal
ance. and DIR. Richardson, the Superinten-
dent of st. Elizabeth Hospital, who said
that he thought the prisoner was feigning
insanity
The father Of Smell came in and took
his place beside the prisoner as the roll
was being called. Mrs. Smell, ST., was not
on hand when court opened Neither was
the wife of the defendant nor his daugh-
ter. The Weisenberger family was repre-
scented by the parents of the murdered girl
and her brother, Henry. Drs. Hickling,
Shute. and Rosse were prominent in front
seats
The first witness for the Government
was Daniel Walsh, reporter, who testi-
fed that on the night OF August 6 last he
had interviewed Smell in Jail. and that the
defendant had said, in reply to question
regarding the motive for the crime, that
whisky was responsible for it. The cross
examination revealed nothing more.
John II. Jamison, an employe at the Pen
| sion Bureau, was the next witness, and he
swore that he had known Smell since 1891
in an official way. In that time Smell had
displayed no symptoms of insanity.
! While this testimony was going on Smell
! sat gazing before him in thoughtful way
/ His eyes were wide open and his face paler
than usual. There were evidences of ner-
! yousness in his manner. and he occasion
ally twitched his head. He did not look
at the witness. but studied the faces of the
judge and jury.
Jamison continued that Smell had been
considered very conservative clerk,
! though net rapid one. He had always
! conducted himself as sane man. and he
/ had never heard the prisoner complain OF
I any ailment but once. when he left the
/ Office on account of illness.
Mr.. Turner followed out his usual meth
cd on the cross examination and establish
ed the general amiabiIity of his client.
Eugene B. Lacy, clerk in the Pension
Bureau since 1898 testified that he had
known the defendant in an official way
from October, 1897, to August ) last.
Il always looked upon him as above the
average clerk in intelligence. and had no
special conversation with him Of any but
an official character" His opinion OF the
sanity of his former fellow clerk could not
be shaken by the cross examination.
Thomas Markward. a policeman. living
at 1901 Florida Avenue. and having served
on the force since 1868. testified that he
had known Smell for six or seven years,
during which period he had seen him sew
eral times a week. and had talked with him
many times. He had never observed any
thing out of the ordinary with the defend
ant, save that he had drunk rather freely
The witness stated that he had thought
Smell a bright man. and perfectly SANE
man. He had seen him two days before
the murder and had then thought the man
had taken a drink or So but was 9TH
erwise all right
Pension Clerks Testify.
The witness had often met Smell when
he had said he was away from the Office |
because of Illness, on which occasions the |
effect Of liquor was noticeable upon him.
Mr. Mitchell cross examined and drew
from the witness the fact that his conver- |
sations with Smell had been of very brief |
duration and of no particular moment
Frederick Braendle an examiner in the |
Pension Office for eighteen years. testified /
that he had known Smell for three years /
and had seen him for twenty three days a /
month during that period. His testimony /
differed in nowise from that of other Pen !
sion Office clerks, save at one time Smell /
had had some disease OF his right hand, |
but witness had not examined it. He had |
never noticed anything in the man to indi-
cate an abnormal mental condition. His
contact with him had been entirely official.
and he had never heard of him being con-
Sidered a drinking man.
Dr. a. B. Richardson. Medical superIn-
tendent of the Government Hospital for
the Insane, testified that after graduation
in 1876 he had been connected with the
Athens (Ohol Asylum for the Insane, and
had for six years been in charge of the
insane asylum at Columbus. Ohio, where
l. 400 patients had been under his charge. |
He has held his present Office since last
October and had 1850 patients under his
supervision at present.
During the twenty four years he had
been in this special practice he had about
5000 insane patients under his care. He
had been called TO testify in court more
than forty times in Ohio, Indiana, and
other States. besides having been called in
consultation in many private cases. He
testified that he had made an examina-
ton of the defendant at the request of the
District Attorney. on October %. and had
made three other examinations since.
The summary of these examinations was
that Smell had complained of insomnia. of
hearing music, and when he closed his
eyes he would see strange visions.
He said he had a poor appetite, and
showed me the remains of his dinner on
shelf in the cell. He walked with the roll
ing gait of a large. unwieldy man. He
tottered when he put his heels together at
my request. His memory of his previous
work seemed to be clear. but he was rather
slow in answering questions. He answered
me when / asked him why he had been put
in Jail and told me that he had been told
he had killed girl, but he did not re-
member doing it. He said his wife had
told him he had done il and that if every
body said he had done it, he supposed he
had.
Evidence of Feigning.
The witness testified that the memory of
the defendant was good On all points but
the fact of ever having had any trouble
Smell had taken all his replies to these
questions of the actual crime and the
scene of it from people who had told him.
ION the second examination / saw him
walk along the corridor when he did not
know / was present, and he seemed to me
to walk with the average gait of man !
of his size. He told me he was about six
feet and a half tall, and thought he
weighed 250 pounds. The next examina-
tion which / made, at the suggestion of
your honor"
DO you mean to refer TO General An
derson by the term your honor?' " inter-
rupted Mr.. Turner.
mo: he means you," replied the District I
The witness went on with a careful re-
sumo of his examinations of Smell, each :
visit seeming, in the mind of the witness,
to increase what he believed to be feign-