The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1901-01-17
SAYS She is Sane.
Jury in Lunacy Proceedings
Decides in Favor of
Mrs. Collins.
LONG, WINDY SESSION
Experts as Usual Testify for
the Contention of Both
Sides.


ceedings is laid at the door of his late
Honor Judge Thomas Ferocious Noonan,
of Bayonne, who appeared as counsel for
Mrs. Collins. At any rate it was a great
day and night for Thomas and he was in
his element. The way he swallowed and
reveled in hypothetical questions and
words of a startling longerity recalled the
palmy days when he was known as
Dictionary Thomas" " Much valuable
time was consumed in vain endeavors to
dig out the nuggets of wisdom which lay
concealed beenath the surface of Judge
Noonan's complicated berbiage and to
convey to the witness some idea of what
the Judge wanted to know.
For example Judge Noonan asked DR..
Converse a question which the county
physician struggled with some time and
then reluctantly confused he did not know
what it meant.
THE Judge MEANS" said Otto Grouse,
counsel for the other side, that if Mrs.
Collins is as well today as she was two
weeks ago was she as well two weeks
ago as she is today
Judge Noonan joined in the laugh which
followed.
The proceedings yesterday afternoon
were held in Chancery Chambers, and
while they were going on Mrs. Collins
was in one of the ante rooms. Although
she gave no evidence of being violently or
intensely insane, she did rot appear to be
exactly right as one of the spectators
put it, and her face bore traces of evil
dent dissipation.
The first witness was DR.. Corwin, the
physician at the State Hospital for the
Insane at Norris Plains, who had charge
of the ward in which Mrs. Collins was
confined He testified to her delusions,
which have already been mentioned III
The Jersey City News" She imagined
she was milliner and made hats at $40
piece, often, she said, making as many
as six day. She thought the asylum
was her property, the buildings having
been erected ana given to her by her late
husband. She also said she was going to
marry Johnny Sullivan now in Ireland. =
She would bedeck herself in gay, fashy
AL of which led the witness to conclude
that she was of unsound mind and inca
pable of managing her property.
Are you up on the harmony of colors?"
asked Judge Noonan on cross examine
e-OA. t1G uluh pose dS an artist, the
Doctor replied, but Mrs Collins wore yell
low, pink and green, of shades not pleas
ing to his eye.
Don't you know that a light ggreen
skirt, with pink ribbon across the chest
and a red ribbon around the waist, is a
perfectly proper costume for bail
room?' asked Judge Noonan.
'It is not in my judgment replied the
witness.
That might be proper in Bayonne,
Judge remarked Mr.. Grouse, "but it
hardly goes in Jersey City,
The witness then told of converse tions
he had with Mrs. Collins about her prop
erty, which showed her mind was un-
sound. Witness said that during the past
two weeks she had shown evidences of
insanity. and the witness did not believe
she was capable of managing her affairs.
David w. McCrea, counsel for Robert
o. Babbitt, administrator of Mr. Collins's
estate, gave some evidence as to the value
of the property left to Mrs. Collins The
fiat building at Barrow and York streets
was worth 1000 and had upon it mort
gage of $4,000. He left personality of
SIS, 1874 upon which there are claims ag-
gregating $4,222.06, leaving a balance of
$15,000
Testimony was then introduced for Mrs.
Collins. Frank Kimberly, testified that he
ds the proprietor of the Arlington Hotel
on the Boulevard in Bayonne He knew
Martin Collins twenty years and his wife
since 1885. He saw a great deal of Mrs.
Collins in the last three years. She was
often at his hotel or road house, as it
" daci iona fod ri,
mers of 1899 and 1900, always, however,
with her husband. She would come there
looking for her husband almost every day.
She never drank any liquor until last
summer except when in the company of
her husband. Her husband would coax
her to drink. When she was trying to get
him to go home with her, he would say,
lets have one more drink before we co.
and when Mrs. Collins started she would
drink every thing which her husband did.
Mr.. Collins would drink as fast as the
liquors could come and often had two
walters serving him at once. Mrs. Col
Inns drank everything her husband order
ed. Everything on the calendar" were
Mr.. Kimpezrly's words.
On cross-examination witness said she
drank wine, beer and champagne but
hec ould not recall that she drank whis-
key. While waiting to be called, Mr..
Kimberly said, he had had conversation
with Mrs. Collins and he was certain she
could manage her property.
Edward Cahill, stock salesman at the
Central Stock Yards, who was in the en-
ploy Of Collins for nine years, testified
that he took Mrs. Collins to the Hospital
at Morris Plains. He told how one day
last summer he met Mr.. and Mrs. Collins
at the Shore House, Bayonne, and both
were drinking heavily. The witness be-
came very indignant when Judge Grouse
insisted upon knowing what he drank.
That's my private business he de-
clared. Mast 1 answer that Question:
He was told that he must, and said
that he drank tea for supper and coffee
for breakfast The too had had a con-
versation with Mrs. Collins before being
called. She asked him If he was going ID
testify iaSher behalf and he said he was
Mrs. Collins next asked him why he had
not written to her while she was ii the
hospital, and he said bic VAS afraid hls