Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1905-02-15
Clifford Murder Trial
Drawing to a Close
Continued from page 4.

and unreliable; his Judgment is very
poor, will power perverted, natural
affections abaed The chief statement
to be made in regard to the case is
that he is losing all the good qualities
of mind he formerly possessed. His
sensibilities in regard to religion are
abnormal, absurd, inconsistent. con-
fused, mixed, consequently he is weak
minded.
Witness heard hypothetical question
read in full to DR.. Phillips. Taking
into consideration three examinations
in jail, observation in court and as
Stunning that statements made in n.y.
pothetical question are substantially
correct, witnessed said Il believe
that he is insane.
Insanity in his family is very i'm
portant factor in determining this
case. One-third of the insanity in
the state institutions is due to
heredity. All textbooks put heredity
as the chief cause of insanity, his
opinion and experience is the same.
Since insanity is a disease of the brain
it may develop in child when the
parent or grandparent had some disease
of the brain which did not manifest
itself in mental arrangement. The
Gates an increasing tendency on the
and mental arrangement. Tendency
of insanity to reappear is at younger
age inprogeny.
Court adjourned to 80 p. m. Fri
day.
DR.. Hill still on the stand At the
time he first had a conversation with
the defendant in Jail he tried to get
him to tell him facts concerning the
tragedy. He said he remembered see
ing the man that day, having some
conversation, Mr.. Bigelow swinging
his cane so rapidly that it made a
whizzing sound, but remembered moth
ing after that until he saw the body
lying on the ground said he did not
strike him, didn't have anything to
do with him, did not drag his body off
his lot, had no recollection, did not
see blood on the ground; he was not
clear in his mind as to the work he
was doing at that time, whether he
worked continuously during the fore
noon without interruption, he sup
posed he continued work during fore
noon, went home and got dinner and
came back in the afternoon. Couldn't
answer satisfactorily about visiting
lots in afternoon with sheriff. Said
he thought it was all right to go to
church the next day Sunday and
take charge of Sunday School, felt
able to go on with school work on
Monday and would have if they had
permitted him.
After the predisposing cause of
heredity, overwork was the chief cause
of his insanity. AS a teacher he was
doing as much work as the average
brain worker ought to do, with that
amount of brain work he ought not to
have brain work ON Sunday, should
have had rest. He had done as well
as possible as a teacher, was an exem-
plary citizen, good family man, of ex-
cellent habits, excellent health. He
kept on taking more out door exercise,
increasing in quantity, getting up
earlier and working later, until the
last two months he taught, he did al
most a days work at manual labor
besides the days work at mental
labor. He realized it was easier to
work with his hands than with his
brain, did not realize he was getting
nervous prostration. On account OF
his morbid nervousness it was not
easy for him to study, keep still he
took an unlimited amount of exercise.
Should Judge from his history that
perhaps manual labor did not tell on
him seriously until he entered school
work in the fall then with 6 hours
work per day, 5 days week, he should
have let up on manual labor. Seemed
not to have enough work on wood pile
and his lots, so bought a cottage.
Was incorporate in manual labor. On
account of his hereditary nervous sys-
tenn and the developing nervous pros
tration he was driven to manual labor,
it became excessive, unable to control
himself. His inability tt study. ac-
counted for the pain in his head, he
had anaemia Of the brain, degenera-
tion of gray matter of the brain and
other conditions incident to nervous
prostration. In his opinion his mind
began to get weak when he began to
have an unnatural expression, vacant
Stare. Witness thinks the mind of
the defendant is permanently weak,
that it will last throughout life. His
study of insanity and EXPRESSION OF
fear to his wife about his becoming
insane indicated that he had fear of
the danger of insanity throughout his
life. This would cause more or less
anxiety of mind, bring ON a morbid
frame of mind. unwholesome appre
hension. From witness examination
of defendant in Jail, and observation
of him, he is not now pretending that
he is insane. Witness says this, first,
because it would be impossible for
man of this character to undertake to
feign insanity if he was in his right
mind, second, in witness examination
of defendant he could discover no
reason in his mind for doing so, defen-
dant did not think there was any oc-
casion for being unnatural or escaping
the result of the trial. Witness chief
reason was because defendant was too
weak minded to do SO. In witness
opinion from the fact that he arose
at 4 90 "a. IN. Nov. 8, 1904. had an
early breakfast and went to work on
the lot, tit must have been cool
morning, wearing, no more clothing
than in summer witness would in
fer that he did not realize about the
weather, he must have been uncom-
Portable while insufficiently clad.
From these and great many other
circumstances mentioned in the hypo-
thetical question concerning the man
previous to the tragedy, would judge
that no WAS in a xVaaE minded CON