New-York tribune., 1906-07-15
THAW DROPS COUNSEL
DEFENCE NOW 4 PUZZLE.
Writes Letter DischargiHg Black.
OIcott, Gruber s. BOnynge.

further services Of the law firm OF blach, C4cpif.
Gruber & Bonynge. In their place Ihaw la,
not yet retained any criminal lawyers. hls
has given his case entirely to Clifford w. Hart-
ridge. OF No 149 Broadway. civil lawyer
1t has been known for soma days. Il not
weeks. that Thaw has been absolutely in-
tractable in the hands Of the well known law
firm. and has done practically as he wished.
The climax came few days ago when Thav,
after arguing with eX-JUdge William n. f. or
cOtt all day, issued a statement declaring hs
was sane and that no commission would be a0-
pointed to examine him to his sanity. tn
next morning he was interviewed. and talked II
length regarding his case. These two inter-
views it is understood. were given directly
against the advice OF counsel. and 0Ir- Olcott
acknowledged that Thaw had "pestered' him
as he expressed IL. all day, to talk.
Thaw. from the night Of the shooting. tas
maintained that his crime was justihabls ard
that he was perfectly sane He has carried out
this contention by refusing to be examined 81
three alienists for the prosecution. and has only
allowed DR.. Allan DIcLane Hamilton and Or.
Charles l. Dana. two Of the alienists for tls
defence. to examine him in meagrs sort q
way and not as they desired. Counsel for the Gs-
! fence have cOntended from the first that Thav
was irresponsible and practically insane They
have worked the theory that Thaw az t1s
time Of the shooting suffering from elnc-
tiOnal insanity. and it is understood every EFFORT
has been made to have the insanity plea ths
only defence.
/ BY the action Of Thaw yesterday the defencs
is absolutely in the air. there being practically
no defence at all and either Thaw viii have 70
accede to some other counseIs impOrtunitiss for
the insanity plea or a new line Of defence VIII
have to be planned.
THINK THAW's ACTION A RUsE
The District Attorneys office was exceedingly
| skepticaI when it learned that Thaw had dis
missed his counsel The prosecution is inclined
1 to believe that Thaw,s action is part Of an ez-
| ceedingly clever scheme of the defence to fur
ther the insanity plea All Thaw's recent ac-
tions it is said if he alone were responsible for
them would show that he was insane. His per-
sistence in talking and his declarations that he
is sane are symptoms. the prosecution SAYS. q
an insane mind. The action of yesterday IS be-
| lieved to be in tine with this precOnceived plan
for Thaw's ultimate escape from trial and pos-
sible conviction
Thaw made known his dismissal Of the .f1r,
OF Black. Olcott. Gruber & Bonyuss. by send
ing them a letter yesterday morning Thav
later insisted on making the letter public. and
sent Tor reporter. 70 whom. he gave q copy
The letter. which was typewriter. read as foi-
lows:
Rressrs Black OIcott Gruber & Bonynse
Dear Sirs: After careful consideration have
concluded to make a change in my attorneys.
and. while have no possible criticism TO make
Of your conduct Of my case. my decision IS such
that have concluded to no longer retain you
as nv attorneys You will therefore regard
your connection with my case as finished and
will please deliver all papers IN my case %
Clifford W. Hartridge.
have sent copy Of this letter to MI HaEf-
ridge. and ask you to communicate with hin az
once Yours truly. HARRY K THAW-
Both ex-Judge William M X OlcOtt and
Terence J. McManus. Of the firm which has
been dismissed who have acted as Thaws per-
sOnal counsel. left their Offices at No. lao Broad
way almost Immediately on receipt Of the letter
and dropped all further connection with the
case. Mr.. Hartridge said:
The letter speaks for itself My client insists
on it being made public and understand he has
given or will give it to the reporters
Clifford W. HsTtridge is a lawyer. with OfiCes
at No. 149 Broadway. He has figured in the casa
from the first. having acted as a civil counsel
for Thaw. He is said to have been prominent
lawyer in Pitts5urg and intimate friend q
the Thaw family. being Sne Of the personal
counsel for the family. In the same building
with Hartridge are the Ofices Of John B. G'ea-
son. who also has been a civil counsel for Thalr.
and it is understood has. from the night OG the
arrest. taken charge Of Thaw's personal ac-
counts and financial matters. They are expected
to work together
BY the retaining of Mr. Hartridge and tn
dropping of the other firm it is understood that
the firm OF Delafeld & LongfellOw. of No. 60
| Wall street. as well as Lewis L DeIadeld Of No.
Nassau street. who have figured as civn cOuu-
sell viii also no longer have connection with the
case. Another lawyer appeared in the case YES
| terday, visiting Thaw in the Tombs. Il Is UNDER
stood his name is W. r Wharton No one seemed
to know where he had his OfIices or whether hs
was lawyer in this city. He merely said Ia
was a personal adviser
NEW LAWYERS 1sIT THAw.
Everything that affect Il Thaw Yesterday
seemed to affirm the fact hat he had given 10
| his criminal lawyers. -Four lawyers called on
! him in the morning. The first was r C. Peck
| OF Mr. OlcOtts hrn who looked through tho
mail He was the only one of that arm 70 ap-
pear. Next Mr.. Hartridge called. He visited
Thaw twice. and both times Thaw and his cotln-
sci had long and earnest conferences. A. Russell
Peabody. Mr.. Hartridges partner. was the third
caller, He had some difficulty in getting into
the TOmbs When he arrived he had a card from
Mr.. Hartridge to the warden requesting permits
sion for him to see Thaw. Warden Flynn finally
gave the permission. and he remained with ThaW
for some time. The fourth lawyer was John 3
Gleason
Mrs Thaw arrived at the Tombs al the usual
time. She was accompanied by Nay Mackenz.e.
with whom she is living When the two lsfr
the Lorraine II the intention Of Miss Mac
kenzie TO accompany Mrs Thaw to her husaands
cell. but Warden Flynn put an Instant veto On
this plan. He told Mrs Thaw that he had ai-
ready refused the request over the telephone and
would not grant IL. One OF the counsel tried %
get IN communication with Commissioner Lautrys
but this failed and Miss Mackenzie had 70 wait
In the waiting room for Mrs Thaw.