Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1907-03-06
TnAW ISSUES STATEMENT
Defendant Declares somelof Jerome'a
Unprofessional Remarks in Court
Indicate Clearly Thas5the Natural
and Real Goodness Of Mrs. Thaw
10 Abo1a His Comprehension.
is Above His Comprehension.

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is Above His Comprehension.
New York, Special Harry K.
Thaw enlivened an extremely dull
session of his trial insthe Supreme
Court Thursday by giving out to
newspaper men d riefstatement in
which, he accused District Attorney
jerome of having adesunprofe
al remarks in court, asserting that
his wife's testimony was absolute
!. truth and in conclusion declared that
Mrs. Thaw's natural and Areal good
ness" was above the comprehension
of the prosecuting officer.
1t was just before adjournment was
taken for the day and after many
hours of expert testimony as to what
was the meaning of extracts from
eight letters written by the defen-
dant with their relation to the sanity
or insanity Of the writer that Thaw
gave out his statement inscourt. The
circumstances attending the delivery
of the statement to the newspaper
men were about as interesting as the
statement itself, which reads:
"This is MI. Thaw's second state
nent since August 10. IS.
"With chances millions to one
against her after the catastrophe in
1901, it is wonderful, that Mrs. II.
K. Thaw prevailed in the cross-ex-
animation against the prosecution,
backed by black legs.
Her testimony was absolute truth.
"Our evidence was Of converse
tions. The cross-examination has
proved the exact facts under oath.
"Mr. Jerome finding his inform
ants in certain lines falsifers, con-
cluded by more usual methods, which
is to his credit.
"However, from some of his ques-
tions and some of his unprofessional
remarks in court, it appeared clearly
that the natural and real goodness
of the witness is above his eompre-
hension."
DR.. Evans and Mr.. Jerome spent
the entire day in going over the eight
letters written by Thaw and culling
out Of them excerpts on which DR..
Evans based his expressed belief that
they werc written by person Of un-
sound mind.
"Do you mean an insane person ?"
asked Mr.. Jerome. %
,"Yes," replied the witness, "but
not in the sense that the person might
always remain insane.
This WIS the essence Cfsthe days
work. Nj. jerome seemed s.as inter
ested as the expert in searching out
the phrases in the letters which
might be construed as the writings.
Of an insane man and for the first
time the jurors were permitted
thoroughly. to examine phot aphic;
copies of the letter. AS sthSs ttnessl
and the @lrosecnto or ssssaliieHsll5g;
over the documents, the Jurors were
enapled to follow them closely. The
district attorney apparently wanted.
the letters to be thoroughly scrutiniz-
ed and understood by the jury.
DR.. Evans went into a long .ex-
planation of the reasons for his
theory that the letter showed mental
instability. A letter written with
lead pencil by Thaw to Evelyn Mes
bit, he said, showed lack Of a sense
of the proprieties, loss of the
aesthetic sense and various other
things which the doctor believed
showed the writer was of unsound
mind, in view of the environment of
wealth and luxury in which he had
been reared.