The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-05

portance."
 A neurotic condition. the witness said. is of consequence but of small conseauence. It is valuable and must be considered, but Is not of great value.
 Mir. Jerome took up each section oi the hypothetical question separately and asked Dr. Wagner if each fact was material in his consideration Of the question and in hid answer. St. Vftus dance, Dr. Wagner said, showed neu- rotic condition and the fact that Thaw had 1t was certainly or weight m an swering tho Hypothetical question.
 He said, however. that if all portions of question relating to childhood dis ease were eliminated from the question his opinion would not be changed. MT. Jerome thought Dr. Wagner should familiarize himself with every part oi the hypothetical question and so he gave him copy of it to study. Mean time Justice Fitzgerald ordered a twen- ty minute recess.
 At the conclusion of the recess. MT. Jerome asked Dr. Wagner if he had seen the hypothetical question before 1t was framed to him on the stand by MT. Delmas. He said he had not.
 But you were able to give an opin- ion right away?'
 T did give an opinion"
 Letters Suggested Insanity.
 Did the defendants letters suggest insanity to your mind?"
 Some of the letters were strongly indicative of mental unsoundness."
 What form of unsoundness?" T cannot state positively by taking the letters by themselves. Some of them indicate the delusional state.
 Mir. Jerome next handed the witness a copy of the letter which Thaw ad- dressed to Anthony Comstock, com plaining of alleged "dens of vice." which he declared were maintained by White and "other rich scoundrels." He asked what light this letter throws on the condition of the writer.
 Tt Is indicative of a delusional state" the witness replied.
 MT. Jerome next took the witness to the scene in Paris. where Evelyn Nes- bit told her life story to Harry Thaw. The prosecutor read at length from the young woman's testimony and then asked if the witness thought the de- fendant was insane before or after he heard the story.
 that Thaw knew something of Stand ford White because before the girl had told him her story, he asked if her re- fusal was because of Stanford White. She said Yes and told him the story"
 q am of the opinion" replied pr. Wagner, that the girls overpowering story precipitated a state of mental unsoundness."
 Was the defendants condition after the telling of the story such as to show you that he was then insane?"
 'I don't think so. It would require the other facts as we'll"
 You think he was insane before she told him the story?"
 "That I cannot say
 Does the fact that very soon after the story was told him, he travelled with her as his mistress make any diff ference, in9 your opinion. of the effect the story had on his mlnd?'
 Always Ready to Wed.
 NO. He was always ready to marry her, and did finally marry her, which shows his good faith. I don't think his relations with her were at all strange
 Reverting to Thaw's will pr. Wag- ner said the eighth articles of the document showed delusionary state of mind, while the codicil was so un- usual as to lead to the belief that a sane man would not have written it.
 Dr. Wagner, in response to a long line of questioning by MT. Jerome, said the effect of an hereditary taint was not matter of psychological determina- ton, but simply made the subject a
 
 that Thaw had an hereditary disposition to mental disorders as shown by the Saint Vitus dance and his nervousness and sleeplessness when boy.
 T would say" continued the alienist, that all these contributions of hered- itary neurosis made this defendant a little more than liable to a mental breakdown"
 You say "a little more as opposed to a great deal more, 1 presume?" sug- gested MT. Jerome.
 You can't measure the amount of re- sistance in an individual"
 Was he a great deal more liable to breakdown than the average man?'
 T can't say great deal more.
 Now, doctor, when this defendant went to the roof garden on the night of June 25. with pistol in his pocket, did he know what that pistol was?"
 "Yes. I think he did"
 And he knew that if he fired 1t into human body it would probably cause death?"
 "Yes, I think he did"
 Knew What He Did.
 When hewalked toward White, turn ed from the aisle wheeled calmly and fired three shots, do you think he knew what he was doing?''
 T think that he had knowledge of what he was doing
 Do you think when he pulled the trigger the second time he knew what he was doing?'
 q could not say whether or not he knew then. It is proable that the storm exploded when he fired the first shot
 Did he remember afterward what he had doneT
 "very likely. It often happens in such cases that they did know. It Is like remembering a dream after one wakes"
 Do you think Thaw was in a dream stateY
 q don't know
 But he had knowledge of what he was doing?"
 He had knowledge but 1t was not rational knowledge"
 During the half hour before the tragedy when he was talking to his wife, do you think that Thaw had suf ficient intelligence to know that he had a loaded revolver in his pocket?'
 T don't think he had any thought of pistol at that time"
 What effect did his seeing Stanford White have?"
 q imagine it began to have a strong effect immediately, reaching a climax scribed here as brain storm. He probably realized thst he was pulling and firing a pistol, but he did not have a sane appreciation that he was com hitting a homicide"
 But he knew he was firing at Stan ford Whlte?"
 Yes
 Dr. Wagner declared that the acts of raising and firing a pistol were auto