Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-04-11
LAST DAY MOST SEVERE ORDEAL.
geraId'S Charge Severe Blow
To Defense.

GeraId'S Charge II Severe Blow
to Defense.
New York. April 11-When Harry X
Thaw Went to sleep in his cell in the
Tombs after midnight last night it was
with the grim knowledge that for more
than six hours his fate had been in the
hands Of the jury, and that the II men
had been unable in that time to agree
upon a verdict.
Events moved rapidly and thrillingly
in the last day of his trial. For him
and those hoping for his acquittal it
was the most soultrying ordeal of the
u weeks which the trial has lasted.
Charge Lessons Hope.
Upon the heels of District Attorney
Jerome's closing address. nearly every
word of which was like the blow of a
lash ON Thaw and-his girl wife. Judge
Fitzgerald charged the jury in a man
ner that seemed to dry up every YES
tige of hope for Stanford Whites slay-
or. And then. al 5:15 o'clock. the case
was given TO the jury Hope of a quick
verdict cbbed as hour after hour pass
ed without a word from the room into
which they were locked until it was
finally dashed when. at II O'clock
Judge Fitzgerald ordered the y men
locked up for the night.
Jcromc's speech Thrills Crowd.
Mr. JerOme's speech TO the jury occu-
pied about three hours and quarter.
/ In its course he pursued the methods
which those who have heard him on an
occasion of Importance are familiar.
! He never scared to the flOrid heights
of ClCQuence whereOn Mr. Delmas bal
anced himself for the better part of
two days. The figures of speech that
he used were few and simple. but ~
cry word that he uttered appeared to
carry with it the conviction that it was
spoken sincerely. and he held the
crowded court room from beginning to
end to an attention that never faltered
for moment
Thaw Winccs Under Lash.
Thaw himself showed signs of the
strain under which he must have been
labOring. He was paler than usual and
the tell tale muscles of his face twitch
ed spasmodically now and then. He
followed every word that Mr. jerome
uttered Now and then he spoke tC
Lawyer Peabody or Lawyer Delmas
who sat at his side. as if in contradic
tion of something that the prosecutor
had stated.
When Mr.. Jerome waXed most vigor
Ous in his sarcastic attack on Mr.. Del
mas picture of Thaw as a modern ST
Galahad, the defendant lowered hi!
eyes and gazed at the table in front o
: him. Most of the time he fixed hi
eyes steadily on the district attorney.
AS soon as Mr. Jerome had concludes
! a new thrill was sent through the cour
>, room crowd by the announcement tina
Judge Fitzgerald would charge tn
jury as soon as the room had bee
aired At AIS Justice Fitzgerald be
gan his charge. 1t lasted exactly a
~ hour.
Hits Straight in Charge.
The charge had evidently been mos
lcarefully prepared and Judge Fitzgel
II aid read every word of il clearly an
= slowly from a typewriter copy. Whe
o he had finished, it was the opinion {
every lawyer in the room, includir.
T. the Thaw counsel, that the charge ha
e struck hard blow to several of tn
contentious of the Thaw lawyers.
Justice Fitzgerald hit straight frol
Is the shoulder at the sO-called "unwritte
law" though without naming it. H
said that the defense was insanity an
Or that it was for the jury to decide whetl
ID er Thaw was insane when he did Il
lie undisputed killing. After defining IL
Il. four degrees of criminal homicide. IL
if court described the law of this state {
ed the kind of insanity that excuses
,e. man for homicide-namely: that XII
i'll of insanity that makes him suffer fro