Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1907-02-15
THAW AIDS ANTl-VICE
SOCIETY,", AGAINST WHITE

New York, Feb. 13.-Anthony Com
stock, head of the Anti-Vice society,
has given out this interview:
II know that Stanford White was a
human monster. / know that much of
what Mrs. Harry Thaw has stated as
a witness is true. l know that STAN
ford Whites den in the tower of Mad
ison Square Garden was as she has de-
scribed 1t. / know that White made a
business of destroying young girls. /
know Of at least one specific instance.
And what | know l learned after L
had been given the first clews by Harry
Kendall Thaw himself.
My first knowledge of this case dates
from the summer of ~1905-about a year
before the killing, l should say. One af,
ernoon n tall, well dressed, well bred
young mar came to me in my office in
the Temple Bar building. He seemed
to be laboring under excitement, and
it was evident that he was desperately
in earnest. He opened the conversation
by asking me If | were interested in the
suppression of vice. Then he wanted
TO know If my society gave special at
tention to the arrest and punishment Of
men who preyed upon young girls. /
told him that we did. He jumped up
abruptly, said he would see me again
and left without telling me his name.
Introduces Himself.
"A few days later he came back.
This time he seemed more at ease, but
he was still laboring under strong emo
ton. as l could plainly see. He now in
troduced himself. AS nearly as l can
recall he said:
! ~ am Harry Kendall Thaw, Of
Pittsburg. You may nave heard OF
me. L want to tell you of a man who
has betrayed more young girls than
any man in New York. He is partic-
Nlarly given to pursuing the young girls
of the stage. 1t is q debt which society
owes to itself to halt hin now, before
he brings shame and sorrow to any
more victims.
He has come into my own life in
such a way that L desire above every
thing else to see his practices stopped
i'm order that others may be spared the
suffering he has brought upon me and
ming. His name is Stanford White.
lie Is an architect, and he has an in
famous den in the tower Of the Madison
lGquare Garden
THAT In effect was his statement
continued Mr.. Comstock, although, of
course, l asked him a great deal mora
of the matter. He left after securing
my promise to investigate. He agreed
to pay the cost of looking into the
case. He at once mailed me a check of
sufficient size to defray the necessary
expenses, n subsequently wrote me
several times upon the subject OF
White, asking each time what progress
we were making.
To Catch White.
Our investigation confirmed TO a
great degree what Thaw had told me.
Our detectives were astounded at what
they discovered. We worked hard, and
l learned a great deal, but of all cases
these are the hardest to prove under
the rules of evidence apI hafora risl,i
ing an arrest / determined to catch
white.
Il learned tina his rooms I'm the
tower were as Mrs. Evelyn Thaw has
described them in the trial. Two OF our
detectives endeayored to hire rooms il
the same tower in order to watch his
goings and cominGs. The deal was al.
most completed when one Of the de.
tectives made a bungle. Something
which he said or did gave the alarm
to the janitor, and although we were
on the waiting list for a long time, and
although several times apartments in
the tower were vacant, we were never
able to secure a suite or a single room.
We were still vainly trying to arr
range a trap from which there would
be no escape for White when he dis
mantled his room in the tower.
Broke Up His Den.
II learned positively Of one case of
Whites conduct to a girl only Is years
old almost identically as Mrs. Evelyn
Thaw describes her own case, but the
girl was in the chorus of a road COM
pany and we could not reach her and
make a witness of her. We got evil
of other things-things that con
vince me that What Harry Thaw's wife
nov swears is true. l believe in her
story and / base that belief upon what
i know OF the man..
The last time / saw Harry Thaw
was only two or three weeks before
he shot White. He appeared to be in a
desperate state-iike a man who was
well nigh frantic. He said 10 me Wild
ly: You must keep on. you must stop
this man. he must be stopped now-at
,once'o