The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-02-28

had been one. Witness. in reply TO further
questions, said he had no opinion to ex-
press as to Thaw's condition, because it
would be unfair to him and Thaw to ex-
press one.
Jerome tried hard to pin the witness
down to some opinion, intelligent or un-
intelligent but the witness successfully
wriggled out and the closest he would
get 10 expressing an opinion was that
he had an opinion based upon mere gen.
eral observation, which was inadequate
and not a proper foundation for an
opinion.
Jerome then pressed the witness 20 say
whether or not Thaw was suffering from
melancholia. Finally the witness blurted
out:
Il have no opinion to-day from looking
at him whether he ever had melanchOiia.
You might just as well ask Whether he
ever had pneumonia or typhoid fever.
Insane state Of MeIsncholIa.
At length, however. the witness said
that he was of the opinion. formed from
various sources, that Thaw was At the
time he made his win in 1905 in a state
Of mind that came under the general head
of melaachola-an insane state Of meiau-
I
lively. when pressed by the district at
tOrney. that the defendant was insane on
the day he was married. but he was Of
the opinion that he was not mentally
sound at the time he made his will
DR.. Evans further said that. basing his
opinion on just the facts desired by the
ss-examlner. he could not say whether
ne thought the defendant was suffering
from melanchola the day Of his wedding
or not.
When you answered 10 Mr.. Delmas
| hypothetical question" said the district
attorney sternly that in your opinion
Harry K. Thaw was insane on the night
/ OF June %, 1906, what facts were you
basing your opinion on?'
DeImas Interrupts.
Delmas at this point interrupted. and
! the district attorney tried 70 get the wit
ness 70 say if Thaw. when ne made his
will. was suffering from a fixed state OF
melancholia, but the witness would not.
/ All he would admit was that at that
particular time Thaw's mind was in a
melanchoIia state, and next week he
might be in maniacal state and come
under the latter classification. Hs said
it was not typical melancholia. but a
depressed state. The depressed state
came under the head Of melancholia, but
It did not mean a permanent state
The witness gave as his reasons for be
/ lieving that Thaw was in a melanchOliac
state when he made his will and was
married were that he could not sleep,
was worried, had no appetite, was nerv-
Gus and depressed. Witness further
stated IN reply TO questions that there
was nothing IN the ccdicil which showed
notwithstanding per Sc, but IL showed
/ an agltated condition OF mind that is
commonly associated with melancholia-
At the suggestion Of Delmas a recess
Of ten minutes was taken for the purpose
OF airing the courtroom. When the re-
/ cess was over Jerome handed the cOdicil
to the witness and asked him TO point
out the passages that. in his opinion
WAS that evidence showing "A melan-
cholic condition Of defendants mind He
/ especially referred 10 Thaws talking Of
/ his own death because 1t showed he wa
apprehcnsive of death, from other than
natural causes.
Reads from Insanity Book.
Jerome. after some more questions as
TO Thaw's mental condition. read from a
/ textbook on insanity which DIT. Evans
I said he knew about
'"The common characteristic Of all mel
ancholic decisions is that of suffering,
and In contrast with the similar delu-
slons Of ~aranoia the sufferer has the
| belief Of personal guilt
/ Jerome wanted 10 be told if DR.. Evans
/ agreed with that generalization Or.
/ Evans said that condition was common,
but tina; you could not take a textbook on
a particular case.
! There followed a particularly sharp pas
sage Jerome broke OF his technical
questions suddenly to ask If the witness
! was not over here with the permission
of the directors of his Institution The
/ witness holly retorted that IL was none Of
! Jerome's business.
DeImas jumped up to declare that this
sort Of thing was not cross-eXamination,
and Justice Fitzgerald thought so, too.
/ The district attorney again referred 20
/ the wearisome topic Of the condition Of
/ Tbaw when he made his viii and got
/ married.
You are asking me 10 make a spe-
cIfc classification" said DR.. Evans, and
YOU are asking me 10 do what is next 10
/ impossible. i have explained 10 you 70
/ the best of my ability, and 1 have gone
as far as ] will go
/ Later the witness said he had seen
! forms of mental arrangement which
lasted very short times-some OF them
] not longer than a single day.
/ 1t being then almost . o'clock, court
was adjourned. and all hands were glad
/ Of it. 1t was a day practically without
I progress. 1t was voted that the contest
/ between the physician and the district
attorney had been about a stand-on-