Perth Amboy evening news., 1907-04-09
DELMAS' PLEA
DRAMATIC ONE.
Noted Lawyer From The West
Ends His Speech Today On
Behalf Or Harry K. Thaw.
HOW THAW BECAME INSANE.
With Matchlcss Iratory the Distin-
guishcd Lawyer for the Defense
RccitcS the Incidents Leading Up
to the Shooting and Gives Ii as
the Reason for His Client Losing
His Mind for the Time Being.


His Mind for the Time Being
NEW YORK. April D.-The curtain
trial of Harry H. Thaw, charged With
the murder OF Stanford White. when
Attorney Dolphin VI. DelmaS, the Cali
fornia advocate. began his long antici-
patcd address to the jury on behalf Of
the accused young Pittshurger.
In the midst Of an eXlectant throng
Dcn.as began what he had promised
would be the greatest Effort of an ora
torical experience III forty years. stand
ing bolt upright in his long black coat.
he read first these words from .Je
romes famous speech Of Il few days
ago:
/ IF the real facts were known. we
have no more business to be here try
ing this man than if he were not ac-
cused of IL crilae'
1t was Il new departure. for usually
at this bar barrstcr pleading for his
client leads off by throwing verbal
bouquets at the twelve jurors.
"Gentlencn." he went on when he
had finished the quotation. these
words were not uttered in an idle talk.
They We're spoken in dead earnest in
your presence in this court. At the
Outset | want to say that we will not
IL, 1ln
Iunwritten law. We find ample protec-
ton for this defendants life and this
defendants right in the written law,
land to that law we shall come us the
horn of the altar.
Il regret that ii shall be my duty to
refer to one who is dead. For the wild
Iow who mourns and for the son who
survive | have only sympathy. Gladly
would | refrain from saying the things
which | must say. | would that this
task did not rest upon my hands.
Gentlemen, the story to which you
have listened is TIE story of two young
people whom fate had determined
the most mournful. the most tragic
and the saddest story that the ear of
man has ever heard in Il court of JUS
tice
Let me begin with the story of the
young woman. whose life has been an
full of tragedy as though it were writ
ten by the gifted hand of Shakespeare.
The first years of her childhood saw
the death Of her father and left her
intrusted to mother who then re-
vealed Il character Of frivolity and eX-
! travagance which was later to lead to
such deplorabe circumstances. Hun
ger and want came to this child. Al
twelve years of age she was the brave,
courageous little drudge of a family
/ that moved from place to place with
| out fixed habitation like wandering
Arabs. But nature had endowed her
with the fatal gift of beauty, and at
! fifteen we see her in that perilous oc-
cupaton an artists model
Mr.. Delmas made a striking appeal
to the sympathies of the jurors, and
so far as he progressed the subject of
Thaw's insanity at the time he com.
mitted the homicide was not even hint
ed at Mr.. Delmas based his argument
solely upon the story of Evelyn Nesbit
Thaw. With flushed cheeks. but dry
eyes. that young woman heard her
life history repeated to the men who
are to Judge her husband and bowed
| her head as her mother was denounced
in the bitterest terms and tones the
eloquent lawyer could command
Even beast protects its young. y
he declared. with scornful emphasis
but this unnatural mother deserted
her daughter in this city of millions TO
be betrayed by Il false friend. to be
lured into glded palace and there
left the victim of Il gray haired man.
wounded bleeding and devoured.'
Mr.. Delmas went with great detail
| into the life Evelyn Nesbit had led up
to the meeting with Harry Thaw. In
all of his remarks he referred to her
as "this child" for child he said she
was today. He told of Thaw's great
4 love for her and his efforts to rescue
her from "the clutches of Stanford
White" whose achievements in his
! procession, lHe dttoiley uCNi"iVu' NVie
/ an aggravation of his crime. Mr.. Del
mas before beginning his attack upon
! Evelyn Thaw's mother poured out q
torrent of denunciation upon the archi-
tect who became the victim of Thaw's
pistol. He accused him of the 'crime
of rape and then declared that Presl-
| dent Roosevelt had said in message
1 f.,t,,t oil. t1lL
be visited with death This was one
of the suggestions which Thaw him
self made to his counsel for his sum
ming up speech, one of the suggestions
which played SO important a part III
/ the proceedings before the lunacy com
! mission.
Continued on page 3D.