The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1907-04-13
JURY CAHF01 AGRtE
Men Deciding ThaW'S Fate Ask
For Reading OF Testimony.
MAY END III DISAGREEMENT

Prisoner Is Cheerful and Confident OF
Acquittal, But Family and Counsel
Are Not So Confident, Expecting a
Disagreement.
New York. April II. 49, Thirty-siX
hours of delberation and no verdict
Such was the condition Of affairs with
the Thaw jury this friday morning.
The fact that they had not been able
TO agree after devoting so much time
10 a study and discus ion Of the case
has given rise to the belief that the
trial will end in a disagreement and
the whole affair will have to be gone
over again
Although the II men have thus far
failed to reach a common opinion anu
to all appearances are hopelessly al
sea. Justice Fitzgerald has not given
up hope Of having a verdict rendered.
AS vet Deming b. Smith, foreman OF
the Jury. has not complained to the
court that the jurors are unable IN
reach a decision, and until he does SO
II is not likely that Justice Fitzgerald
will discharge them. The general i'm
preston prevails that If the y men
are unable to agree at the expiration
of As hours they will be released from
further service. The very fact. how
ever. that no intimation has been re.
ceived from the jury room that the
men are unable to agree has been con
struced by many who have followed
the proceedings closely as an indica'
ton that n verdict will eventually be
reached.
The mother wife and the two sisters
and brothers Of the defendant were in
the criminal courts building up to the
last minute Thursday night, and when
it was finally announced that the jury
had been locked up over night they re.
turned to their hotel crestfallen-
Twice the - men who took their
places in the jury box more than two
months and a half ago filed into the
court room and asked assistance OF
the court in an endeavor to bring
about an agreement
The jurors wanted to hear again the
evidence OF numerous eye-witnesses TO
the tragedy They wanted TO hear
what DR.. Allan McLane Hamilton had
been allowed to testify to as to Thaw's
condition the night of the tragedy and
what Evelyn Nesbit Thaw had said as
10 her husbands conduct that evening
they wanted to hear repeated again the
conversations Thaw had with James
CHnch Smith just before he committed
the homicide: they wanted TO hear sew.
eral portions of Justice Fitzgerald's
charge once more. and finally they
asked permission to take possession
of all the writings of Thaw which had
been introduced into the trial as in
dicative of the defendants state OF
mind when he heard the story Of Eve
lyn Nesbit's alleged wrongs at the
hands of the man who was TO become
his victim.
All of these requests were gladly
granted by the court, but when Fore
man Deming b. Smith. on behalf Of the
jury. asked that certain portions of the
summing up address by Dolphin VI
Delmas be read, Justice Fitzgerali
called a halt. He admonished the
Jurors that they were to be guided only
by the evidence and were not entitled
to hear again the closing speeches OF
the lawyers.
Harry Thaw's family-his white
haired mother. his pale young wife, his
sisters and brothers-remained at the
court house until late in the night.
They visited the defendant on several
occasions in the prisoners pen on the
floor above the court room. Their pur-
pose was to cheer him, but he appear
ed by far the most cheerful OF the
group. The mans confident air seems
never to leave him for any great length
Of time. and a buOyancy OF spirit Is
nearly always apparent Few men ac-
cused of murder in the first degree
have awaited the sealing of their fate
with the calmness and the happy-go-
lucky manner which has characterized
Harry Thaw since the jury retired on
Wednesday afternoon.
From the manner in which the jur-
ors wished to go over the evidence in
all its detail it was surmised that a
verdict if reached at all would be pred
icated entirely upon the evidence and
not upon the unwritten law
The six members of the Thaw fam
lily appeared deeply concerned and fol
lowed the testimony with keen inter
est They are by no means sanguine
about the result, and George Carnegie.
Thaw's brotherin-law, in discussing
the situation, said that a disagree
ment was the best they expected
I'VE all thought that HarTy's case
was perfect" he declared until Del
mas interpreted that 'dementia Ameri-
cana. That practically did away with
the plea of insanity, and left the whole
question of Harry's mental condition
unsettled. More attention should have
been paid to the testimony of the ex-
perts who stated that Thaw was insane
when he killed White.
"As to Harry's present state OF mind.
the lunacy commission settled that II
Delmss had done that the jury must
have acquitted on the ground of IN
sanity. and as Harry is sane now he
could not be committed to an asylum"
Several of Thaw's lawyers have ex.
r,rncanh ain1ilar NipWe