The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-03-27
Fitzgerald's memorandum

1T do therefore. in pursuance of the statute in such cases made and pro- vided, hereby appoint the Hon. Morgan J. O'Brien, the Hon. Peter B. Olney and Leopold PutzeI, M. D., three disinter- .ested persons, a commission forthwith to examine into the mental condition of said Harry K. Thaw, and to report to the court with all convenient speed the facts and their opinions as to whether at the time of such examination the said Harry K. Thaw was in such a state of idiocy, imbecility, lunacy or insanity So as to be incapable of right ly understanding his condition, the na- turc of the charges against him and of conducting his defense in a rational manner
 Justice Fitzgerald's conference with the attorneys this afternoon lasted less than twenty minutes. To the newspa- per men waiting outside the chambers District Attorney Jerome as he emerged uttered the one word:
 Commission"
 Mr. Jerome soon was followed by Messrs Hartridge, O'Reilly, Peabody, Delmas, Gleason. and McPike, the six Thaw attorneys. One of the men in this group was heard to remark as he left the chamber:
 Tt couldn't be worse"
 Later, however, the attorneys seem- ed to take a brighter view of Justice Fitzgeralds decision. MT. Hartridge said.
 "We did not expect decision of any sort to-day, much less the one that was rendered. We had hoped the trial might go on without further Interruption. The commission will mean considerable delay. This will he particularly trying to the ladies connected with the trial. Now that the decision has been render ed, however it is hard to see how Jus tice Fitzgerald could have done other wise. Of course there was a conflict of affidavits and he cannot understand how firmly Thaw's counsel believe in his sanity"
 Messrs. Hartridge and O'Reilly went with Mrs. Evelyn Thaw to the Tombs, and there in the hospital ward they met the prisoner. This ward had been placed at their disposal because of the crowd in the usual consultation room. The brothers of the defendant did not so to the Tombs but hurried up town 1 with the news of the commission to their mother and sisters, who were waiting in their departments. Thaw | had divined the result of the confer ence with Justice Fitzgerald, and was not in the least surprised.
 Tt Is all right, dearie," he said to 1 his wife. T am not afraid of a com- | mission. I am sane man now-just as sane as the judge himself, and l am sure that any fair-minded commission will so declare me"
 The attorneys quickly withdrew from the conference, and Thaw and his wife sat for a long time together dis cussing what the commission probably would do. When MT. Hartridge came out, he declared;
 ''The fortitude of the boy (neaning Thaw) astonishes me sometimes, and it certainly did to-day"
 Later in the afternoon ThaW sent out statement in which he said:
 Everything is perfectly satisfactory to me. I am sure I will be able to sat- isfy the commission that I am sane at the present time Anything Justice Fitzgerald does is all right. He has al- ways acted in a fair and impartial manner" @s 4Ns4y | The law under which the commission was appointed to-day provides that the commissioners must take oaths as ref erees; they must be attended by the district attorney and counsel for the defendant, and may compel the att tendances of witnesses. The statute then proceeds:
 "When the commissioners have con- cluded their examination they must forthwith report the facts to the court with their opinion thereon. If the com mission find the defendant insane, the trial or judgment must be suspended until he becomes sane, and the court, if it deem his discharge dangerous to the public peace and safety must or l der that he be, in the meantime, conn mitted by the sheriff to a state luna tic asylum, and upon his becoming sane, he be re-delivered by the super intendent of the asylum to the sher- tiff.
 When received into an asylum he must be detained there until he be- comes sane. Then the superintendent must give written notice of the fact to judge of the supreme court of the district in which the asylum is situat- ed The judge must require the sheriff without delay to bring the defendant from the asylum and place him in the proper custody until he be brought to trial, judgment or execution as the case may be, or be legally discharged"
 While the law simply prescribes any state aslyum, it is generally the cus- tom to send all persons charged with crime to the asylum at Mattewan for the criminal insane.
 The court directs what compensation shall be paid to the members of a lunacy commission. There are no linn itations upon him, and the cost Is paid by the county.