Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1907-03-13
MRS. Wl--...M X. THAW WANTS
TO TELL MORE.
EXAMINATION WAS BRIEF
Son Tod her Tina the Wickedsst
Man in all .,ev York Had Ruined
His L:fe-ssys Thaw's Income
Was Moderate-Jerome Threatens
Lunacy Commission

| Eldtlc chapter was duQeu TO Lne MS
tory OF the Thaw trial yesterday when
the mother the the defendant toak
the witness stand Mrs. TnAw s
stay before the jury was BRIEF. When
Attorney Delnlas had definitely limit
ed examination to the change she h;ld
noted in her sons condition following
his return from Paris III 1904 after
| Evelyn Nesbit had told him her life
story, and when Jerome had with
great consideration, conducted d saorl
and Intellectual crossexaminaEon the
mother love we,led strong in Mrs.
iThaw and she felt she had not done
her all She was loath to leave " :
/ witness chair.
There is the question Of heredity,
she protested wnen both Delmas and
Jerome told she might step down, !
have asked you, madam all that is
considered necessary. said Thaw's ct
torney with tne utmost Difference.
Mrs. Thaw half rose, hest ated and
was about TO sit down again when
Delmas offered her his hand 10 as
| E3sF3N fkI4 LACAA bdit HttAlAs4s
Breaks Down on Stand.
Twice during her recital of he
events which had caused her to fe I
all was not right with her sen, Mrs.
Thaw broke down and was unable to
proceed Her face flushed ard sic
made an effort to speak, but the
words would not come. After a few
moments, Justice Fitzgerald asked So
Lcitous.y If she felt able to prccee
and Mrs. Thaw, evidently much cha
grined that her great gr eff had over
| come her strong viii OF sistance,
nodded in the affirmative She dc
clined a glass of water made an ef-
fort once more to proceed but failed.
Fitzgerald then interposed a reI Ell
for which the elderly woman fac n ;
him must have been deeply grateful.
He 81 d chat as many of the Wit
ness remarks had been uttered i'm a
very low voice it would be necessary
to have the stencgrapher read al bel
testimony up to that time to the JURY
When the reading was ended Mrs.
and was able to proceed to the end
of heI narrative. he said that when
Harry came home in 1903 he seemed
depressed and apparently had lest all
interest in life. He passed sleepless
nights, would often leave the table at
LpNn the PIANO, the music growing
softer and softer until it finally diet
away She told in a motheriy way
CT her solic.tude for the boy
He told me a wicked man-prob-
ably the wickedest man in all New
York had ruined his life"
1t was not until some time after ne
had offered this explanation of me
change in him that she learned the
story of the young woman who was 10
become her daughterinlaw.
Gave Consent to Marriage.
mrs. Thaw told o. her son breaking
down at church in Pittsburg and aft.
erward explaining that it was ~
] cause CT sorrow which prevented the
I young woman he loved being at her
! side. Mrs. Thaw told of coming to
| New York to meet Evelyn Nesbit and
of giving her consent to her sens
| marriage-the one condition being
that the girls past life in New York
should be a closed book never to 70
referred to in anyway. Then came
! the story of the marriage in Pitts
burg In April. 1905. the honeymoon
! trip and then a happy, placid summer
spent at the mothers country home
! in the mountains.
! Thaws1 Income Was Moderate.
That was all. Delmas ended her
testimony abruptly The district at
torney was tanen by surprise and lie
gan to crossexam;ne Mrs Thaw in a
very low voice. He asked about
the conditions surrounding the in
crease in her sons allowance, but
J nelmas objected. He asked what the
] sons income amounted to. Mrs
| Thaw said it was moderate and no H.
I ing like the sum the newspapers
! have so often reported. Jerome next
! treaded upon what he must have felt
was the thnnest of ice lest he put
| himself in the attitude Of attempting
to harrass the pathetic figure In black
on the witness stand. He asked the
mother what she knew Of her sons
relations with Miss Nesbit before
she became Is wife
Nothing sue replied With ncsi-
fancy.
The district attorney seemed com
pletely baffied and speedily brought
his crossexamination to close.
Mrs. Thaw's story was deeply i'm
pressive in its simplicity and brev-
| ity Her anxiety to 90 on and tell
more added UNNECESSARILY to the
mean 'ng Of her presence as a witness.
| The half filed court room listened
, almost with breathless interest to
| each word she uttered and there was
! a general sigh Of relief when Jerome
announced his brief examination was
| ended
| Threatens Lunacy Commission.
While the elder Mrs. Thaw was on
the stand Jerome engaged in a
wordv war with Delmas during which
he uttered publicly for the first time
threat Of lunacy commission. pe'-
mas was invoking a presumption OF