The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-02-06
JEROME BRILLIANTLY
 UPSETS THAW DEFENSE
MAKES DIR. WILEY, FIRST ALIENIsT TO TESTIFY, AP-
 PEAR RIDICULOUS.

tions Ever Heard in a New York
 Court-BIocIs Every Attempt to
 Bring Out Evidence of Strain of
 Insanity in the Collateral Branches
 of the Defendants FamiIy-His Ob-
 jections Sustained by the Court
 Trouble Crops Out Among Thaw's Att
 tOrneys-Certain Ones Not Pleased
 With Days Deyelopments--Delma
 May Withdraw Unless Given Full
 Charge.
 New York, Feb. 5The task of prov ing to jury that Harry Thaw was in- sane-through heredity and mental stress-when he shot and killed Stan ford White was taken up to-day by the defense in this famous case, but when adjournment was announced later in the afternoon it was the general opin- ion in the court room that but little progress had been made. Thaw's at- torneys endeavored in vain to place be- fore the jury evidence tending, it was said, to prove a strain of insanity in the collateral branches of the defend- ants family. but they were blocked at every point by District Attorney Jerome, whose objections were upheld by the rulings of Justice Fitzgerald. The defense did, however, set before the twelve men in the box the testi- mony of an expert that, in his opinion, Harry Thaw was suffering from in- sanity" on the night of the tragedy. Mr. Jerome undertook to break down the evidence of the alienist-Dr. c. c. Wiley, of Pittsburg- -and for three hours put him through a cross-eXam- ination as severe as was ever heard in New York court. The prosecutor was relentless, and before he had fin- ished Dr. Wiley protestingly declared ''I did not come here as an expert. l came as a witness to fact, and have been converted into an expert without being prepared for it,"
 The district attorney astonished every one by his intimate knowledge of med icine and it's technical phrases, demon- strating the care with which he had prepared himself. to meet the very de- fense Thaw's counsel have entered in his behalf. MT Jerome searchingly in ouired into Dr. Wiley's record as 8 physician and as an expert on insanity. He hurled whole volleys of technical questions at the witness, who atetimes sat mute, and at other times declared he could not answer, or gave evasive replies. Often he brought upon him. self sharp warning from the district attorney to make reply and not an argument.
 pr. Wiley testified that he predicated his opinion as to Thaw's insanity upon his actions the night of the tragedy, as described to him in a hypothetical question propounded by the defense, and upon an incident which he witness ed on a Pittsburg street car during the summer of 1905. Thaw, said the doc tor. acted irrationally on the car, com ing in suddenly and jerking up one of the window blinds slamming it down and then lifting it again, the while en- gazing in wordy war with the con- ductor
 Have you ever examined this de- fendant with any of the recognized tests of insanity?" asked MT. Jerome.
 "No," replied the witness.
 "Have you ever conversed with him?"
 NO"
 The district attorney then drew from the alienist the opinion that Thaw' E acts on the Madison Square Roof Gar den5 when he killed Stanford White were not acts of insanity when taker singly, but constituted evidence of in sanity when considered collectively At times pr. Wiley s eemed entirely baffled by the questions He hesitateo at each, and before he could answer MT. Jerome had framed another query replete with impressive sounding tech nical terms of medicine, and apparent ly offering a problem no less difficult than its predecessor. The witness ad- mitted that many of the tests to whicl the district attorney referred in dis cussing insanity were unknown to him and when he was asked to quote from any accepted work on insanity he de- clared he could not give the exact Ian guage from any book.
 MT. Jeromes well of knowledge, how ever. seemed never to run dry. He carried his cross-examination through practically the entire morning session and for an hour and twenty minutes ofter luncheon continued to ply the alienist with all manner of questions It was necessary for the bailiffs severa, times to rap down the outbreaks oi laughter.
 Thaw's counsel sat silent and without protest as MT. Jerome grilled the first witness for the defense. Thaw himself seemed to take but little interest in tho cross-examination at the outset, but later began to take notes and was ofter in earnest conversation with those oi his counsel who sat nearest him. Al times he could not altogether suppress the suggestion of grin at the keen ness of some of MT. Jerome's question: and the subtle humor they so thinlA concealed. But before the close of th' day Thaw seemed to worry. He bit hi' finger nails and seemed anxious for thu doctors ordeal to end. His attorney appeared bit puzzled at first, but evi dently determined to give the distric attorney the widest liberty.
 It was at the close of MT. Jerome cross s-examination of MT. Wiley tha