Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-06
WOMEN IN THE CASE.
Where the Heart Of the Story Lies in

Where the Heart Of the Story Lies in
Suspense.
The door that shut of the ante room
from the main court divided yesterday the
two dramas Ringing upon the life of Harry
X. Thaw. On one side of those doors was
the principal himself in his stronghold Of
attorneys opposed to the formality and cir
cumstance Of the legal machinery which is
to decide the question Of his responsibility
and the forfeit he must pay for the Staying
of Stanford White. On the other side were
the waiting women, conscious only that
the passing moments were dragging the
prisoner one day nearer the wished for and
dreaded end.
On the one side was comedy-keen, subtle
thrusts that sent ripple round the room;
mentary relaxation Of a smile. He was pale
enough when he came In, his. eyes big with
vogue horror. He settled In his seat as
ig ne had suddenly grown old: his incessant
his notes, beginning at once: his craving
apparent for some occupation that should
shut out the voices which constantly harped
upon the pistol he had held, the shot he had
fired on June %, and the Significance of his
mental state In relation to both.
Thaw Family Amused.
As the hours wore on, however, and Dis
trict Attorney Jerome, bubbling over with
the enjoyment of his task, personally con-
Quoted the bewildered expert, Dr. Charles c.
Wylie, into the mazes of the '.pneumogas-
trio nerve" and metaphorically turned the
Pittsburg authority around three times be-
fore rushing him off to discover direct
connection between the cardiac nerve and
the cerebellum.' Thaw awoke to the
humor of a situation which made so grim
an appeal to him. and allowed himself to be
family amused.
1t was as though he had thrown I'D his
hands and watched the opening witness for
his defense prove himself magnificently in
competent In testimony, which in the po-
lite words of Mr.. Jerome, threw no light
on the character, nature or mentality, If
any, he (Thaw) may have had"
In the whole examination of the expert
two points were evolved. Mr.. Gleason made
1t evident that the killing Of White was
to be shown as the act of impulse purely,
and not generalization; that while he was
entertaining himself with his friends Thaw
saw his enemy, and, seeing, was impeled
to murder. On the other hand, Mr. Jerome
dwelt on the handling of the pistol after
the shot, held In azSaw's appraised hand, butt
upward. as the indication that a man who
had satisfied an individual vengeance was
calmly mindful of the safety of others, and
so far from being the victim of a frenzy,
took this means to signify to the 900 people
on Madison Square Garden roof that the
killing was over. and panic unnecessary.
III tnlS contention lies the pth OF the arSu-
ment.
The district attorney had the air Of a
mischievous terrier badgering his prey. 1t
was an audience of men, the women being
almost swept from the horizon, and there
was in consequence less of Stress of strain
possibly even the prisoner felt it.
The Heart of the Story.
But behind that door where the mother
and the sister and the wife waited lay the
heart of the story. Each Of the two. the
elder Mrs Thaw and her sons wife. knows
that upon her courage and pliancy on the
stand depends the onus of the carefully
reared structure which may mean Thaw's
immunity from the death penalty
Evelyn. entirely in black, black veil COW
ertng her face, stole across the corridor
with the faithful May Mackenzie to see
Thaw in the jury room before he went into
the court room for the morning session. As
she slipped through the lines Of police and
people. her gown trailing behind her, she
looked more childish than ever. The chorus
girl. stiH in purple. followed her into the
anteroom with slower step and appraised
head.
Mrs. Carnegie, all in black came down
with her mother and remained throughout
court room The Countess Of Yarmouth
was again absent, and is thought to be de-
ferring her presence till the more critical
moments of the trial arrive and she may
be of real comfort to her brother
The four lunched together as before and
sound of the active happenings, though
near enough to feel and to suffer- They
were the real martyrs and will be, for if
spared the daily revelations of the court
room. they cannot escape the more madden
ing torture of suspense and fear