The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1907-02-16
EVELYN NESBIT THAW WINS
SYMPATHY OF THE UNIVERSE,
EVEN FROM HER OWN SEX
By DOROTHY DIX.

NEW YORK, Feb. 1e.-As the Thaw
trial goes on, interest does not Wane'
but rather increases, in the personality
of the little butterfly woman who was
the cause of the tragedy and 10 whom
every thread Of the tangled evidence
goes back.
Never before did such a gush of pop
ular sympathy go out TO onyone as
Evelyn Nesbit Thaw received on the
dav she told her story of her youth and
her misfortune There was scarcely a
heart IN all the length and breadth OF
the land that was not stirred 20 pity by
the account Of the rich old rake who
used his wealth and his social position
10 dazzle the girl, and then, when he
had won her confidence under the guise
OF a benefactor, took advantage OF her
trust to rob her of her innocence.
Those who saw the little shivering.
trembling. white-faced woman on the
witness stand will never forget the cur
ious and awful spectacle OF what SEEM
ed a mere child babbling in a childish
voice Of the horrors OF vice and degra-
dalton she had known. II seemed in
credible. impossible, as II a baby uttered
words whose import it did not under
stand, and yet It was all too sadly true
The life that was so short in years had
been long in the dark knowledge Of sin.
Worst Is Yet to Be Told.
And the worst is yet to be told
Evelyn Nesbits story, true in the main.
was the story a woman tells a man she
loves. whom she wants TO hold, who
with frantic longings she desires TO re-
spect her in spite Of everything. II put
in the best possible light that which
could not be hidden. 1t excused as we'll
as might be that which she had done
Soon we are to hear that story told
over again. under the pitiless cross-eX-
animation of the prosecuting attorney
The cold. hard light of actual facts will
be turned upon #. Every excuse will be
riddlcd. Every particle of the rosy
gauze Of retIcence Will be stripped OF it
1t IS said that Mr.. Jerome expects to
break down the weight of Evelyn Mes
bit Thaws testimony by showing, first.
that even # originally she was a victim
of Stanford White. that afterwards she
accepted the situation without protest
and became "a cheerful member OF that
band Of chorus girl fnanciers. who on Il
SALARY Of SIS a week maintain automo-
biles. live at the most expensive hotels,
and wear Paris frOcks
Will Probe Deep Into Past.
Th-n ne viii inquire concerning other
men than White who paid her atten-
ton. and ask even concerning the trips
she took abroad IN the company Of Mr.
Ttaw before they were married.
Technically, IL is not supposed TO mat
ter whether the story Mrs. Thaw told
her husband was true or false. It IS
simply the effect upon his unevenly bal
anccG mind with which the law concerns
itself, but ~ reality II matters a great
deal in what attitude Mrs. ThaW is put
before the jury Behind "a paper shield
on which is inscribed emotional In
sanity.' The defenders Of Harry Thaw
are battling for the ''unwritten law
that iUstifes the man who kills 10
avenge and defend the honor Of tho
woman 70 whom he has given his name.
while the prosecution Is fighting 70
show that the woman herself has trallrd
her garments through the mire.
However. much. though II be proven
that Evelyn Nesbit became all that the
district attorney claims, il should make
no difference IN The final judgment Of
her. Rather. it gives an added pathus 10
her fate. for from the hour when she
went forth from Stanford Whites studio