The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1907-03-14
THAKS MOTHER oh STAND
Weeps as She Tells Of Sons Brood
ing on Evelyn Nss3;t's Fate.
s;iHt On When She Volunteers Testi.
hieny of Hereditary Influence
Wins SyAs9atAy of Court.


New York City.-Ready to lay bare
the innermost secrets of her own life
IT By that sacrifice she could save the
life OF her son, the black-clad mother
Il Harry X. Thaw stepped into the
sweep of the public s~earchlight in the
criminal branch of the Supreme
Court, where he is on trial for the
Killing of Stanford White.
AS by a touch eff magic, the air Of
Ienqerloin degradation that had
allied the courtroom seemed to van
ism. In its place there appeared an
atmosphere of refinement that came
as a welcome relief to the tinseled ar
tificiatity.
/ MRS, Thaw is q motherly looking
woman of perhans sixty. Her hair Is
saIVeFy and was brushed back from a
prominent forehead. She was ali I'm
black - gloves, gown and hat. A
etaek veil was thrown oyer her hat
almost touching her shoulders. The,
rurs which she were at her throaA
were removed soon, as the room was
oloHe and warm.
An the Testimony that will be Of
Tered in behalf of Thaw save the
opinion of two experts as to his san
ity on the night he killed White went
to the jury with the story of Mrs.
Ihaw. Her examination was brief
and her cross-examination briefer.
The period covered was from the
time Thaw returned from Europe in
the late fall Of 1898 to a short time
after his marriage to Evelyn Nesbit
on April 4, 1895. The mother told
now Thaw would remain up all night,
unable to sleep, sometimes sobbing.
n when she asked him why he was
thus affected he told her n was be-
cause a beautiful girl he knew had
been ruined by a s%coundrel. Some
times, she said, he would leave the
dining table and she would find him
sitting in another room crying. BY
degrees Thaw told her Evelyn Mes
bits story.
In March of 1906, while she was
staying in the South, her son sent for
her to come to New York to meet
Evelyn Nesbit, and then asked her
permission to marry. "I consented,
making only one stipulation" the
witness said, "and that was that the
girls past in New York should be a
closed book"
Although both Mr.. Delmas and
Mr.. Jerome treated Mrs. Thaw with
the greatest consideration and gen
tleness, she broke down once or twice
and wept silently. She is evidently
a woman of much frmness of charac-
ter, as shown by the strong lines Of
her features, and she quickly re-
gained her composure. Her son
watched her closely most of the time,
but when he saw her weeping he, too,
buried his face In his hands and
wept. t'''
t. It was during Mrs. Thaw's examin-
alton that the possibility of the APP
| pointment Of q commission in lunacy
came up. Mr.. Delmas had asked
Mrs. Thaw when she first learned
Evelyn Nesbit's identity. An objec-
ton by the District Attorney started
q discussion, during which he said
that the expert for the defense had
testified that NThaw was insane In
1908, In 1906 and In 1905, and the
presumption carried that he was in
sane all that time. eff that is SO,
| why does it not carry right down to
| the present moment, so that under
the statute IT becomes Your Honor's
duty to suspend this trial?" Mr..
Jerome asked. '''"Sv
THAT matter Is not before me
Aow," Justice Fitzgerald replied.