Milford chronicle., 1907-04-12
DELMIAAAS' PLEA
TO SAVE THAW
Appeals to "UnWritten Law" and
Lauds Prisoner as Hero.
FAMOUS CASE NEAR AN END


1riAl Of Harry X. Thaw for the mur
der Of Stanford White will have been
written into history. With an ora
torical appeal to both the written and
the "unwritten law" for the justihca-
ton Of his client, Dolphin NJ. Delmas,
the California lawyer, concluded his
exhaustive summing up address to the
jury. District Attorney Jerome will
close In a three or four hour address
and is expected to make plea which
will be accounted one Of the best ef-
forts of his life Justice Fitzgerald
WeuId not say whether or not he
would charge the jury directly follow
iAR the district attorneys closing re.
marks, but the general impression Is
that he will do so. In this event there
seems little doubt that the case will
be turned over to the jury by this
(Tuesday) evening.
with the exceptions of moments
when he was reading from testimony
Mr.. Delmas speech was one of sus
tanned oratorical effort. He threw
about the form Of Harry Thaw the
cloak of chivalrous knighthood.
why" he shouted, should we who
admire the chivalry of the knights OF
the middle ages who went about re-
dressing wrongs and rescuing maidens |
IN distress, withhold our sympathy
from this brave man?"
Bitterly Denounces White.
Bitterly the attorney again assailed
Stanford White. He declared White
sought to play with the girl so long
as her beauty remained and then
would have thrown her away like a
dirty rag to float down life's sewers
to a grave in the Potter's Field"
Again he said: Harry Thaw had
snatched the girl from the old lecheT
who saw in her but a toy to crafty
a moments lust and then be cast aside
to go her way down the paths of fall.
en- women"
With dramatic emphasis Mr.. Del.
mas cried out that when Harry Thaw
beheld Stanford White on the Madi-
son Square roof garden the story of his
wife's wrongs overeame him. He pic.
tured in an instant-as a dying man
may picture his past life - all that
Stanford White had done-"the ruin
he had wrought, and he struck; struck
IS the tigress strikes in defense of her
young; struck for the home, struck
for American womanhood, struck for
humanity and Stanford White fell"
"Ah, gentlemen" the advocate went
on, 'if Harry Thaw believed he was
the instrument of Providence, who will
say he was mistaken"
Mr.. Delmas discussed but briefly the I
testimony of the expert witnesses, de-
Vlaring that whatever weight might !
attach to their utterances was on ths Z
side of the defendant. He declared I
he burden of proof as to Thaw's san.
ty at the time Of the homicide rested l
With the prosecution, which had failed
o make out its case.
It was in discussing Thaw's mental c
tate that Mr.. Delmas came at last to
he "unwritten law" He declared the
Experts had been at a loss to classify O.
he form of insanity from which Thaw I,
9
"DementIa Americana" n
] 4
ID. 'T would call it 'Dementia Ameri. q
ana It is a species of insanity
which has been recognized in every =,
tate of this union. 1t is that species =,
( insanity which makes the American :,
nan believe his home, his wife, his :,
aughters, are sacred, and that who =,
oever stains the virtue of his thresh. :,
1oka L. y
Bringing into play all the eloquence q,
t his command, Delmas pictured the y,
lartyrdom of Evelyn Nesbit when she =,
sfused the hand Of Thaw and the ~
rolSen heart of Harry when his offer
marriage was spurned.
He drew in almost glaring colors the
torn that was gathering in "the -four y
orners Of the clouded horizon" when
velyn told Harry that because shs
wed him, because she did not want to Oh
se the finger of scorn pointed at him, Oh
eeause she would not tear him from "a
Is noble mother and dear sisters, be o'
ause she did not want to tie her un. u
existence to his, because she Vs
aRted to go back and make her own In
aus anu 81 AOWA Ii bAc WDlAu WAcId
} many, many others had gone be. Ju
re her, and disappear from his life Fa
rever she, Evelyn Nesbit, could not co
,come the wife of Harry Kendall an
haw." er
This sacrifice he characterized as I'M
ublime remuneration, and to it he OF
tributed the resuessness which soon
GREATER became manifest in the con-
let of Thaw Pa
Mr.. Delmas had no hesitation in call
6 Evelyn ian angel child" and Harry
aaw "a noble, honorable lover, with SIX
ly one purpose, to make Evelyn Mes to
l. the little girl he loved, his hon Ne
able wife" th'
Calls Hummel PerJurer. WI
That Evelyn Nesbit's story was true fri
d was told to Harry Thaw formed fee
. subject Of the argument for more wa
an an hour. Mr.. Delmas declared frs