The Goodland republic., 1907-02-15
WRITE 4 HUMAN M0HsIER
1T TRIED 10 CORNER THAW-s
VICTIM.
Learned Much About whites Den Of
Vice and Came Almost
Getting Him.

New York, Feb 9.-Anthony Com
stock, lying dangerously III OF pneu-
monia at his home in Summit, n. J.,
this afternoon gave an authorized In
terview, which is one Of the most i'm
portant contributions to the history
OF the famous ThaW trial that has yet
been furnished, with the exception Of
Evelyn Nesbit Thaw's own wonderful
story told under oath on the stand
IN the trial OF her husband for the
murder OF Stanford White.
"I know that Stanford White was
a human monster" said the invalid
head OF the Anti-Vice society. Il know
that much Of what Mrs Harry ThaW
has stated as a witness IS true know
that Stanford Whites den in the tow
er Of Madison Square garden was as
she described It know that White
made a business Of running young
girls. know Of at least one specific
instance, and what I know I learned
after had been given the first items
by Harry Kendall Thaw himself
MY first knowledge Of this case
dates from the summer Of 1905 About
a year before the killing, should say,
one afternoon q tail, welI-dressed,
well-bred young man came to me in
my Office in the Temple Bar building.
He seemed to be laboring under ex-
element, and it was evident that he
was desperately in earnest He opened
the conversation by asking me II
were interested in the suppression Of
vice Then he wanted to know If my
society gave special attention to the
arrest and punishment Of men who
proved upon the chastity Of young
girls. I told him that we did. He
jumped up abruptly, said he would
see me again, and left without telling
me his name. At the door he stopped
long enough to say he would see me
again
"a few days later he came back;
this time he seemed more at ease, but
he was still laboring under strong
emotions, as I could see very plainly
He now introduced himself. AS nearly
as recall. he said, I am Harry Ken
dali Thaw Of Pittsburg- You may
have heard Of me. want to tell you
Of a man who has ruined more young
girls than any man in New York. He
is particularly given to hunting the
young girls Of the stage. It is a debt
which society owes to itself to halt
him now, before he brings shame and
sorrow to any more victims.
He came in my life in such way
that I desire above everything else to
see his practices stopped in order that
others may be spared the suffering he
has brought upon me and mine His
name is Stanford White He is an
architect and has an infamous den
in the tower Of the Madison Square
garden -
THAT, in effect, was his statement" "
continued Mr.. COmstOzck, although
Of course, 7 asked him a great deal
more Of the matter. He left after Sc
curing my promise to investigate He
agreed to pay the cost Of looking into
the case. He at once mailed me a
check Of sufficient size to defray the
necessary expenses, and subsequently
wrote me several times upon the sub
ject Of White, asking each time what
progress we were making.
"Our investigation confirmed in
great degree what Thaw had told me-
Our detectives were astounded at what
they discovered. We worked hard and
I learned a great deal, but Of all cases
these are the hardest to prove under
the rules Of evidence, and before
making an arrest I determined to
catch White red-handed in his ini-
guilty.
Il learned that his rooms in the
tower were as Mrs. Evelyn Thaw has
described them in the trial Two OF
our detectives endeavored to hire
rooms in the same tower IN order to
watch his goings and cOmings. The
deal was almost completed when one
Of the detectives made a bungle; some
thing which he said or did gave the
alarm to the janitor; and although we
were on the waiting list for long
time, and although several times
apartments in the tower were vacant,
we were never able to secure suite
or a single room. We were still vain
" trying to arrange q trap from which
there would be no escape for White
when he dismantled his room in the
tower.
81 learned positively Of one case
where White had ruined a girl Is
years old almost fdentically as Mrs
Evelyn Thaw describes her own case
But the girl was in the chorus Of a
road company and we could not reach
her and make a witness OF her. We
got partial evidence Of other things,
things that convince me that what
Harry Thaw's wife now swears is true
I believe her story and base that be-
Lief upon what know Of the man
The last time I saw Harry Thaw
was only two or three weeks before he
shot White. He appeared to be in
desperate state-like man who is
welI-nigh frantic. He said to me Wild
", You must keep on; you must stop
this man; he must be stopped now, at
once
Ct am willing to sign statement as
to the truth OF all that I have told
you, and were well enough would
swear to it in court IL were asked to
DO So"
G. L Calvert, who has conducted a
real sstata hrrsiness in Goodland 1.eEer