Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-07
MANY WOMEN III COURT.
Their Presence Makes Trouble for the
Newspaper Men.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, February THE sensation
mongers, the Idly eurious-women of noisy
dress and unbeautiful faces-made their
way into the Thaw trial In some mysterious
manner yesterday afternoon and stared
agape at the tall. slender young man
whose pallid face now rests In the shadow
of the death chair. As he entered the court
room with his guard the women turned,
stretched their necks fidgeted about in their
seats and started up such a rustling Of
skirts as has not heretofore been heard in
the place where justice holds her even
handed sway. Hitherto the Thaw trial has
been remarkably free from all this sort of
Judge Fitzgeralds orders to admit no one
whose business did not call him or her to
the room must have been disobeyed.
The remarkable part of the whole pro-
ceeding was that while the gates had ap-
parently been thrown open to the general
public-Or else to the friends and all the
friends friends of the court offieers-the
poor, old, Woodworking brigade of report
ers had to fight as If fer their very lives
to get back to their tables after partaking
of a hasty and modest repast in the Ger
man restaurant overlooking the Bridge of
Signs Each day at luncheon the court
room is cleared of everybody and the doors
locked. Yesterday when the reporters came
back for the afternoon session they found
the doors all but closed to them. The po-
lice outposts were still on duty and every
jack of the newspaper navy had to stand
to. hoist the proper code words and then
produce his papers, for a thorough exami-
nation by the boarding officer. No one in
the halted squadron could imagine where
the difficulty lay as it tugged impatiently
at anchor awaiting permission to. proceed.
Place Was Packed.
But once inside the court room the reason
was Overwhelmingly revealed The place
was absolutely packed. In the morning
there had been as usual empty benches
a-plenty In the rear of the court Now
there were men Of every description-some
old and bald others young and dapper-
and women gowned in the gayest garments
Of their whole. radiant rainbow wardrobe,
seated everywhere. Among the men fur
lined overcoats were In the preponderance.
1t became nofsed about that the fur-bedeck-
ed Overcoat, sometimes regarded as the
badge OF the actor, was now the open
sesame Of the Thaw trial Among the
women green ostrich plumes had the call
by a majority that was all but unanimous
Green plUmes and purple gowns we're the
winning combination, and the ehuhby-faced
little officer at the court room door seemed
to know the wearers of every one of these
giddy effects. Poor little May Mackenzie
seemed to have set the style for purple
dresses, but her modest creation and un-
assuming little bonnet with its two coQue
feathers asant could never be held respon-
sible for the garments which gave the APP
pearance of matinee performance to the
public's portion of the supreme court room
yesterday.
Justice Fitzgerald looked anything but
pleased when he took his place on the
bench after recess and gazed into q sea
of faces. the gentler sex representing most
of the waves. During the morning Justice
Fitzgerald had warned the spectators that
the testimony of a witness then on the
stand might offend some with . delicate