Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1908-01-17
EVIDENCE Piles UP
NEW WITNESSES TELL OF IRA.
TIoNAL ACTS BY rHAw.
SEEN IN CLUB AND HOME
steward, Butler and Telephone opsr.
asor Testify hr Defense-coro.
ner's Jurors Noted the slay.
er's Queer Manner.

New York.-The attorneys repre.
senting Harry X. Thaw at his trial
wednesday continued the examination
OF witnesses who swore that young
Inaw at various times in his life an.
peared to them as irrational and men.
tally unsound.
Practically all of the testimony was
entirely new to the case and had to
40 with acts down to the day of the
tragedy. Then came the declaration
OF the ten men who sat on the cor.
oner's jury during the inquiry into
Stanford Whites death, all of whom
declared that the defendant the day
following the shooting acted irration.
ally. His manner and appearance
were such as to cause the inquest jury
to discuss his state of mind after their
verdict had been rendered.
lneanity in His Family.
In the days testimony there was
more delving into the history OF the
Thaw family, Alfred Lee Thaw OF
Richmond, Va, third cousin of the
defendant, taking the stand and tell.
Ing OF the faint of insanity which had
caused his father and brother to die in
state asylums.
Some Of Thaw's alleged eccentric
tiles, revealed for the first time. were
related Wednesday by Christopher
Baggan, steward of the New York
Whist club; by Miss Matilda Stein, a
telephone operator, and by Per Au
gust Weber, a former butler in the
Thaw household.
Queer Actions at Whist Club.
Thaw spent portion of the after.
noon Of June Is, 1906, at the Whist
club and at that time-a few hours
before the tragedy-was pictured by
the steward as being highly nervous
and as frequently exclaiming this il
awful" He asked the steward to have
a, valuable package put into the safe
After the shooting, the package was
opened and found to contain three
cigarettes wrapped in tin foil. r..
District Attorney Jerome in cross
examining the club steward brought
out the fact that Thaw played bridge
there with many prominent men. The
witness declared he was not supposed
to know what Mr.. Thaw, Mr.. Gates
Mr. Schwab and the others played for
but he was sure nothing but mineral
water was ever served at the tables
The telephone operator told OF
Thaw putting in Is calls one morning
at the Grand hotel and then forget.
ting all about them.
The butler told many details Of
Thaw's life at home in 1903 and was
still under examination when adjourn
ment was taken.
May Be Sent to Asylum.
The separate incidents of alleged
irrational conduct on the part of the
defendant were being put in evidence
by Mr.. Littleton as the foundation for
the expert testimony that is to come.
He also hopes to accumulate such
mass Of testimony as to Thaw's er.
ratio conduct as to make it impossible
for the district attorney to fulfill the
task the law places upon him of prov
ing Thaw sane beyond every reason
able doubt" Criminal lawyers OF
prominence who are following the case
outlined by the defense and who are
taking into consideration the fact that
a specific plea of insanity has been
entered this year, declare that acquit'
tai under the circumstances can come
only with the added clause ION &C
count of the insanity OF the defendant
at the time the act was committed.
This, it is declared, would compel the
presiding judge to commit Thaw to
Matteawan asylum, whence fight to
prove his present sanity and thus gain
freedom would have to be conducted
through habeas corpus proceedings.