The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-01-18
Surprise Is Sprung a District Attorneys Request FaT Pri-
 Vacy In ThaW Trial
JUICE BOWLING WILL
 DEC|DE P0INT MONDAY
Mrs. William Thaw and Evelyn Nesbit Thaw Give Testimony, But the Lat ter Is Continually Inter- 7
 rupted By Jerome.

~NeN oi ht bdAAudiA lt---a series or sur
 prises brought the Thaw trial near a
 crisis today. Both Evelyn Thaw, the
 wife, and Mrs William Thaw, the mother
 of the defendant. were on the witness
 stand and just as the former was about
 to relate anew the story of her life. as
 she told it to Thaw in Paris in 1908, Dis
 trict Attorney Jerome arose and sug-
 gested that in the interest of public
 morals all persons save those immediate ly interested in the case should be ex-
 eluded from the court room during the
 recital of what he termed a horrible tale"
 The motion included the representatives of newspapers as we'll as the public generally. Attorney Martin w Littleton of the defense, joined in it to shield the young woman from view of curious eyes.
 and said that so far as the constitutional right to an open hearing was concerned, he was ready to waive that point in any iron-clad manner the court might sug- 1 gest. Proceedings were suspended until Monday, when Justice Bowling, who is presiding, will announce his decision The district attorneys suggestion was a sur prise and called forth the remark from Justice Bowling that 1t would have come with greater force at the first hearing of the case. When MT. Jerome arose it l was generally believed that he was about to contend against the admissbility of Eevelyn Thaw's testimony on the ground that it could not have had any serious 1 effect upon the mind of the man who
 subsequently, became her husband, inas- | 1cb as l,or1 fda
 three years thereafter.
 Jerome Yields.s7sel
 Mir. Jerome had previously el1ecfed to
 Mrs. Thaw detailing conversations she
 had with Thaw years prior to the trag- edy, but Justice Bowling ruled that the declarations of the defendants wife were admissible on general principles and without any reference to the Wood case,
 under which the evidence in dispute was
 admitted last year. and which Mir. Je- rome had been expected to ask con- struction of this year
 q will not except to your honors rul-
 ing" said the district attorney. as he
 took his seat, after his objection. for
 the state has no power of appeal" 1 Then Mir. Jerome attacked the witness
 in another way and by standing immed-
 ately in front of her and objecting to
 practically evefy question which Mir. Lit 1 tleton asked in his preliminary examina- | ton as to her early history, cut the young woman's recital from the effective
 narrative form it assumed last year into
 a hundred fragments. Many of the ob- | iections based upon irrelevancy and im-
 materiality were sustained by the court. | When these failed the prosecutor was ever ready with others until the testi- l mony was practically torn into shreds 1 and had lost entirely the many little l touches of human interest which were a
 part of the narration last year when | no objections were offered. MT. Jerome
 said his objections were intended to cut
 out all stories about pet cats and lot
 of other stuff" which had no place in | the trial.
 | Good Progress Made. I The day however, was one of good
 progress for the defense. The elder Mrs. | Thaw, pale and weak from her recent i illness, was assisted to the witness chair 1 and repeated large part Of the testl- mony she gave a year ago. Her ap- pearance and the sincerity of her evl- 1 dence as she told of her son strange l conduct atter meeting bNOish -NSeDAs "h- hearing her story, had marked effect mon all who listened On account of her weak condition her examination was 1 interrupted by consent, to be resumed l some time next week, when she will tell l of Thaw's infancy.
 1 District Attorney Jerome's manner while l the mother was on the stand was all | deference. and it was his suggestion which | led to the respite in her ordeal. But | when the young wife took the stand the 1 change was marked. Jerome glared at | her from the very first and his opJections | were fairly shouted in her ears. Neli ac- | customed to court usage from her former 1 experience, the young woman waited pa- tiently for ruling to each objection. When they were sustained she was si- | lent: when overruled she was ever ready with her response
 ThaW Irrational. | Effective testimony was given at the | morning session by Miss Alice C. Fletcher l of Washington, a long time friend of l Thaw's and a frequent visitor at their | home. She said she had known Harry 1 Thaw for 26 years, and he had always im- pressed her as irrational.
 | Miss Catherine O'Nelll. who nursed | Tbaw as a boy, from his third to his l tenth wear. added her evidence to that | already addueed as to irrational con- l duct and tendencies on the part of the l defendant Two doormen at the police l station where Thaw was confined the night of the tragedy, repeated their stories | of last year of Thaws irrational appear | ance and his complaining of noises that 1 did not exist
 The trial may be concluded in two l weeks more.
 1 Miss Fletcher On Stand. | Miss Alice c. Fletcher of Washington, | rlxa la1 fpnc mi wis | at the Thaw household in Pittsburg, and | had known Harry K. Thaw for 26 years, was the first witness today. She declared | that Thaw was an unusual child-nervous