The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1908-02-05
CENTRAL FIG URES IN TIA w TRIAL
As SEEN BY TWO WOMEN WRITER'S
DETECTED LIAR THE MOST
PITIABLE CREATURE.
By LILLIAN BELL.

by LILLIAN BELL.
There is no more pitiable creature
than the detected liar. There is no
more ragged object than an exploded
lie.
Evelyn Thaw was on the witness
stand for two whole days, telling her
carefully planned and skillfully con-
cocted story-that awful, degrading,
shameful and shameless story, which
when told a year ago moved the
world to tears. When re-told, re-
hashed, re-warmed, it moved the
court room-that miniature world
| to laughter, which was only re-
strained by the presence of the court.
Her story rang hollow, it sounded
| false in every word to me. Hardly
an auditor secretly believes that Eve
! Ign Thaw was telling, as she solemn
| ly swore to tell, 1.-The truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth
so help her. Cod"
She could not now tell it this year
as she told it last Mr.. Jerome trip
ped her, discredited her, proved her
by her own lips to be telling this
year a story intended to bring out
and emphasize Harry Thaw's insani-
ty, whereas last year she carefully
colOred her story to follow the line
of reasoning another set of lawyers
Numerically opposed to those of
this year-had led her to take.
A most versatile and accommodate
ing creature Evelyn has proved her.
self Last year she sWOre to things
which this year she cannot possibly
remember. This year she recOllects
with marvellous accuracy details
which last year she pretended igno-
rance of. She told last year that the
presents Stanford White gave her
were mostly useful and inexpensive
things, like articles of clothing and
the like. This year she admits to
five or six diamond and other sorts
of expensive jeweled rings, and TO
one ornament which she describes as
"a thousand dollar pearl drop. "
When asked what became Of this
jewel she said she gave it as a
Christmas present to a man friend
And when she said this she lost
for moment her pretty, pathetic,
abused pose and looked around at
everybody with a hard look in those
sOulless eyes, as who should say,
We'll, it's true. Now, what are you
going to do about it?"
She presented an amazing specta-
Gle admitting to things which made
one shudder to think about.
inf iat Of hnT
self as a greedy. covetOus little ami
NAL, willing to barter herself to
of her lovers had the most
ready money and offered the most |
rOse-lined path, with no honor. no
1ecency, no gratitude, no shame, no |
remOrse, SO light, so feather-brained
that her name creates a miasn9a |
whenever it is mentioned and with a |
soul so small that it would rattle in |
a mustard seed.
So that, after all, Evelyn's story
has not helped the defense one iota. |
The actions and appearance of the
Jury lead most of us to believe that
rom the moment that Harry Thaw's |
and early childhood WeFaE
spread before them they believed /
aim to have been of unsOund mind |
rom birth, mentally irresponsible |
or his acts, ready to be inflamed at !
4 word from any one, as no normal |
minded man ever is.
Everybody else knew that Evelyn /
Nesbft was, several years before thish
alleged revelation of her downfall |
vas laid at Stanford Whites door, /
by designing little imp who needed !
o Wse some name to stir Harry upf
% a remuneration of this mad idea |
IF his of a marriage which she didE
lot desire, so she naturally used that /
name which most easily excited him. /
Evelyn had been publicly mentioned
Is having been the belle annie of 9TH |
9r men before she met Stanford
White. Why, then, should she have
selected his name as the one about
which to weave her alleged tragedy?
For two reasons. One was the
rich, highly decorative setting which |
her dramatic instinct naturally took
of. The other was because
Harry's diseased Imagination was al
ready infamed against Stanford
White
She told her fairy story.
Evelyn Thaw has fooled air the
people some of the time. She has
fooled some of the people all the
time But she cannot fool all of
Tho roDplo toII OF Tho tivoo