The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1908-01-21

seemed about to cry, but the harsh
tones of the district attorneys voice
raised in objection seemed to give her
all the strength or stimulus she re-
quired, and composure quickly reas-
serted itself.
The story varied in no detail from
the narrative of last year.
'Mr. Thaw, when | told him about
this, got excited ana walked up and
down the room and moaned and seh
bed, and his eyes were Wild" said the
witness. He bit his nails and said
My God, My Godr"
How long did that keep up?" asked
Mr.. Littleton.
"All night"
''What did Mr.. Thaw say when you
had concludedT'
'IIe said it was not my fault and
that he thought Just as much of me as
ever. He said he wanted me to marry
him, and said it would make him the
laughingstock Of his friends, for some
people knew of what had happened TO
me. He wanted To know lot about
my mother and how often she had seen
Stanford White and what he had done
for her. told him my mother didn't
know anything about it,"
AS the young woman went on with
this distressing part of her narrative
she displayed little if any emotion. AS
at the last trial. she halted occasion
ally AS If gulping down a sob, but her
voice now was unbroken for the most
part, and those in the courtroom could
see barely the sign of a tear. The lit
tie color that was in her face, however,
when she took the stand had left It,
Not once did she show any signs Of
breaking down, and at all tines she
seemed eager to continue. Even at
this period of her examination she was
ready with her suggestions to help her
husbands lawyer in his questioning.
The manner of her telling the story
was in strange contrast with the girl
ish appearance that her dress gave her.
She wore in court the same garb that
gives her the schoolgirl effect, bur her
testimony had all the earmarks of the
keen and mature woman.
Back at his counsers table Thaw
got out his handkerchief early. He held
it in his left hand and kept it to his
eyes most of the time. For this reason
there was no telling whether or not he
shed tears, but those Immediately In
his vicinity could not see that he was
passing under any great stress of emo
ton. With the climax passed, he put
his handkerchief in his pocket again,
and as he turned his face no sign OF
distress was visible In it.
following the hint at Thaw's at
tempt at suicide which Mr.. Littleton
had made In his opening address, the
courtroom waited with eagerness the
details as told by his wife. Mrs. Thaw
in coming to this section Of her mar
rative referred to the time when she
and Thaw were living together in the
Grand hotel in New York in the fall
of 1903. This was after she had heard
several stories about Thaw-of how
he once whipped girl after tying her
to bedpost and of how he put anoth'
err in bathtub of boiling water Thaw
told her one day at the hotel, she said
that he was tired of living because
his and her lives had been ruined and
because so many stories were told
about him. He proposed that they
should hire n room at the Waldorf-As
toria that afternoon and take lauda
mum. The witness said that she final
ly quieted him and got him to go to q
theater
The next suicide incident which sh'
described occurred in hotel in Paril
when they were there In 1904. Thaw
she said, came into room where sh,
sat. looking very pale. He told he
that he had taken a bottle of lauda
nun. He was pale and soon becam'
very Ill. A physician was summoned
who soon brought him around. Mrs
Thaw said that she later found bot
tie that had contained laudanum II
Thaw's room.
Mr.. Jerome plunged into the more in
innate details of the testimony an(
made no delicate choice of words IL
framing his interrogations to thu
young woman.
Mr.. Littleton's objections ON tn,
| ground of "offensiveness and impro
priety" frequently were sustained b,
the court.
| Mrs. Thaw matched wits agains
both District Attorney Jerome and hi
assistant, Mr. Garvan, who was eve
at his chiefs elbow with new sugges
lions. She fenced with them as skill
fully as she did year ago and a
times reflected the mood of the 1istric
attorney by answering him in voic
pitched in as loud key as his own
The prosecutors pitiless and aggres
sive questions often struck fire, an
once when Mr.. Jerome demanded t
know If the young woman had toll
Thaw certain things she replied holly:
"Yes, / told him, but | did not us
the language you are using"
Don't argue with me, madam!
shouted Jerome, who then had the n
ply stricken from the record.
But one new feature appeared in th
testimony of the witness. This wa
when she told about Thaw swallowih
the contents of bottle Of laudanum {
Monte Carlo in 1904 in an attempt
end his life. Previously to this at th
Grand hotel in New York Thaw ha
talked Of suicide, his wife deQlare'
and had suggested that she also shoul
take poison, as both their lives ha
been ruined. She was out of the ROO
when he finally took the poison in E'
rope.
"why didn't you tell us about tn
at the first trial?" demanded Mr.. j