The Washington herald., 1908-01-14

New York. Jan I3-The prediction that
nothing in the life Of Harry K. Thaw or
his family would be spared to save him
from the electric chair for killing stan
ford White was confirmed to-day. when
Martin ". Littleton outlined the defense
lhaw vas madman. bereft OF ali rea-
son when he killed White, is in substance
"hat Mr. Littleton says he will provA
And to substantiate this defense. hs win
produce evidence 10 show that on the
pdterhaI and maternal side Thaw hsd
relatives who were insane. at least ons
Of them dying in an asylum: that Tbaw
was born weak-minded, and that on sew
eral occasions he was insane. AT least
temporarily, and once while suffering
from meiancholia tried to XIII himself
Briefly. that was the reply Of Mr.. Lit
Teton TO the case Of the prosecution.
which was presented in four hours. Only
four witnesses were brought forth IN
show, as Assistant District Attorney Gar
van announced in the opening Of the peo-
pies case. that Thsw committed a de-
liberate. premeditated, and cowardlv nur-
der.
The chief witness presented by ths
prosecution was James Clinch Smith.
Whites brothsr-in-law. who did not ap-
pear on the direct case at the last trial
His story in the main did not deviate on
any vital point from the story he told
before. except that Mr.. Littletou put him
through a much longer cross-examination
But it did not shake his story: to some
ii seemed that the more Mr.. Littleton
questioned him the stronger his story
bore out the contention Of the prosecu-
ton that every act Of Thaw's on the
roof OF the garden the night he killed
White was that OF a man rational and
premeditating murder.
Talked of Brunette.
Mr.. Smith described how Thaw came
up and spoke 10 him, how they cbatted
about Wan street, ocean liners. girls. one
"buxom brunette" mentioned by ThaU.
for about a half an hour. He gave a
picture OF Thaw wandering around the
roof garden. with his eye fixed on one
spot. Every movement Thaw made Mr..
Smith watched, until finally Thaw fired
the three shots that killed the architect.
From what he observed that night
and the conclusions he made from II
Mr. Smith said he knew that Thaw
was watching his brother-in-law, although
he didn't know who had been killed until
an hour or more after he lefuthe garden.
It was A surprise 10 Mr.. LttIeton TO
have TO make his opening address TO the
jury this afternoon. He had expected that
District Attorney Jerome would take up
all the day with his case, but after one
witness had been examined after Mr..
Smith, Mr., Jerome said:
The State rests
Mr.. Littleton got A respite OF fifteen
minutes to get ready. and then he dug
deep into the history Of Thaw and his
family, saying It wasn't pleasant task
to pull aside the curtain that shut out
that family history. He named the rela-
tives Of Thaw who were insane or had a
mental weakness Of one kind or another
There was surely faint in the Thaw
family and Thav couldn't escape II. The
fever that burned In his blood when ne
was born would burn until he died, was
the way Mr.. Littleton expressed Il. He
was an erratic child. subject to convul-
sions and st. VitUS' dance. When he was
SIX years old he couldn't talk, at least
he couldn't talk a language that school
teacher could understand He went TO
schools and was wild-eyed and erratic.
He oscfllated between brilliancy and
madness since he was a boy" was Mr..
Lttleton's description.
VIII show Madness.
witnesses would be brought from Lon
don, Paris, and Monte Carlo, to show
that Thaw was insane, Mr.. Littleton
said. This country had been oombed for
witnesses to bear out the defense, and after
ures that have been taken 10 build up
the defense no one will doubt that a good
sized fortune has been disposed Of TO
save Thaw.
Mr.. Lfttleton's presentation OF what
he says he Will prove, was commented
upon favorably, if there was quite a bit
Of what seemed TO be unnecessary oratory
thrown in. 1t took him an hour and a
half. and when he got through he was
asked how he expected to keep Thaw
out OF a madhouse If he produced all the
evidence he said he would:
Wen cross that bridge when We come
to it," he said.
In his speech to the jury. Mr.. Little
ton said that he hoped that Mrs. Mary
Copley Thaw. Thaw's mother, would be
able to be a witness She was sick
with rheumatism and heart trouble, but
she was improving and would make every
effort to come here from Pittsburg 10
aid her son.
One OF the explanations made by the
Thaw lawyers after +he first trial was
that Michael Dolphin Delmas had not
been allowed to make the defense he
had planned because OF the interference
II Mrs Thaw and her daughter, the
Countess Of Yarmouth, who did not want
10 have disclosed to the public the evi-
iences of insanity in the Thaw family.
II Mr.. LittletOn holds to the course he
outlined to-day, that is what is to be
l0ne
Thaw Is Nervous.
A few times during LittIeton's speech
Fhaw showed signs Of nervousness and
sxcitability Several times he spoke to
Lawyer Peabody. who sat next to him.
Continued on Page 3, Column 6.
Prices of All Kinds Lumber TumbIinz.