Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-01-23
BODY BLOW TO IHAW
SIayer's Mother Is Contradicted
 by Her Former Affidavit.
OFFSETS NEW STORY BY OLD
Anthony Comstock Testifies That Com
 plaints Made Against White by Mur-
 derer Could Not Be Proved-Thaw Abnormal at School, Teacher Swears.

|
 Abnormal at School, Teacher Swears.
 New York, Jan. 23.-Anthony Com. stock made his first public appearance in the Thaw case by occupying the | witness stand all the morning session. The superintendent of the Society For 1 the Suppression of Vice testified at length as to various letters sent to him by Harry Thaw from late in 1904 up to nearly the time of the roof garden tragedy and as to several interviews Thaw had had with him.
 Investigation had been made of the complaints presented by Thaw against Stanford White and others of promi hence. but the society had not found evidence on which to act. Mir Con- stock said His testimony let it be in- ferred that he believed the charges brought by Thaw were the product of an unbalanced mind
 Referred to ChiIdren's Society.
 Mir. Comstock at the afternoon ses- sion produced at Mir Jerome's request a letter copyboOk containing the replies sent by Mir COmstock to Thaw's let ters. There were also several letters written by Mir. Comstock to the Chil- dren's society concerning the matters complained of by Thaw. The latter letters indicated that the complaints more properly belonged to the province of the children's organization.
 Mrs. William Thaw thes took the stasd and testified that at an early age the prisoner had St. Vitus' dance and that two of her brothers, Henry and Josiah Copley. were weak minded. She told of waking up one night shortly before Harry's birth and finding that her eldest child, an infant, was dead fin her bed. The nervous shock was most severe she declared. and for more than seven months she scarcely slept at all.
 As an infant Harry Thaw suffered the most remarkable sleeplessness she had ever known In child. the moth CT said. He was nervous and instead of sleeping at night would insist upon being propped up to sitting posture in bed. his eyes having wide awake expression.
 Jerome Scores Heavily. Against the contention of the de- fense that Thaw was suffering from hereditary insanity the district attor- ney delivered body blow when he read upon the records the sworn state ment of the defendants mother that there was no direct line of epilepsy or insanity in the Thaw family. This statement was the one submitted by Mrs. Thaw to the commission in luna cy appointed by Judge Fitzgerald at the former trial.
 In the affidavit Mrs. Thaw declared positively that there was no taint in either the Copley family or the Thaw family of either insanity or epilepsy. She declared that she made the aifida- wit because of insinuations that had been made to the effect that she would be compelled tO go on the witness stand and lay bare the secrets of the Copley and Thaw families. There were no secrets to be guarded. she said. in either family and no family skeletons to i-e hidden.
 As Mrs. Thaw entered her cab to re- turn to her hotel she was served with papers in a suit for SS.UOO brought by Dr Alan McI.ane Hamilton for expert services in examining Thaw. Dr. Ham, iItOn pronounced Thsw an incurable paranOic. He was paid S1.OOO and dis missed
 Ths~'s Old Teacher Called Mrs. Bella MOoreEOuSe Lawrence. who taught Thaw in Kindergarten in Is7l- was called to the witness stand after Mrs Thaw finished Mrs Law rence produced her diary containing entries regarding Thaw's conduct at that time.
 His hands were clufchr and very thin and nervous.- rvad the witness ~Hf< muHth twitebed. and the least e1cifemenf threw him into perspirs- ton that matted his hair. I had to