Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-08-11
THAw SAYS CASE IS PROVED.
Issues Statement Attacking Prosecute,
Jeroms's Alienists.

White Plains, N. T., Aug. 11.-Re-as-
serting his sanity, Harry K Thaw has
issued a statement reviewing the evil
dence given in the recent hearing on
his application for release from the
Matteawan asylum. In the course OF
his argument to sustain his contention
that he is sane, Thaw said that, ac-
cording to the alienists, District At
torney Jerome had proved him to be
sane "forty-five times over" in his long
questioning. Thaw's statement fol-
lows:
MIR. Jerome's witnesses were an un-
professional lawyer and an unfortunate
woman who contradicted each other,
also three of his peculiar alenists and
Dr. Baker, who, from his testimony,
might have been on either side, except
that he showed some unfriendliness to
US and could not remember many ad-
missions he had made to me and to Dr.
Pilgrim.
"Dr. Baker admitted he did not be-
iieve in souls because he had never
seen any. DR.. Hirsch affirmed that
their profession was incompatible with
religion. DR.. Macdonald and DIR. Flint
refused to believe what Jerome had
L
think any judge could believe any Of
them.
"The best experts have Informed me
that IL any insane man was questioned
for twenty minutes. as Jerome ques-
toned me- he would assuredly show his
insanity. AS Jerome kept this up over
fifteen hours in all during the trial, he
proved me sane forty-five times over,
for the alienists said any twenty min
utes during his fifteen hours of wild
and extraordinary questions would
have settled any paranoiac.
However, I might have failed as
other sane men might have, so don't
consider my testimony one-tenth SO
important as that of the twenty alien
lists who personally examined me and
In the records have sworn I am sane.
or the testim ony of sixty-two lay wit
nesses. Mr.. Jerome at the second trial.
after telling the jury why he had not
produced DR.. Flint & Co. said he would
submit the case to human Intelligence,
William De Morgan relates the fol-
lowing conversation to the same point:
"A great alienist Is going to oper-
ate on woman who has been uncon-
scious for forty years and desires clear
knowledge Of her mental state If she
regains any mental faculties. So the
doctor asks his wife and her friend to
watch He tells them: 81 don't want
you to see anything Of the operation.
but what I want is to have one or
more good observers at hand and I
want everything observed and recol-
lected."
His wife replies: "Why won't the
people at the asylum do-why us?"
Because" answered the husband,
each OF them has theory and none
Of them will recollect anything that
don't agree with 1t. want real live
human creatures Of good average intel
ligence."'
1T seems to me must be perfectly
sane If hard headed, sensible men vino
slept in the same room with me, saw
me undress and go to sleep and wake
up, then eat my breakfast, dinner and
supper, and who took me I'D ON the
mountains where I could have left
them miles behind had I not been
trustworthy, thought mo so. These and
many clergymen, headed by President
Patton OF Princeton. and ladies, so,nc
of whom have known mo all my life.
and bankers and manufacturers and
police and prison keepers, acoustomed
to observing both sane and insane
men: city clerks, editors. farmers, law
yers. and the ex-governor Of great
state, all tind me perfectly sane and
mono nnd anything Irrational at iii.
This seems to me to grove gny