The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-07-30
DENIONICAL HARRY THAW.
Lashed Young Girls Upon Their
Bare Backs,


In the Supreme Court at White
Plains, N. Y, Tuesday last Harry
Thaw sat and heard a womans tes-
timony that made his pallid face
flush. He saw pearl-handled dog
whip exhibited, and he heard the
him WELD it on the bare flesh of
young girls. The prisoners wife,
Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, heard most of
the testimony, which was of such
a nature that Justice Mills preceded
it's presentation with the warning
that mo woman should stay in the
court room unless she is willing to
hear everything" Two girls left
the room.
The witness was Mrs. Susan Mer-
rill, buxom, pink-cheeked woman
of about thirty-five years, and she
opened a new chapter in the life of
Stanford Whites slayer. She told
and 1905, when he was young
bachelor about New York before the
tragedy on the Madison Square roof
garden that resulted in his being
placed in the state asylum for the
criminal insane, from which he is
now trying to escape by proving
himself sane.
Her testimony was in marked con-
trast to that of two alienists who
went on the stand and gave Thaw
a clean bill of health, declaring that
in their opinion he was sane. Sum-
married., her testimony was that dur
ing the three years named, she kept
in succession two New York lodging
houses where Thaw rented rooms
under assumed names and to which
he brought at various times more
than two hundred girls. After
Thaw's Imprisonment, she said she
paid these women at least $25,
las the price of their silence and to
keep them from bothering Thaw's
wife or his mother" One of them,
who, she said, passed as Thaw's S
wife, received $1,000. The money
came from Thaw.
After telling of Thaw's engaging
the rooms, the hearing of the evil
dence upon the question of the pris-
oner's mental condition became ap-
parent. For at this point the mys-
terious package which was brought
to court by Clifford w. Hartridge,
Thaw's former counsel, was un-
. wrapped and a pearl-handled whip,
about three feet long, was brought
To- e.,
of court and spectators, the woman
related series of stories about
finding Thaw on several occasions
lashing the girls upon their bare
arms and bodies.
Thaw, she said, had posed as a
girls to his rooms with promises of
engagements. When she remon-
strated with him, she testified, his
excuse was that the girls "weren t
smart enough and couldn't fill their
positions and deserved a beating"
She testified further that Thaw had
frequently behaved in violent man.
ner in her presence and that she
considered his acts irrational.
District Attorney jerome had full
charge of the case and it was he
who brought out the damaging tes-
timony. Mrs. AIerrills testimony
was stopped when Mr.. Jerome init
mated that it might injure innocent
IperSonS. Under croSS-eXamination
by Charles NIorschauser, counsel for
Thaw, the witness was attacked
tiercely. He succeeded in bringing
out the fact that she had been re-
Gently arrested on a charge of per-
jury, after an unsuccessful suit to
recover 100000 damages from a
man.
The woman emphatically denied
that she kept any of the money that
passed from Thaw through her
hands.
Evelyn Nesbit Thaw slipped quiet
ly into court during the proceedings
but did not testify. She smiled at
Thaw several times during the af-
ternoon, but he paid no attention to
her.