The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-13
Decision of Justice Mills Is
 Defeat for Prisoner
NEWS RECEIVED CALMLY
Thsw Says That He Will Take Case to Court of Appeals in Order That He May Secure Hearing
 Before Jury.

White Plains. N. Y, August 12-Harry K. Thaw's latest attempt to gain his liberty met with complete defeat today when Supreme Court Justice Isaac N Mills dismissed the writ of habeas corpus and declared that "the release of the pe- tioner would be dangerous to the public peace and safety
 The signing of an order sending Thaw back to Matteawan, a formality which is scheduled to take place tomorrow morn ing in Justice Mills chambers at Mount Vernon, is all that remains to complete the failure of this latest appeal to the courts.
 There is no crumb of comfort for Thaw in the 7000-word opinion handed down by Justice Mills today All the contentious of his old adversary. District Attorney Jerome, are supported and it is declared that Thaw is still insane, still suffering from persistent delusions. and still as much a paranoiac as on the day he shot Stanford White.
 The order for Thaw's recommittment will be presented to Justice Mills tomor- row morning by Deputy Attorney General Ezra P. Prentice and Attorney Morschus- CT will then have chance to oppose 1t or strive for a modification. Such action. however. will, it Is believed. be purely formal in view of the decisive nature of the opinion handed down today.
 Thaw was waiting at the White Plains jail for Justice Mills decision. He re- ceived the news with an outward calm ness which appeared, however, more forced than real. The members of his family and his attorney seemed stunned by the thoroughness of their defeat. Thaw declined to give out any extended statement, contending himself with the as- sertion that he was not disheartened and would at once continue his fight for liberty.
 Want Jury Hearing.
 'M next efforts he said. will be centered upon the court of appeals, through which I expect to secure a hear ing before a jury in my effort to have my commitment to Matteawan set aside. '' The case before the court of appeals. to which Thaw referred. Is one which
 
 time. It came before Justice Mills last October when Thaw applied for an or der setting aside his commitment on the ground that the court that com mitted him was without power to issue such an order. He was not on trial for his sanity. At the same time he asked to have the question of his men tai condition submitted to jury. When Justice Mills promptly denied this application the case was carried to the appellate division, which sus- tained Justice Mills. Thaw's attorney has already made a second appeal and 1t is upon this appeal that Thaw says his efforts will now be based
 Justice Mills, in his opinion, today reaches three formal conclusions-that Thaw was insane when he killed White that he has not yet recovered; and that public peace and safety would be en- dangered by setting him at large. He upholds District Attorney Jeromes con- tentions that Thaw still cherishes de- lusions regarding the practices of Stan ford White and his associates. He characterized Evelyn Thaw's tale of Madison Square tower room and simila r stories about White told at the sanity hearing as wild and grossly improba : ble, evidently to any normal mind grossly exaggerated" He asserts his belief In the testimony of Susan Mer- Till regarding Thaw's alleged pervert practices, and points out the contrast between Thaw's chivalrous attitude as a protector of young American woman hood and his private life.
 Mills Expresses Sympathy.
 Justice Mills expressed deep sympa- thy for Mrs. Mary Copley Thaw, the prisoners mother. and her exposition of the "horrors of Matteawan," on the stand evidently prompted his recom- mendations that Thaw be allowed greater privileges at the asylum. At the same time he gently chided Mrs. Thaw for her censure of District At torney Jerome, of whom he said:
 T find no evidence of any heartless- ness or undue zeal on his part"
 Not the least significant sentence in Justice Mills decision, in the opinion of lawyers here, Is one which declares that Thaw's delusions had become fixed and established prior to the time of his mar riage." It is pointed out that this sen- tence may, if desired prove grounds for proceedings by Mrs. Evelyn Thaw for the annulment of her marriage.
 Thaw was visited late today by his att torney Charles Morschauser. and by his mother and his sister, Alice, the former COuHttSS Ol di biOhbh. ifhtC tOnlKnL Mrs. Thaw, after talking over the situa- tion with her son, wrote out the follow ing statement for the Associated Press:
 Mrs. Thaws Statement.
 Let no one imagine for moment on reading this opinion of Judge Mills that 1t means a victory for the district at torney for the county of New York.
 "One by one the delusions with which he and his alienists started out were proven, each by the mouth of several wit nesses, to be stubborn facts that would not bow down at his bidding
 Every prop was taken from under that arrogant, vindictive persecutor of sane, acuuitted man.
 ''Sa baffled was he that when he rose to .,ans his closing speech (for argu- ment it was noD he had more the ap- pearance of a schoolboy kept in to say a piece than some courageous, mature sophist, who dominates the courts of his own judicial district, except when wealthy malefactors are under trial.
 ''It Is impossible to fathom the work ings of the human mind, and so the req son for this totally unexpected and cruel decision of the trial judge must remain a mystery.
 Meanwhile my son, my daughter and I have no alternative but to take up again the burden I had every reason to