The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-05-06
GOTHAM GOSSIP
(Ry Francis Phillips, Copyright 1910,
by the National News Service. n. Y.)

New York, May 6-FoiIowing the
refusal of a jury to believe the testi-
mony of thirteen of the most distin-
guished alienists in the country that
Joseph G. Robin, the bank wrecker,
was insane, that highly ornate and
erudite body of the medical profess
sion this week had it's dignity Jared
by a decision of Surrogate Fowler,
who declined to permit any testi-
rnony along their line introduced in
will contest under consideration be-
fore him. No branch of materia
medica of late years has proved more
lucrative than that 10 which the up
to-date alienist has been applying
himself, and none has provoked more
adverse criticism. In a dozen ia
nous criminal trials they have testi-
lied on both sides of the case, accord
ing as they were employed, and al
ways appeared able to justify their
expressed conviction of the condition
If the defendant by a plausible story.
Harry Thaw had six or seven of them
when he was tried for numbering
Stanford White the architect, and
William Travers Jerome, then the
prosecuting officer of the county, had
as many distinguished alienists TO
support the contention of the people
that the young Pittsburg millionaire
was sufficiently capable of under
standing the nature of his act as to
come within the proper jurisdiction
IF the courts. The fees earned by
the physicians in this case were said
10 be enormous and. in the opinion
of the public. exerted demoralizing
influence on the medical men
employed to testify. In the case Of
Robin. all thirteen alienists. among
fhem the biggest men in their line
available on this side of the Atlantic,
swore that the banker was insane.
But the jury wouldn't accept their
Judgment as having any weight in
the fact of the obviously sane con-
duct of the prisoner, who has since
confessed that he was shamming in
sanity. What effect the decision OF
Surrogate Fowler will have on the
status of the alienists is a subject of
much speculation now among both
the laity and the members of the
medical profession in general. 1t is
regarded as highly probable that
there will be fewer calls upon the
alienists for expert testimony than
there has been for many years, and
that they will in future command less
consideration from jurfes than they
have in the past.
Stirred by the alluring opportuni-
ties afforded the business stenogra-
pher of winning a rich husband, the
business colleges of the city report a
large increase in the number of girl
students enrolled for that branch of
study within the last few months. In
the offices of a large number of rail-
road, insurance company, bank and
trust company presidents there has
been shown of late a disposition TO
displace the male secretary by a wo-
man. She is said to be less liable to
seek to profit by any confidential in
formation she may learn through her
relations with the boss" and to be
less communicative about office af-
fairs generally than a man. The
heart of every girl stenographer in
the city throbbed with sympathetic
joy the other day when Elsie Ayres.
a pretty stenographer in the office of
n national construction company en-
gagged in building sky-scrapers, mar
ried Theodore Starrett, it's President.
The latter's first wife divorced him
on December 9th last, at Reno. New,
end in his distress of mind and heart
he turned to his stenographer for SOL
ace----Sf1e proved thoroughly sooth-
ing and he said last week he could
not resist the temptation to ask her
to become Mrs. Starrett, No. 2. He
is about twenty years older than his
bride and IL a millionaire. Miss