The Washington times., 1913-08-31
His New Fight Is Begun
Within Twenty Minutes

obtain his release in such way that
would give him freedom. first to con-
troll his wealth, and second, TO spend 1t
where he liked. This could be accom-
tce adjudged him sane or the spperin-
tendent of Matteawan gave -hsrn Ser
tificate of recovery.
He chose first - DO adjudged sane by
a Jury which would sit In habeas cor
pus proceedings, and recommend his re-
lease to the presiding justice on the
ground that no matter In what mental
state he had been when he murdered
White, he had recovered his reason and
the doors should be open to him.
Flight a Last Resort
As a final resort he could escape. To
be Just to Thaw he did not give the
method of quitting Matteawan serious
consideration until many months after
he had been imprisoned In the institu-
ton. He did not wish to return to the
outside world by this means, because
he would be unable to go back to New
York where his interests were largely
centered and for the reason that to the
public he would still be insane. Such
leave-taking was to be thought Of only
when all other methods had failed
While Thaw was persuaded to re-
out the afternoon of his commitment, he
did Dot permit suoh time to lapse be-
fore proceeding along similar lines. The
$1,000 handed over by Josiah Thaw suf-
feed to set the ball rolling and detec-
tiyes were hired to test the public send-
ment. Then, and since, Thaw has had
much consideration for the public's atti-
tude toward himself and has expended
thousands of dollars gauging 1t.
Insanity His Defense.
Thaw's defense had been inaugurated
by william NJ. K. OIcott, Terence ].
McManus, Lewis A. Delafield, former
Gov. Frank Black, Abraham Gruber,
and Frederick A. Delafield. The re-
tainers alone ran into the thousands
of dollars, and a more resourceful
coterie of men could not have been
brought togther In this city. They
would never save Thaw, and that in
sanity was his best defense. 1t was
particularly good as their client hap
pened to be insane.
This line of argument failed to please
the madman and he discharged the en-
tire six. Other counsel, headed by
Clifford W. Hartridge, until then un-
known in New York, and Dolphin NJ.
Delmas, the most celebrated criminal
lawyer on the Pacific coast, conducted
the first trial. and when they failed of
acuuittal, Thaw discharged them and
hired half a dozen more to defend him
when he was called before the bar the
second time.
This delegation @ss led by Littleton.
Then came O'Reilly and Col. Franklin
Bartlett. How the attorneys fought
among themselves has nothing to do
With this story.
New Lawyers.
Thaw went over the list and con-
cIuded he would ;ry flesh talent. and
engaged J. G. Graham to swear out
writ OF habeas corpus before Justice
Joseph Morschauser OF Poughkeepsie.
He -iiso retained Charles A. Morschaus-
er, brother of the Judge, who had
great political influence in Duchess
county. Graham had been secretary
to Governor 0dell and was supposed to
be able to pull strings as needed. How
much Mr.. Graham knew of what was
expected of him is known only to him
self.
district who might pass upon Thaw's
sanity, IL called upon to do so, but Thaw
had hopes their services would not be
required. The three were Justices Mills,
Tompkins and Keogh. IL Justice Nor
schauser failed TO attest to his sanity
and issue an order for his release, Thaw
decided to pick Justice Mills. His next
choice was Judge Keogh. Never would
he go before Justice Tompkins, as. the
latter's views regaring the prisoner
How much money Thaw spent prepar-
ing for what should have been a brief
and simple hearing has never been ac-
curateiy determined, but good judges
| have placed the amount at $65,0 ,000 The
preparation OF the case In so elaborate
a FORM forced the State to spend a large
sum, and occupied the attention Of the
authorities for several months.
The long drawn out hearing eventually
came 70 an end. and Justice Morschauser
| handed down a decision, In which he
said:
"I am satisfied that Thaw is now In