Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-19
.0LEARY INSANE,
WITNESSES SAY
Even Government Men
Make Statement in Trial
III of Brother
FLIGHT PLOT DENIED
Editor Of Bull Described as
Egosit, Vain, Given to
Crazy Spells
New York. June 10.

=, Deserted by counsel, detected ana
3 on the verge of a nervous breakdoWh'
: Jeremiah. A. OLeary. the Sim Fem
J agitator is in the Tombs Awaiting
trial on charges of conspiring to COM
= init treason and to violate the espio-
!. mage. act. IF found guilty he may be
z sentenced to DEATH
. The host OF men who boasted OF his
!. friendship did not appear when
! o'Leary needed them. They were not
!. present with counsel for their former
). idol when he pleaded to indictments
4 which charge him with conspir'ng
with the paid agents of the German
/ ,Government. Only a little group OF
\ his relatives were there and their pres
ence did not help him, for at the sight
Of his troubled sister he wept bitterly.
O'Leary was arraigned before Judge
: Learned Hand in the Federal District
: Court two hours after he had arrived
Z IN the city from Sara, Wash, where
: he was arrested on a chicken farm
= last Wednesday. He pleau not
! guilty.
3 Whether or nst OLeary intends to
4 Subordinate ego to expediency by al
Z lowing counsel to interpose an insanity
4 defense in his trial. the defense in the
case of his brother. John j. OLearE.
: lawyer. showed clearly it would make
! full use of the claim in it's effort to
r clear John O'Leary Of the charge that
he conspired to obstruct justice py alo-
Z ing jeremiah to abscond.
Z The Governments own witnesses
Z testifying before Judge Hand ana
: Jury in the United states District
Court, we're used repeatedly by the
sdefense IN the apparent effort to XII
two birds with one stone, and not in a
asipg!e instance did witness fall to cN-
ispress the unqualified conviction that
tNJeremiah is irrationally errat1c, an
,egoist of the first order or Just plain
crazy. "As mad as March mare,
was one witness description.
Second Harry Thaw
By another, who had known him for
ak wears, he was described as second
Harry Thaw. And this witness, called
| BIZ the Government to establish Jere-
miah OLeary's notwithstanding wth
Nine. De Victorica, alleged German
TO befriend the defense. Thomas +.
Fielder. chief counsel for John OLeary,
had handled him rather roughly. AT
the close of the cross.eXamination. as
|. an afterthought apparently, Mr. fe.der
said:
zone moment. You say you had
known jeremiah O'Leary intimateLy
for six years; what did you thihk ol
his condition."
IT considered him a sort of replica
of Harry Thaw," the Witness James *.
Speers, a lawyer who formerly occu-
6ied offices with jeremiah O'Leary, re-
|fponded promptly.
I&s1,Ihis was the consensus record
n iAremiah O'Leary, egotist domineer-
Il 3Y,r. vain: a man given to "crazy
SPELLS" and quick reversals of opinion
and attitude, but never swerving from
| the one dominant idea that he was
born to liberate Ireland and set the
world afire.
The purpose of this trend, skillfully
directed by Mr.. Fielder. was plain for
any one to read. even though there
had been no correlated evidence to in
dicate the ultimate objective. which
there was The defense hopes to prove
that jeremiah is irresponsible, that he
developed the mania which made a
fugitive of him long before starting
for st. Louis on the morning of May
and that John O'Leary is in no wise
to blame.
It was made plain that the prime
purpose of the prosecution was to
! show that John O'Leary had no idea
| his brother intended to flee prosecu
tion when he Uohn purchased the two
tickets to st. Louis on which Jere
miah O'Leary and Arthur l.. Lyons
began their fight. The purchase of
|. the tickets is explained on the theory
that jeremiah OLeary and Arthur
Lyons were actually going to Reno to
try a divorce. suit when they boarded
| the St. Louis train. 1t remains how
ever, to be seen how the defense will
4meet the Governments circumstantial
claim that John O'Leary concealed the
actual itinerary of his brothers flight
and even sent decoy kilograms to
mislead the Government into believ
ing that jeremiah had gone to the
AdirondaclSs.
O'Leary in Constant Terror
Lyons's testimony tended to show
O'Leary was in constant and growing
dread, a sort of morbid terror, o.
Secret Service agents and newspaper
men: yet such was his vanity that III
8was hurt when they seemed to neglec
him. or refused to believe in the neg
lect, asserting it could not be so, a.
he was known all over the country
Lyons was a strong witness in tn,
bolstering of the claim that jeremiah
O'Leary is insane.